Farming was fundamental to the economy of Perth and Kinross in the Middle Ages, providing the vast majority of the region’s food, many of the raw materials for clothing and trade, and as the main occupation for most of the population. Arable cultivation, fruit growing and animal husbandry were all practised. However, there remain many gaps in our understanding of the agriculture of the period.
The role of transhumance in medieval upland farming is a topic of particular interest. Research into the area around Glen Shee and Strathardle identified three zones of medieval and post-medieval farming. The primary settlements were located in the main valleys, whilst the tributary valleys and moorland had a mixture of permanent settlements and shielings. Finally, the higher land was primarily characterised by pasture and shielings, which were temporary dwellings associated with the care of grazing animals (RCAHMS 1990, 5). Shielings are one of the commonest types of monument in upland Perth and Kinross. However, our understanding of their likely date and use is often very limited. More research into shielings, and their relationship to wider patterns of upland farming, would be desirable. It is possible that some post-medieval shielings may conceal evidence of medieval activity (M. Hall pers comm). Many upland areas, like Glen Shee and Strathardle, saw successive phases of occupation, abandonment and reoccupation from the Bronze Age through to the post-medieval period (Strachan et al 2019). Further study of these periods of expansion and retreat, and their correlation with wider economic and environmental trends, should be undertaken.
There was historically extensive cereal production in Perth and Kinross. Cultivation remains in the form of rig and furrow have been identified at many locations in the region. Most of these markings have not been securely dated, although the majority are probably post-medieval, with later activity perhaps obscuring evidence of medieval ploughing. In the Middle Ages cereal cultivation often took place at altitudes no longer regarded as suitable for growing grain in Scotland. Glimpses of possible medieval field systems, including rig and furrow, can often be seen in upland settings in Perth and Kinross, where improvement was less intensive and well-preserved cultivation remains survive as earthworks (RCAHMS 1990, 136–8, 169). Greater efforts to investigate and date these earthworks might be beneficial. More use could also be made of soil analysis to detect evidence of cultivation and other modification of the earth. This form of investigation is likely to be particularly relevant in upland and marginal areas which have been less disturbed (Oram pers comm).
In lowland areas later farming activity has often severely damaged medieval cultivation remains. Only a few examples of medieval rig and furrow have been excavated in lowland Perth and Kinross, and include: Abernethy (MPK12705), Errol Airfield (MPK15430), Kinross High School (MPK17086) and Loanleven (MPK6147). Meanwhile at Balgonie (MPK3124) cropmarks from probable medieval rig and furrow surround a large ditched enclosure, suggesting a moated site set within a wider cultivated landscape. The identification of medieval lowland field systems should be a priority for researchers.
Botanical evidence suggests that oats, in particular Avena sativa, and bere barley were among the most common medieval cereals in Perth and Kinross (Fraser and Smith 2011, 75–6). However, wheat was also grown and consumed, and there is some evidence for the eating of rye in Perth (Fraser and Smith 2011, 76; D Hall forthcoming). Further understanding of the locations and types of community which cultivated these different cereals, and whether their preferences changed over time, is desirable. Clearly, the physical evidence would play a key role in any such study. However, teind records could also inform our understanding of where different types of grain were grown. In particular, the 16th-century Books of Assumption of the Thirds of Benefices might provide an overview of grain production at the end of the Middle Ages (Kirk 1995). How and where grain was stored is another topic of interest which interdisciplinary approaches could perhaps elucidate.
While beans and peas appear to have been eaten in many parts of medieval Scotland, large-seeded legumes often do not leave as obvious a trace in the archaeological record as cereals (Fraser and Smith 2011, 75). We therefore could be underestimating their contribution to the medieval diet. Preservation bias may also affect our awareness of vegetable consumption. Recent research on medieval Ireland has highlighted how different archaeobotanical approaches can broaden our understanding of historic diets (Lyons 2015, 111–66). Similar considerations may well be relevant in Perth and Kinross.
