Straying from the Flock: A Stable Isotope Analysis of a Sheep Membrane Condom from Colonial Maryland

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper presents a stable isotope analysis of a membrane condom from the colonial Oxon Hill Manor Site (18PR175) in Maryland to shed light on the geographic origins of the artifact. Previous analysis using Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) identified the condom as having been made from a sheep. The addition of stable carbon and nitrogen analysis of the condom's tissue allows for a tentative interpretation of whether the artifact was manufactured locally in Maryland or produced and imported from abroad. Our results provide a starting point for future research into the trade and manufacture of prophylactic devices in the 18th-century Atlantic World and their role in shaping broader colonial attitudes towards sexual health and hygiene.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39249.0