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In the tapestry of medieval life, woven with threads of agriculture, craft, and faith, the natural resources of rivers, wetlands, and the sea played a crucial role, providing sustenance, power, and raw materials that sustained communities and shaped their livelihoods. The abundance of water, both fresh and salt, presented a bountiful opportunity for exploitation, a fact not lost on the resourceful medieval populace.
Fish, in particular, held a prominent place in the medieval diet, owing to the frequency of fasting days mandated by the Christian calendar. On these days, fish was the permitted alternative to meat, creating a robust demand for the catch. The ingenuity of medieval fishing techniques is evident in the archaeological discoveries of fish weirs, intricate structures designed to capture and funnel fish into traps. At Hemington Quarry in Leicestershire, archaeologists have unearthed numerous fish weirs, consisting of lines of stakes connected by wattle panels, effectively creating a funnel for fish into wicker baskets or traps. The same quarry revealed evidence of a mill dam, likely dating back to the 1280s, constructed of parallel lines of oak posts and wattle panels infilled with stones and brushwood, complete with a preserved portion of the housing for a vertical waterwheel. These structures, testament to the engineering prowess of the time, serve as a tangible reminder of the importance of fish in the medieval diet and the ingenuity employed to secure this valuable resource.
00:00 Life on the coast and river
07:09 Structure of the medieval village
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