Craft, Industry and Everyday Life: Leather and Leatherworking in Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York (The Small Finds) [Paperback]

Quita Mould (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1902771362 | ISBN-13: 978-1902771366 | Publication Date: May 2004

The latest addition to the very popular series on "Craft, industry and everyday life" which offers accessible and thorough coverage of important evidence of artifact finds from York, setting them in their broad social and cultural context to explore details of their manufacture, distribution and use. This volume provides a general outline of the methods of shoemaking, sheath and scabbard making and the decorative techniques employed, as well as detailed descriptions of the leather items themselves. Also included is a summary of the Anglo-Scandinavian shoe and sheath assemblages in context to the Anglo-Saxon background and contemporary material elsewhere in the British Isles, as well as similarities between York leather assemblages and those recovered throughout north-west Europe.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Council for British Archaeology (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1902771362
• ISBN-13: 978-1902771366
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,435,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent reference book, March 27, 2007

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Michael S. Burg (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Craft, Industry and Everyday Life: Leather and Leatherworking in Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York (The Small Finds) (Paperback)

This is a really excellent compliment to the medieval London excavation books. However, It gives a much more rounded impression of the leatherworking industry, including tanning, tools, and peripheral industries revolving around leather. For people trying to understand the industry of Medieval England and indeed most of continental Europe, as well as those who want a glimpse into the daily life of a medieval European, this book gives a great deal of bits and pieces that allow one to come away with a much fuller understanding of the structure of medieval society.

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you want to know about medieval English shoes, January 27, 2010

By 

Elizabeth Wilson ""medievalist and scrapb... (DFW, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Craft, Industry and Everyday Life: Leather and Leatherworking in Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York (The Small Finds) (Paperback)

This is a fabulous book but you must want a very technical, detail-oriented book on medieval English shoes. It may be a little more than most people want in terms of detail. Patterns for shoes are also included in this book, which would make reproducing such shoes a lot easier. It is a great book for documenation of an SCA Arts and sciences project. It is not the most exciting read in the world though because it describes every scrap of leather found at the excavated sites and gets a little tedious after a while because it is a very detailed, scholarly job. The excavation process and the way the leather scraps were salvaged, reconstituted and reconstructed so that we can see what these shoes were really like is absolutely fascinating, and I don't know much about archaeology. You definitely want to look at this book if you are interested in making any shoes from this time period, but you may not want to read every word. A great reference book though.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Leather and Leatherworking in Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York, November 22, 2008

By 

Diane S. Dooley (Lawrence, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Craft, Industry and Everyday Life: Leather and Leatherworking in Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York (The Small Finds) (Paperback)

If I was looking for information on shoes and knife sheaths and scabbards from these finds, this is the book I'd want. It's amazingly complete in that regard.

Unfortunately, I'm looking for information on girdle pouches and bags, which is not really present here.

I may keep this book in case I develop an interest in making period footwear (there's even a fold-out timeline of what sort of shoes was found where and from what time period!), but I may sell it on to someone who wants it more than me, too.