Slavery and Freedom on the Periphery: Faunal Analysis of Four Ante- and Post-bellum Maryland Sites

Summary

Vertebrate faunal remains recovered from four Maryland cultural resource management projects provide a unique opportunity to explore the dietary patterns of formerly enslaved and free African Americans in the late-18th to early-20th centuries. Maryland straddled the border between a slave based, plantation economy and a free labor economy, allowing its African American communities more opportunities to gain their freedom and earn a living.  Faunal assemblages were analyzed and compared to assess consumption practies over the span of the 19th century. Though the samples are relatively small, preliminary results indicate that the data closely resembles other faunal assemblages in the Chesapeake region. Samples suggest a moderate reliance on large domesticates with non-commercialized secondary butchering practices. The taxa present  appear to demonstrate stable consumer choice patterns over a long time span, despite the broad and sustained cultural, social, and economic changes that occurred during this period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Diet and Decisions in Island and Coastal Settings: Current Zooarchaeological Research

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 337