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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Archaeological Anthropology

Journal

2014

Faunal remains

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Feasting On Broken Glass: Making A Meal Of Seeds, Bones, And Sherds, Mary C. Beaudry Aug 2014

Feasting On Broken Glass: Making A Meal Of Seeds, Bones, And Sherds, Mary C. Beaudry

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Drawing on various lines of evidence that provide insight into late 18th- and early 19th-century episodes of dining at the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm in Newbury, Massachusetts, I explore ways in which historical archaeologists can move from discussions of food and foodstuffs to explore menus, meals, and dining. I argue that by drawing together many lines of evidence—food remains such as bones, seeds, and shells; documentary sources; and ceramics, glassware, and utensils—archaeologists are able to “feast” upon the evidence and to go beyond merely reporting on what people ate in the past. They do so by exploring ways of interpreting food on …


The Power Of Choice: Reflections Of Economic Ability, Status, And Ethnicity In The Foodways Of A Free African American Family In Northwestern New Jersey, Megan E. Springate, Amy Raes Aug 2014

The Power Of Choice: Reflections Of Economic Ability, Status, And Ethnicity In The Foodways Of A Free African American Family In Northwestern New Jersey, Megan E. Springate, Amy Raes

Northeast Historical Archaeology

The choices people make concerning food involve decisions well beyond biological sustenance. Food procurement and consumption, as well as the way in which a dish is served, are choices that are embedded with both overt and less obvious implications of social aspirations and validations (McKee 1999; Reitz, Ruff, and Zierden 2006). Food and the means by which it is prepared and consumed embody and communicate cultural traditions, as well as factors such as social identity, ethnicity, status, class, and consumer choice. In this article, we examine the faunal remains, tablewares, and food-preparation vessels recovered during excavations within a free African …


Mess Calls From Signal Hill, Newfoundland, Frances L. Stewart Feb 2014

Mess Calls From Signal Hill, Newfoundland, Frances L. Stewart

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Test excavations in the summer of 1984 for a resource inventory of Signal Hill National Historic Park, St. John's, Newfoundland, unearthed 1,954 faunal elements from structures built between 1790 and 1945. These were predominantly military buildings, although some were converted to civilian hospitals. Signalmen and their families have lived on the site also. The site, however, was mainly occupied by a British garrison from 1790 to 1870. The faunal remains from the various structures were analyzed as distinct units, and in this article, those from the buildings constructed and used by the British garrison are emphasized. The majority of the …


Analysis Of Faunal Remains From Queen Anne Square, Newport, Rhode Island, Timothy S. Young Feb 2014

Analysis Of Faunal Remains From Queen Anne Square, Newport, Rhode Island, Timothy S. Young

Northeast Historical Archaeology

Queen Anne Square, Newport, Rhode Island, is a northeastern coastal site. This report presents the results of the analysis of faunal remains from three features representing different 18th-century households. The data show a heavy dependence on domestic animals. All three features contain over 90% domestic animals by biomass. The site closely resembles southeastern sites in percentages of cow and pig MNI. It also resembles other northeastern sites, however, in its high percentage of caprine MNI. This is probably indicative of an intermediate dietary pattern. There are also differences among the features; these can be attributed either to the economic status …


From Pork To Mutton: A Zooarchaeological Perspective On Colonial New Amsterdam And Early New York City, Haskell J. Greenfield Jan 2014

From Pork To Mutton: A Zooarchaeological Perspective On Colonial New Amsterdam And Early New York City, Haskell J. Greenfield

Northeast Historical Archaeology

This article analyzes the zooarchaeological remains from historical deposits to increase our understanding of the relationship between diet and ethnicity in early colonial New York City. Excavations at the Broad Financial Plaza recovered faunal remains documenting approximatley two centuries of historical occupation (middle 17th to the middle of the 19th century), a sequence rivaled by few other early colonial North American localities. Several trends are apparent in the data. Relative frequencies of pig remains declined while mutton and cattle increased correspondingly as New Amsterdam became the British colony of New York and as the Dutch residents on the block were …