Excavations at the Austin Friary, Hull, Yorkshire, 1994 and 1999, Part 2: The Fabric and the Material Culture

Excavations at the Austin Friary, Hull, Yorkshire, 1994 and 1999, Part 2, details the excavations of the Austin Friary in Hull, a house founded in 1316/17 and surrendered to the Crown in 1539.This volume concentrates on the material culture recovered during the excavations. The site yielded a nationally significant group of medieval coffins, all but one of which were made of imported Baltic oak – the largest assemblage of such timber from the whole of Britain. There were also significant collections of well preserved textiles, leather, wood and dress-accessories. In addition, some of the burials were accompanied by carefully placed wooden rods, an under-reported burial tradition which can be found on either side of the North Sea. Many of the monastic buildings were reused after the Dissolution in 1539; partly in consequence, a large assemblage of masonry and ceramic building materials was recovered from this site. There were also significant collections of floor tiles (both plain and decorated), and window-glass, whilst other finds include rare finds of musical instrument components. Cumulatively, this volume sheds significant light upon a whole range of aspects of life and death within this northern religious house for a period of over two centuries, as well as offering yet more valuable evidence about Hull’s extensive medieval trading-links, as one of England’s leading ports.This book is for researchers and archaeologists interested in the archaeology of medieval Britain as well as the role of Christianity in the Middle Ages.