Pig Feet and More: Analysis of a Historic Faunal Sample from Ellensburg City Block 24

Presenter Information

Allie Taylor

Document Type

Oral Presentation

Campus where you would like to present

SURC Ballroom C/D

Start Date

15-5-2014

End Date

15-5-2014

Keywords

Ellensburg, Historic Faunal Analysis, Archaeology, 19th Century, Pig, Chicken, Cattle, Dog, Cat, Bones

Abstract

City Block 24 in Ellensburg, Washington, was occupied by Euroamericans and overseas Chinese starting in the late 1800s. A 1989 community archaeology project excavated a portion of downtown and recovered cultural materials mostly from the late 1800s and early 1900s. The excavated fauna was not analyzed or reported at the time. My project involved examining all of the fauna recovered from half (18) of the 5 x 5 foot excavation units, a sample of 457 specimens. Identified taxa are dominated by domesticated species, including pig, cattle, chicken, dog, and cat, but there is also one wild species, pheasant. Most of the modified bones were saw-cut, except for the chicken, dog, and cat elements. Pig bones were primarily lower limb, foot elements and vertebral remnants of pork chops. Unlike other sites from the 19th century West Coast, most of the identifiable bones were pig and chicken instead of cattle.

Poster Number

34

Faculty Mentor(s)

Lubinski, Patrick

Additional Mentoring Department

Anthropology and Museum Studies

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May 15th, 11:30 AM May 15th, 2:00 PM

Pig Feet and More: Analysis of a Historic Faunal Sample from Ellensburg City Block 24

SURC Ballroom C/D

City Block 24 in Ellensburg, Washington, was occupied by Euroamericans and overseas Chinese starting in the late 1800s. A 1989 community archaeology project excavated a portion of downtown and recovered cultural materials mostly from the late 1800s and early 1900s. The excavated fauna was not analyzed or reported at the time. My project involved examining all of the fauna recovered from half (18) of the 5 x 5 foot excavation units, a sample of 457 specimens. Identified taxa are dominated by domesticated species, including pig, cattle, chicken, dog, and cat, but there is also one wild species, pheasant. Most of the modified bones were saw-cut, except for the chicken, dog, and cat elements. Pig bones were primarily lower limb, foot elements and vertebral remnants of pork chops. Unlike other sites from the 19th century West Coast, most of the identifiable bones were pig and chicken instead of cattle.