This paper aims to present the environmental context for disease combined with the human osteological record to reconstruct the pathoecology of medieval York.
Greenland Norse Knowledge of the North Atlantic
August 10, 2014 By
What did the Norse know about climate, and what was the role of driftwood in their lives?
Air Pollution and Fuel Crises in Preindustrial London, 1250-1650
August 10, 2014 By
I intend to show in this paper that the occurrence of air pollution in London before the Industrial Revolution was symptomatic of one of these basic environmental problems
Of Fire and Water: The Old Norse Mythical Worldview in an Eco-Mythological Perspective
August 3, 2014 By
How do the actions of the gods in these narratives express man’s mythical notions of his relationship with the land and sea in the Scandinavian and North Atlantic ecosystems?
Climatic Change and the North Atlantic Seaways During the Norse Expansion
June 24, 2014 By
In order to appreciate how the Norse expansion might have been influenced by climatic fluctuations it is necessary to consider in outline the mechanisms which control weather and climate in the North Atlantic area at the present day, and which also obtained in the past.
The contribution of insect remains to an understanding of the environment of Viking-age and medieval Dublin
June 6, 2014 By
This paper examines the important contribution that sub-fossil insect remains can make to an understanding of the environment of Viking-age and medieval Dublin.
First historical evidence of a significant Mt. Etna eruption in 1224
May 25, 2014 By
The 1224 Mt. Etna eruption is a significant event both in terms of the mass of erupted materials and because it involved the lower eastern slope of the volcano, reaching down to the sea.
Wax or wane? Insect perspectives on human environmental interactions
May 19, 2014 By
The sites discussed in this paper include a range of sites investigated on national road schemes and other development projects across Ireland, covering a long time-span from the Neolithic period through to the medieval period.
Seals and Sea Ice in Medieval Greenland
May 5, 2014 By
With a view to placing such developments in the context of changes in the past, the focus of this paper is an interdisciplinary study of the interaction of different seal species in Arctic/North Atlantic regions with sea ice, and, more specifically, the implications for the Norse settlements in Greenland in medieval times.
Environmental management in medieval London : was London a ‘filthy city’?
May 5, 2014 By
The BBC series ‘Filthy Cities’ presented medieval London as knee deep in muck, with rivers of butchers’ waste washing into streams and chamber pots emptied on the heads of hapless passers-by.
Norse cultural reaction to climate change during the little ice age and their societal collapse in Greenland
April 12, 2014 By
This study aims to understand the adaptations of the Norse Greenlanders to climate change in their new home.
How warm weather led to the rise of Genghis Khan
March 11, 2014 By
In the thirteenth-century a Mongol warrior named Genghis Khan took control of the nomadic tribes on the Great Stepee and launched a series of invasions that would see a vast empire being established from China to Eastern Europe. Now a team of researchers have shown that their success can be partly attributed to climate change.
Medieval landmarks in danger from rising sea levels
March 6, 2014 By
The Tower of London, the church of Mont-Saint-Michel, and the city of Venice are all in danger of flooding because of rising sea levels, a new study suggests.
Did a Megadrought force the Huns to invade Europe?
February 3, 2014 By
The worst megadrought in the last 2000 years hit Central Asia around 360 AD, new study finds
Environmental Effects in the Agriculture of Medieval Egypt
January 20, 2014 By
Agriculture has been the main source of the economy for all dynasties established in Egypt and the Mamluk kingdom was no exception.
Floods and weather in 1342 and 1343 in the Carpathian Basin
January 15, 2014 By
Concerning weather, weather-related extremes and catastrophic consequences, 1342 was an extraordinary year in most parts of Central Europe, even in such an extraordinary decade as the 1340s. Accounting with the seven flood events (including one Danube flood) mainly of great magnitude, at present 1342 is the most important known flood year of medieval Hungary.
The Great Transition: Climate, Disease and Society in the 13th and 14th Centuries
December 24, 2013 By
Across the Old World the late-thirteenth and fourteenth centuries witnessed profound and sometimes abrupt changes in the trajectory of established historical trends
An early medieval symbol carved on a tree trunk: pathfinder or territorial marker?
December 23, 2013 By
The chance discovery of a carved symbol on a waterlogged tree of the six–ninth century AD may be the earliest mark on a living tree that has so far come to light.
Elemental theory in everyday practice: food disposal in the later medieval English countryside
December 22, 2013 By
For medieval rural communities the story of food did not necessarily end in its eating.
A Climate for Crusades? Weather, climate and armed pilgrimage to the Holy Land (11th–14th Century)
December 16, 2013 By
The crusaders found themselves confronted not only with foreign cultures and violent armed resistance, but also with an alien natural environment and climatic conditions that could prove to be sometimes just as fatal as the arrows of the enemy.
Ancient and Medieval Climate Change and the Future of Humanity
December 10, 2013 By
Some examples of recent scientific and historical investigations of ancient and medieval climate demonstrate the power of combining scientific and traditional historical evidence.
Roses in the Middle Ages
November 25, 2013 By
Roses reached the height of European favor in the 1200s and the 1300s after several centuries of increasing popularity.
A risk society? Environmental hazards, risk and resilience in the later Middle Ages in Europe
November 21, 2013 By
The roll-call of disasters during the later medieval period was a lengthy one.
Massive volcanic explosion from 1257 took place on Indonesian island, researchers find
October 2, 2013 By
After thirty years of investigation, researchers have discovered where the volcanic explosion took place that caused the medieval ‘year without summer’ in 1258.
Into the frontier: medieval land reclamation and the creation of new societies. Comparing Holland and the Po Valley, 800-1500
September 29, 2013 By
In the paper it is shown that medieval land reclamation led to the emergence of two very divergent societies, characterised by a number of different configurations; (a) power and property structure, (b) modes of exploitation, (c) economic portfolios, and (d) commodity markets.
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