Catawba Foodways: Exploring Native and Colonial Influences

Summary

In the 18th century the Catawba held a key position in the Southeast, drawing a number of groups from the North Carolina Piedmont down to South Carolina to join them; ultimately these groups coalesced into the Catawba Nation.  Projects undertaken by the Research Laboratories of Archaeology at UNC have investigated some of these previous 17th century communities in the North Carolina Piedmont, as well as a number of 18th-19th century Catawba households in South Carolina.  This paper uses archaeological data and ethnohistoric accounts to explore if it is possible to see the influences of these northern groups in Catawba foodways.  Alternatively, the realities of being important military allies meant Catawba families were often under attack, with consequent difficulties in growing and procuring food.  Such exigencies may be more important factors in determining what families chose to consume than traditions people brought with them.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Tearing Down Walls: The Architecture of Household Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 518