The dietary role of hens, chickens and eggs among a 17th-century monastic order: the Clarisse of Santa Clara-a-Velha, Coimbra (Portugal)

• Autor(a) principal: Moreno-García, Marta
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Outros Autores: Detry, Cleia
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10451/9759
• topic: Domestic fowl; post-medieval Portugal; Monastic diet; Oral pathology; Historical sources

Bird remains recovered from two rubbish dumps dated to the 17th-century AD at the convent of Santa Clara-a-Velha in Coimbra (Portugal) are studied. Although a variety of avian taxa are present domestic fowl dominate the assemblage. The age at death and the sex profi le data suggest that chicken and hens were frequently consumed. Body parts show that the best cuts of meat from wings and legs were discarded here. In addition, the large amount of eggshell remains recovered indicates eggs played also an important role in the diet of this female monastic community. Documentary evidence and the results of the pathological analyses carried out on the nuns skeletons provide an interesting background against which our data can be interpreted.