Today’s citizens are becoming aware of how to use more sustainable resources by combining biological and physical resources with locally produced food. This is a clear parallel to food production in medieval towns which was also combined with resources from the surrounding countryside as well as imported goods.
This combination of different resources helped foster a new type of urban food culture, and it’s this that researchers at the Museum of Cultural History will examine as part of the project The impact of food culture in Medieval towns (FOODIMPACT) .
There are more than thirty thousand artifacts in the museum's collection that are connected to the production, preparation, and consumption of food in the Middle Ages. This is a diverse collection of archaeological, botanical, and osteological sources that can help expand our knowledge of the urban food culture between AD 1200-1600, with a particular focus on the medieval town of Oslo.
The acts of preparing, serving, and consuming food are closely associated with human- and social identity. We aim to examine the relationship between food, health, and social differences during this period.
On this blog, we’ll talk about what kind of food people ate in the Norwegian Middle Ages by focusing on local cultivation and recipes. We will show results from the research laboratories and exciting artifacts from our collections that tell of a diverse food culture, especially in the medieval towns, which consisted of so much more than just meat and porridge.
Recent posts
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Legumes Oct. 27, 2020
About Food in the Middle Ages
On this blog, we’ll talk about what kind of food people ate in the Norwegian Middle Ages by shining a light on local cultivation and recipes. We will show results from the research laboratories and exciting artifacts from our collections that tell of a diverse food culture, especially in the medieval towns, which consisted of so much more than just meat and porridge.