Analysis of Faunal Remains Recovered From the Wye House Located in Talbot County, Maryland (18TA314)
Analysis of Faunal Remains Recovered From the Wye House Located in Talbot County, Maryland (18TA314)
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Date
2009-07
Authors
Bowen, Joanne
Andrews, Susan Trevarthen
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Abstract
Identifying the ethnicity of an historic site can often be a challenging puzzle with many
interlocking pieces of information. Looking just at the presence and absence of certain
artifacts is not always reliable since the archaeological record has demonstrated that
African Americans and whites of varying economic backgrounds often owned or had
access to the same possessions. To determine the presence of slaves on historic sites,
historical archaeologists have looked not only to the documentary evidence and
architectural remains but also to distinguishing patterns in the archaeological record that
help to define the ethnicity of a site. Specifically, faunal remains from known and
probable slave sites have been closely examined in order to identify possible consumption
patterns in the slave diet.
One example of how faunal remains can provide information on slave diet is John Otto's
classic study of faunal remains from Cannon's Point Plantation in Georgia. Otto analyzed
and compared three assemblages (one belonging to a white overseer, one to slaves, and
one to the white plantation owner) in order to define patterns of material culture specific
to certain groups of people. He not only looked at the presence of species but also
butchery marks, cuts of meat, and the differences in white and African cuisine. From his
research, he defined slave assemblages has having a large percentage of chopped bone,
the presence of mainly head and foot elements belonging to cattle and pigs, and a great
diversity in the wild remains. Assemblages associated with whites included sawn bone,
higher quality cuts of meat and smaller amounts of wild animals (Otto 1984).
Since Otto's analysis, archaeologists have taken a closer look at his findings and have
continued to redefine the patterns in species distribution, elements distributions, and
butchery techniques found on slave-related sites (Fashing 2005; Bowen 2008). From
their analysis some broad patterns have begun to emerge in the faunal assemblages of slave sites, including the relative importance of beef and pork in the diet, and a higher
degree of bone fragmentation than in the white-related assemblages. Although broad
patterns in slave faunal assemblages have emerged, it must also be recognized that slaves
established their subsistence strategies based on the unique context of their circumstances
and the physical surroundings in which they lived. For example, a slave working in the
field might have access to a different foodway system than slaves working in the house.
Furthermore, their relationship to the white owner, their availability to procure their own
food, and their association with a local market system are all variables influencing the
faunal remains left in the archaeological record. As more slave-related faunal
assemblages are analyzed the variability between sites will be better understood and
interpreted. For this reason, the faunal analysis of known slave assemblages is crucial to
the growing database of slave related studies.
In order to test some of the slave-related patterns found in faunal assemblages and to
understand how subsistence patterns are formed, this report will examine faunal remains
excavated from probable slave quarters and their surrounding yard. In the spring of 2009,
Lisa Kraus and Dr. Mark Leone from the University of Maryland submitted for analysis
faunal remains excavated from site 18TA314, historically known as the Wye House.
Located along the Wye River in Maryland's Eastern shore, the site was originally settled
in the 1650's by Edward Lloyd, a Welsh Puritan. In 1790 his great grandson built a
plantation home which he owned until his death in 1796, when the estate was left to his
son Edward V (Weeks 1984; Ydstie 2007).