Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776Reilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776
Reilly, S. A.
Law -- England -- History
Later, there was farming and domestication of animals such as
horses, pigs, sheep, goats, chicken, and cattle. Of these, the pig was
the most important meat supply, being killed and salted for winter use.
Next in importance were the cattle. Sheep were kept primarily for their
wool. Flocks and herds were taken to pastures. The male cattle, with
wood yokes, pulled ploughs in the fields of barley and wheat. The
female goat and cow provided milk, butter, and cheese. The chickens
provided eggs. The hoe, spade, and grinding stone were used. Thread was
spun with a hand-held spindle which one hand held while the other hand
alternately formed the thread from a mass and then wound it around the
spindle. A coarse cloth was woven and worn as a tunic which had been
cut from the cloth. Kings wore tunics decorated with sheet gold.
Decorated pottery was made from clay and used to hold liquids and for
food preparation and consumption. During the period of "lent" [from the
word "lencten", which means spring], it was forbidden to eat any meat
or fish. This was the season in which many animals were born and grew
to maturity. Wood carts with four wheels were used to transport produce
and manure. Horses were used for transportation of people or goods.
Wood dug-out boats and paddles were used to fish on rivers or on the
seacoast.
Clans had settlements near rivers. Each settlement had a
meadow, for the mowing of hay, and a simple mill, with round timber
huts, covered with branches or thatch or turf supported by a ring of
posts. Inside was a hearth with smoke going up through a hole in the
roof, and a cauldron for cooking food. There was an upright loom in the
darkness. The floor was swept clean. At the door were spears or bags of
slingstones ready for immediate use. The King lived in the largest hut.
Gullies outside carried off excess water. Each hut had a garden for
fruit and vegetables. A goat or cow might be tied out of reach of the
garden. There was a fence or hedge surrounding and protecting the
garden area and dwelling. Buckets and cauldrons which had originated
from the Mediterranean were used. Querns with the top circular stone
turned by hand over the bottom stone were used for grinding grain.
There were ovens to dry and roast grain. Grain was first eaten as a
porridge or cereal. There were square wood granaries on stilts and wood
racks on which to dry hay. Grain was stored in concealed pits in the
earth which were lined with drystone or basket work or clay and made
airtight by sealing with clay or dung. Old pits were converted into
waste dumps, burials, or latrines. Outside the fence were an acre or
two of fields of wheat and barley, and sometimes oats and rye. Wheat
and rye were sown in the fall, and oats and barley in the spring.
Sowing was by men or two oxen drawing a simple scratch plough. The
crops were all harvested in the summer. In this two-field system, land
was held by peasants in units designed to support a single extended
family.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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