In search of the ‘great horse’: A zooarchaeological assessment of horses from England (AD 300–1650)

Carly Ameen,Will Johnson,Tamsyn Fraser,Richard Thomas,Oliver H Creighton,Robert Webley,Robert Liddiard,Gary Paul Baker,Rebecca Gordon,Helene Benkert,Naomi Sykes,Laura May Jones,Karina Rapp,Tess Townend,Malene Lauritsen,Matilda Holmes,Mark Maltby,Alan K Outram,Camille Vo Van Qui

doi:10.1002/oa.3038

Abstract

AbstractPopular culture presents a deep‐rooted perception of medieval warhorses as massive and powerful mounts, but medieval textual and iconographic evidence remains highly debated. Furthermore, identifying warhorses in the zooarchaeological record is challenging due to both a paucity of horse remains relative to other domesticates, and the tendency of researchers to focus on osteological size, which makes it difficult to reconstruct in‐life usage of horses and activity related changes. This paper presents the largest zooarchaeological dataset of English horse bones (n = 1964) from 171 unique archaeological sites dating between AD 300 and 1650. Using this dataset alongside a modern comparative sample of known equids (n = 490), we examine trends in size and shape to explore how the skeletal conformation of horses changed through time and reflected their domestic, elite and military roles. In addition to evidencing the generally small stature of medieval horses relative to both earlier and later periods, we demonstrate the importance of accurately exploring the shape of skeletal elements to describe the morphological characteristics of domestic animals. Furthermore, we highlight the need to examine shape variation in the context of entheseal changes and biomechanics to address questions of functional morphology and detect possible markers of artificial selection on past horses.

Highlights

The significance of the horse to English social, cultural and economic life in the Middle Ages cannot be overstated
By undertaking a diachronic review of horse morphology and conformation, we investigate shifts in the trajectories of size and shape related change, with an emphasis on those attributed to the medieval period, to explore how this changing physiology and appearance relates to horses' domestic, elite and military roles
The variation of sizes shown in horses across all periods supports historical records which describe a diversity of horses in England during the medieval period, including various types of military horses, as well as riding horses and domestic horses used for traction, ploughing and pack carrying (Thomas et al, 2018)

Summary

Introduction

The significance of the horse to English social, cultural and economic life in the Middle Ages cannot be overstated. Their importance has seen horses become a research focus for both historians and archaeologists, serving to increase their longstanding popular public appeal. The warhorse is central to our understanding of medieval English society and culture as both a symbol of status closely associated with the development of aristocratic identity and as a weapon of war famed for its mobility and shock value, changing the face of battle (Clark, 2004; Hyland, 1994). To the pioneering French military historian Philippe Contamine, medieval warfare was, quite the ‘age of the horse’, and this long tradition of scholarship is echoed in some modern accounts that continue to stress the primacy of the mounted warrior as the battle-winning weapon par excellence of the Middle Ages (Contamine, 1986)

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Discussion

Conclusion