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REVIEW BY CARLY AMEEN
This fifth volume in the ‘Daily Living in the Anglo-Saxon World’ series exemplifies contemporary interdisciplinary scholarship. The editors, Maren Clegg Hyer and Gale R Owen-Crocker, have assembled contributions that seamlessly weave evidence from archaeology, history, art history, and cutting-edge scientific analysis to illuminate human–animal relationships in early medieval England.
Structured in three sections – archaeological insights, textual analysis, and visual arts – the volume demonstrates how traditional archaeological evidence gains new interpretive power through collaboration across disciplines. The integration of iconographic analysis with material finds provides fresh frameworks for understanding animal symbolism, while genetic testing complements archaeological and historical evidence for medieval trade patterns.
Accessible yet rigorous, this is essential reading for anyone interested Anglo-Saxon history. It is an innovative example of how bringing together archaeology, history, literature, art history, and science can reveal the nuanced roles that animals played in early medieval daily life and imagination.
Animalia: animal and human interaction in the early medieval English world
Maren Clegg Hyer and Gale R Owen-Crocker (eds)
Liverpool University Press, £135
ISBN 978-1836240273
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