The contribution of fruit to the diet of medieval residents of Perth and Kinross deserves further research. The area around the River Tay has a long tradition of fruit growing, especially of apples and pears, with considerable written evidence for medieval orchards in the Carse of Gowrie and in the immediate vicinity of Perth. Some initial recording of historic orchards has been undertaken in the Carse of Gowrie (Hayes 2008; D Hall 2010). However, there is a need for more extensive interdisciplinary investigation here, and in other parts of Perth and Kinross. It should be noted that some existing small orchards in the Carse of Gowrie have exceptionally early origins. For example, there are records of an orchard at Carsegrange, Errol in the 15th century, and written evidence for a monastic grange at this site in the 13th century (D Hall 2006a; 2010). Although the orchard at Carsegrange has since been divided by a railway line and new houses have been built, several ancient fruit trees still survive, and botanical study might be of interest in this area. The orchard at Elcho Priory on the south side of the Tay also survived until ‘comparatively recently’ and is marked on Ordnance Survey maps published in the 1950s (MPK3482; Reid and Lye 1988, 49). Unfortunately, the last 50 years has seen the destruction of the majority of historic orchards in Perth and Kinross. Many of those which remain are in poor condition and subject to pressure from development. Investigation of surviving early orchards should therefore be an urgent priority before potentially significant botanical information is lost.
There is some evidence for the consumption of imported fruits in medieval Perth – a reminder of the burgh’s international connections. Fig seeds were found in several contexts on Perth High Street (Fraser and Smith 2011, 77). Meanwhile, recent environmental analysis at Perth Whitefriars has identified the presence of grape seeds, probably indicating the eating of raisins, although it is possible that they were associated with wine-making (D. Hall forthcoming).
Perth and Kinross has produced large medieval assemblages of butchered animal bones. Most are from urban settings, in particular the burgh of Perth. It is slightly paradoxical that while medieval livestock were mainly raised in the countryside, our evidence for their existence mostly comes from the towns. While this primarily reflects archaeological survival and excavation bias, the rural producing sites tended not to consume meat, or indeed other foodstuffs, in the concentrated quantities seen in the burghs. Rural waste disposal may also have differed from the pits and middens common in urban settings. It is possible that rural elite residences might provide some large assemblages of animal bones, as is the case in other parts of Scotland. However, the limited number of excavations of rural elite residences in the region currently limits our understanding of this question. Some animal bone assemblages have been recovered from rural religious sites, including the female Cistercian house of Elcho Priory. Interestingly, study of the Elcho animal remains suggest they came from ‘the poorer offcuts of meat’ (Reid and Lye 1988, 78).
The butchered animal bone from medieval Perth has been extensively recorded and studied (Hodgson et al 2011; Smith and Clarke 2011). Investigation has provided detailed information about how animals were managed and exploited, which species were commonest, and evidence of the sex, size, age and health of the animals at the time of slaughter. The Perth High Street excavations revealed evidence of the butchering of large numbers of cattle, sheep and goats, arguably in excess of what the local population was likely to consume. These large assemblages may reflect the region’s export trade in hides and woolfells (Hodgson et al 2011, 43–44). Perth has also provided extensive evidence for the keeping of domestic fowl, and large numbers of bones from greylag geese, although it is not clear whether the geese were wild or domesticated (Smith and Clarke 2011).
Despite the progress made with the Perth animal bones, further research could still be undertaken. Most of the animal bone has not yet been subject to modern radiocarbon dating, genetic study or stable isotope analysis. However, some work in these areas is currently underway at the University of Aberdeen. The natural history of zoonotic diseases such as bovine tuberculosis, which can transfer from animal to human populations, is an important area of interest (C Smith pers comm). As scientific techniques improve and become more accessible, we can increasingly identify when and where animals were raised before they arrived in towns – providing vital clues about economic networks and rural production sites. Large bone assemblages continue to present a serious storage problem, but their research potential is by no means exhausted. The question of storing large numbers of animal bones is of particular relevance to the study of the Middle Ages – in Scotland earlier periods tend not to produce the same quantity of bones, while later periods are more fully documented and can be studied in other ways.