Changing Taste: An Investigation into the Importance of New York Coastal Marine Shells to Albany Foodways During the 19th century

Summary

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

An examination of the relationships between food and identity is explored among middle-class African Americans in Albany, New York through four periods (early to middle 19th century, middle 19th century, late 19th century, and late 19th to early 20th century). This research synthesizes zooarchaeological data collected from the Stephen and Harriet Myers Residence and historical accounts to understand the foodways of Albany urban residents. This study seeks to consider marine shell use in Albany in a broader interpretive context, drawing parallels between consumer and trade patterns in Albany during the 19th century to those of other urban and rural historical communities in the region. The work presented here contributes to a deeper understanding of foodways in the mid-19th century as well as situates the Myers family foodway, that of middle-class African Americans, into the larger context of middle-class consumer patterns.

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): 40372.0