Stable Isotopes From The Stables: An Exploration Of Agricultural And Livestock Management Systems In 17th and 18th Century Virginia

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Over the course of British settlement in Tidewater Virginia, colonists were challenged to adapt European farming and husbandry practices to suit the environment of the New World. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, these practices continually evolved as Virginia shifted from a tobacco- to wheat-based agricultural system. In this paper, stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) analysis is applied to archaeological livestock from the Utopia Quarter Site (ca. 1670 – 1770 AD) in Virginia to assess the potential of using isotopic analysis to infer the timing of agricultural changes and their impact on livestock management at Utopia. Through this analysis it was possible to identify expected and unexpected changes in livestock management over time in association with concurrent agricultural development.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2022 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology