Peter Brown

Following its foundation in the 630s CE, medieval Basra rapidly expanded to became one of the most populous cities of southern Iraq and the wider Gulf region. At its foundation, the city’s surrounding environment appears to have been poorly suited to sustaining a large urban population. This paper examines the different ways in which the early Islamic population of Basra transformed the immediate environs of the city to improve the urban water supply and the agricultural potential of the city’s hinterland. In particular, this included the construction of substantial canals connecting Basra with sources of water such as the marshes to the north of the city and the Shaṭṭ al-cArab—the river which forms at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates and flows past Basra to the Gulf. The tidal influence of the Gulf causes the water level of the Shaṭṭ al-cArab to rise and fall daily and, by exploiting this characteristic, the medieval population of Basra could irrigate large swathes of land surrounding the city. Analysis of historic satellite imagery reveals possible evidence for the infrastructure that made this possible—including the remains of field systems bounded by, and interspersed with, canals as well as large raised linear ridge features which occur in tandem with relict canal systems. This paper critically assesses the evidence for the dating of these features, potential scenarios for how they functioned and their relationship to the medieval city of Basra.

Recently, a 'call to arms' has been issued to historians, emphasising the contribution their discipline can bring to the study of the impact of catastrophes on human society, specifically in the medieval period. This highlights the, relatively, long-term perspective and detailed analysis which a historical perspective can provide compared to focussing solely on contemporary or very recent disasters. Archaeology as a discipline is similarly well placed to approach this subject but rarely does. This paper, focussing on medieval European evidence, offers a brief review of the reasons for this hesitancy in tackling topics related to natural disasters, what archaeologists can offer in the study of past disasters and what directions future archaeological research should favour in order to increase the contribution of archaeological research to this area of scholarship.

Natural hazards exert a considerable influence on vulnerable populations living in riskprone areas. Archaeological and historical evidence offers a unique perspective from which to explore this relationship. This paper examines the hazard of wind-blown sand in relation to British medieval coastal communities focussing in particular on the factors influencing inundations of sand in addition to the material and spiritual reactions adopted in
the face of aeolian sand. By contextualizing past discoveries, new light can be shed on these human/environment interactions while simultaneously exploring wider implications for the underlying climatic changes of the Little Ice Age across Europe.

Although many extreme weather events were documented throughout the medieval period, few are known in great detail due to a lack of detailed documentary and archaeological evidence. A case study with a high volume of evidence is the windstorm of 15 January 1362 which primarily affected southern and eastern England. Its effects and the responses of contemporary society in its aftermath are documented relatively widely across the British Isles, with standing building evidence supporting the written evidence at certain locations. As a result, it is possible to trace the short to medium term impact of this event including how the event was perceived, what reactions were taken across the different layers of medieval society and to what extent any preparations were made against ‘the next storm’.

For a predominantly agrarian economy, extreme weather posed a continued threat throughout the medieval period. Although such events occur with some regularity, a variety of evidence including climatic proxies indicates that the intensity of these events increased during the onset of the Little Ice Age (c. 1270 - c. 1400). Through reference to two extreme meteorological events which struck during this timeframe, a series of coastal floods and a windstorm, this talk will explore how such events affected human communities occupying vulnerable locations, how these disastrous natural events were perceived and what measures, both material as well as religious and superstitious, were taken to provide protection from any recurrence of the hazard. The severe series of floods that struck the south east English coast between 1287-1288 severely disrupted trade networks, agricultural productivity and life-ways for those affected. The windstorm of 1362 swept across the whole of southern England causing widespread damage and prompting authorities to attempt to mitigate sudden economic fluctuations, landowners to maximise profits and forcing individuals to make the best of a bad situation. The material responses to these events provide a method of assessing how medieval society perceived these events, their inevitability and to what extent physical measures could be taken to provide protection. Another aspect which is rarely commented on in the contemporary sources is the extent to which religious and superstitious beliefs provided solace and protection from the fear and reality of the recurrence of such events. All of these issues will form the basis of this investigation into the medieval experience of meteorological hazards.

As a period of particularly volatile climate, the 14th century was the setting for many extreme weather events. Most of these, however, have left only ephemeral traces in the material record and many are poorly documented. An exception is the St Maur's Day Storm (15th January) 1362, which by all accounts was among the most severe storms in recorded history to effect southern England. The impact of this event can be traced through both standing building analysis and through the dendrochronological dating of timbers in affected structures. In addition, compared to most natural hazards that occurred throughout the period, a remarkable documentary record survives describing different aspects of the event. The varied nature of these sources, which include monastic chronicles, the records of lay landowners and local authorities as well as Royal and Papal papers, allows the impact of the storm and the responses it induced to be traced throughout the strata of medieval English society. This diversity of data, from both documentary and structural sources, permits a particularly nuanced study of the 1362 storm allowing its area of effect to be mapped, episodes of structural damage and patterns of repair to be characterized, together with an insight into contemporary interpretations of the coming of the storm. In addition, short and medium term responses to the storm are revealed and the differential effects on different members of medieval society, from peasants right the way up to princes, can be analyzed. As a result, the storm of 1362 becomes a particularly rich case study for the impact of an extreme weather event in 14th century England allowing an enhanced understanding of what these types of event meant for society in this period.

The history of the medieval period in Britain is punctuated by catastrophic events, including wars, political unrest, disease, famine and ‘natural’ disasters. While archaeological evidence for warfare, epidemics and diet have seen extensive research within the sub-disciplines of battlefield/conflict archaeology and paleopathology, ‘natural’ disasters have not sparked comparable investigations. This research aims, to a limited extent, to redress this. As with other calamities, disasters caused by natural hazards have, over the longue-durée, influenced humanity’s regional social, economic and cultural development. This research therefore focuses on the multitude of impacts resulting from those hazards dependent on weather systems throughout the later British Middle Ages, defined here as AD c. 1000-c. 1550, analysing the different ways in which medieval populations responded to meteorological hazards through both physical and spiritual means using both archaeological and historical sources. The extent to which British medieval society adapted to the risk of natural hazards is also assessed.