Food and a Frontier Community: History and Faunal Analysis on Samuel H. Smith Site in Nauvoo, Illinois

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Frontier and Settlement Archaeology" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Nauvoo, Illinois is a small town, known today as a summer tourist destination because of rich religious history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and the splintering factions such as the Restoration Branches and Community of Christ churches. Archaeological excavations in Nauvoo began in the 1970s and continues today as a renovation project to restore the town as it looked during the Mormon occupation era from 1839 to 1846. The last five summers of the project were spent excavating the property of Samuel H. Smith, brother to Joseph Smith, the first LDS prophet of the church. This excavation revealed a foundation to a Mormon period structure along with about 35,000 artifacts. A closer look at the faunal remains and other artifacts for analysis will help to understand pieces of Samuel Smith’s lifestyle and others living on the frontier during the Mormon occupation of Nauvoo.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2019   •
• Frontier and Settlement Archaeology

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 224