Historic Use of Native Avifauna during the Hotel Era (1847-1914) on the Isles of Shoals, Maine

Summary

Interactions between traditional European culinary practices and North American fauna have been the focus of several archaeological studies during the past few decades, but have not been explicitly examined in northern New England, especially during later colonial occupation (ca. 1800-1900). The Laighton hotel on Smuttynose Island (Isles of Shoals, ME), site of nineteenth- and twentieth-century activity, reveals how domestic practices were changed during the later hotel era (1847-1914). Preliminary examination of bird remains from Smuttynose Island reveals that visitors to the hotel were fed a mixture of local and domesticated birds in addition to ungulates and fish. The taphonomic study of the assemblage includes calculation of NISP and MNE for each taxon in addition to the recording of surface modifications, such as fracture patterns, skeletal element patterns, cutmarks, and gunshot holes. The presence of several pelagic or extinct species, including the Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis), suggests that residents of these islands utilized a wide range of resources to thrive during the later hotel era.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage