Considering Early Chicago through a Zooarchaeological Analysis of a Horse Skeleton: A Historical Perspective

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

This presentation details a zooarchaeological and historical analysis of a horse skeleton. While originally excavated from the possible location of the nineteenth-century Laughton Trading Post outside of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, the specimen was later stored unstudied in a university teaching collection. The time and explanation for the horse entering the archaeological record is subject to debate, but the horse’s living use and condition, including osteological changes related to work performed, may be representative of the critical role of horses in the early Chicago area. Elaborating upon the skeletal data with historical records, this study investigates multiple hypotheses regarding the horse’s life history within the setting of the Laughton Trading Post and into the early twentieth century. To achieve full data value from the analysis, this study used an exploratory process to connect the horse to its original context, potentially emphasizing the benefit of reexamining legacy collections.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025   •
• 2025 SHA Poster Submissions

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow