An Examination of Limited Variability and High Frequency Repetition in Large Faunal Deposits at the National Constitution Site
Author(s): Marie Pipes
Year: 2020
Summary
This is a paper/report submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.
Excavations at the National Constitution Center site, Philadelphia PA, uncovered features containing large concentrations of faunal remains. Documentation indicates one or two lots were associated with African American households. James Orono Dexter, a former slave who inherited a financial legacy, occupied one lot. Another lot may be associated with an African American household. Feature 24 yielded decorated bovine carpals which suggest divination artifacts. Both features had high repetitions of meat cuts but limited ranges of species. They stand out when compared to other feature deposits at the site which tended to have much greater ranges of species and more diverse meat cuts which were associated mainly with wealthy white households. The meaning of high frequency repetitions is explored possibly as evidence of limited food procurement options, dietary preferences, celebrations, or commercial food preparation.
Cite this Record
An Examination of Limited Variability and High Frequency Repetition in Large Faunal Deposits at the National Constitution Site. Marie Pipes. 2020 ( tDAR id: 457265)
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
Keywords
General
African American households
•
dietary refuse
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Faunal Remains
Geographic Keywords
United States of America
Temporal Keywords
Late 18th Century to early 19th Century
Spatial Coverage
min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology
Record Identifiers
PaperId(s): 302