Zooarchaeological enquiry of animals and their products has largely been neglected in investigations of post-medieval Britain. Even when archaeologically recovered animal bones have been studied, the majority of research tends to discontinue at AD1750, on the grounds that such data are ‘modern’ and therefore unworthy of study because the information is already documented in primary texts (Thomas 2009). Although more recent publications have demonstrated the significance of animals from this era (e.g. Puputti 2010; Thomas 2009; Thomas and Fothergill 2014) there continues to be a lack of appreciation in the role that animals played in transforming the urban environment.

In the past, animals were inherently part of the urban fabric and cohabited with people in post-medieval cities. Many of these animals would have been viewed in terms of their respective functions; however, perceptions and treatment of urban animals were far from static. In the 19th century, the emergent animal welfare movement and legislation heralded a change in the species and numbers of animals present in urban centres and altered human-animal relationships. In the present day, we have a situation where people are detached from ‘livestock’ (e.g. cattle, pigs, etc.), but have developed closer bonds with companion animals (e.g. cats, dogs, etc.).

This article forms a succinct account of the preliminary research conducted to produce the poster presentation entitled: “From Pests to Pets: Social and Cultural Perceptions of Animals in England’s Urban Environments”, presented at the 2014 Postgraduate Zooarchaeology Forum (PZAF) at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. The article will use a contextual approach by drawing upon zooarchaeological and historical evidence in an attempt to detect the timing of our changing perceptions towards animals. Furthermore, it aims to highlight key factors in the accompanying shift in human-animal relationships, whilst focusing more specifically on pet-keeping in an urban context. To do this, the paper will be presented chronologically from the early modern to modern period with the aim to discern when and how fundamental changes in human and animal relationships began to shift.

Animal bones are frequently found in the archaeological record and are regularly examined in order to illuminate past human activities. Therefore, it is widely accepted that the comprehensive analysis of faunal remains provides insights into the relationship between humans and animals as well as our changing perceptions towards said animals (e.g. Thomas 2005; Salmi 2012). Most faunal assemblages do not exclusively comprise of domestic livestock but will also include other animals that may represent companions or ‘pets’. Publications have set out to identify these animals and have suggested a set of criteria that could aid in their identification (see Puputti 2010; Thomas 2005 and O’Connor 1992). To summarise, this includes consideration of the following: (1) the depositional context of the animal (e.g. whether the bones are found amongst food remains or in a discrete burial); (2) the presence of butchery marks, which could indicate whether the animal was exploited for its marketable products (e.g. fur, skin) or food; (3) the occurrence of pathologies, which may suggest how an animal was treated while it was alive (e.g. traumatic injuries inflicted on animals by humans); and (4) the age of the animal, as a high frequency of young animals could indicate periods of stress or selective culling.

One or more of the above characteristics have been observed in the archaeological record which has assisted in the interpretation of human and animal relationships at excavated sites. Seventy-nine partial cat skeletons (late 11th – 15th-century) recovered from a well in Cambridge, predominantly consisted of juvenile and young adults, which exhibited evidence of skinning and dismemberment (Luff and García 1995). It was suggested that these animals were slaughtered for human consumption. In contrast, the skeleton of an adult dog, interred in a cemetery from Roman Carthage, exhibited healed injuries and pathologies associated with old age, which strongly suggests it was a beloved animal (Mackinnon and Belanger 2006). Although these examples demonstrate how zooarchaeological evidence can be used to inform upon past attitudes towards animals, this does not come without its challenges. There are interpretative problems with defining what qualifies as a companion animal as these qualities vary depending on the chronological period and geographic region. Therefore, one cannot directly apply their own contemporary definition of a pet to the past. More importantly, how an animal was treated while it was alive may not reflect how it was treated in death (Thomas 2005, 97). Furthermore, using archaeology to investigate human-animal relationships becomes difficult in the later post-medieval period, owing to the paucity of investigations of faunal remains post-dating AD1750 (Thomas 2009; Gordon 2015); this is where historical and artistic sources can be useful.

It is well known that companion animals were popular among the elite and this is evident in historical documentation and artistic representations (Raber 2007, 87). Historical accounts frequently mention members of the royal family such as James I, Charles II, Anne Boleyn and Queen Victoria as avid animal lovers (Thomas 1983, 102–103, 109). The National Portrait Gallery also recently uncovered a painting dating to c. AD 1580, of three Elizabethan children from a wealthy family holding a guinea pig, which is indigenous to South-America (NPG 2013). Animals kept by the elite were indictors of their status and identity because the ability and resources required to own and care for an animal demonstrated their social position. Although historical documents are useful, it is important to be critical and mindful of who such documents were produced by and the intended audience. Therefore, such evidence should not be considered in isolation. Moreover, these sources tend to concentrate on members of the aristocracy and the upper classes and fail to show how people from the lower classes perceived these animals and whether they were commonly kept as companions. For this reason, historical and archaeological evidence should be considered in tangent when investigating human-animal relationships.

Throughout the post-medieval period it is evident that attitudes towards animals had shifted, where the perception towards species like cats and dogs had progressed from a functional role to one whereby they were valued for companionship. Although ‘pets’ were kept as early as prehistoric times (Russell 2012, 259–296) it could be argued that the concept of having a companion animal had evolved and become more widespread by the Victorian era. This process would have been gradual; however, it is possible that the rise in moral concerns about animal welfare and Victorian ideology, regarding domesticity and civility, facilitated this shift. The post-medieval period was also a period that witnessed major social and economic developments (e.g. The Industrial Revolution, the rising middle class, demographic growth, etc.) (Gordon 2015). Therefore, with more wealth, people would have been able to afford to keep an animal for reasons beyond functional purposes.

Furthermore, there is much to be said about the process of urbanisation and how it affected peoples’ relationship with livestock animals. Social reformers’ trepidation over urban sanitation played a supporting role in the restriction/removal of urban livestock to the suburbs and countryside (Atkins 2012; MacLachlan 2007). Whereas the popularity of companion animals were growing, urban livestock were receiving unfavourable attention. It is apparent that by the end of the post-medieval period people adopted a compartmentalised view towards animals (e.g. pedigree, exotic, endangered, livestock, and companion). This was very different to the medieval perception which believed animals were created to be exploited by humans and seen as irrational and unintelligent beings (Thomas 2005, 93–94).

Scholars have proposed that the process of urbanisation led to a divorce from the natural world and prompted kinder inclinations toward animals such as cats, dogs and horses (Donald 1999, 514; Thomas 1983, 181; Atkins 2012, 34–35). As Thomas (1983, 181) perceptively states this change in attitude, ‘…was closely linked to the growth of towns and the emergence of an industrial order [which caused animals to become] increasingly marginal to the processes of production’.

The purpose of this article is not to present a foolproof argument about the transformative changes that led to a shift in human-animal relationships. Investigating 400 years of changing perceptions toward animals is no easy feat and cannot be achieved in a single article. Indeed, many of the points/ideas raised in this paper can be explored in greater detail, such as the trade in exotic animals, the impact of animals on the urban infrastructure, the rising and falling popularity of animal species and the removal of livestock from the urban landscape. There is also work to be done to explore the extent to which archaeology and history can be fully employed to gain a better understanding of these enquiries. Nevertheless, this article sets out to highlight how a holistic approach can enhance our understanding of urban environments, and how archaeology and history can be utilised to disentangle the symbiotic relationship between humans and other animals as well as enrich our knowledge of the origins of the emotional significance of animals.