I must say that none of this discussion has convinced me that chicken is the province of the wealthy or higher socio-economic status, or at least in any demonstrable and consistent fashion.  There are simply too many variables to control for in these anecdotal comparisons.  What was the availability of chicken and poultry in these various markets?  How were decisions made based on self-raised vs. store bought?  How representative are these features of the people who contributed to them and broader national trends in meat consumption?  It is certainly possible that urban dwellers at the time who did not keep their own fowl might have weighed the choice between beef, pork, and bird, and simply chose a greater percentage of the first two.  And, the rich widow with all the chicken bones, may have simply really liked chicken! 

What I would really like to see is a comprehensive study on the availability and comparative pricing of beef, pork, sheep, and bird from the last half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century.  I'm sure one of you will tell me it has been done!

Bob Genheimer
George Rieveschl Curator of Archaeology
Cincinnati Museum Center
1301 Western Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45203
513-455-7161




-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Wendy
Nettles
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 12:36 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: poultry consumption


Meli, 

I may have some information on poultry consumption that may be of help.  We
recently have completed two large urban archaeological data recovery
projects in California.  The first was in Sacramento, where we tested two
city blocks (for those interested, between Q and R streets, 3rd through 5th
streets).  A total of 35 features were recovered, primarily privies and
trash pits, with most deposition dates between 1891 and 1907 (There were a
few earlier (1871) and later (1930s)).  This was a residential neighborhood,
very middle-class and cosmopolitan.  We did faunal and macrobotanical
dietary analysis and had some interesting results.  Poultry, including
chicken, goose, turkey, and duck, composed about 13% of faunal assemblage in
two analytical units (both turn of the 20th century).  The faunal assemblage
from another feature in that project area, a wealthy widow's privy with a
TPQ of 1873,was dominated by chicken (74%!!).  We could only attribute this
to her economic status.

The other project was in downtown San Luis Obispo, CA.  Feature associations
in that project were a bit more varied, with faunal assemblages from a
residence, a saloon/lunchroom, and a brothel.  The faunal assemblage from
the residence came from two discrete features, one dating to 1890, the other
to 1904.  In the earlier feature, poultry included chicken, quail, and
turkey, comprising about 4% of the assemblage.  In the later feature,
poultry included chicken, quail, turkey, and duck, and comprised about 9.5%
of the assemblage.  Other meat cuts and artifacts in the features suggested
that the resident's wealth increased through time, and he was purchasing
better meat cuts and household items later in his life.  We attributed the
increase in chicken to an increase in wealth.  In the saloon/lunchroom
feature (1905), 8% of the assemblage was chicken.  The brothel privy
(1890)was dominated by chicken - 33%.  The next highest percentage was beef
at 22%.  The brothel privy contained quite a variety of artifacts, and they
were indicative of a large amount of income.  Again, we attributed the
presence of that much chicken was an economic indicator.  

These are very quick summaries of these projects.  I would be glad to send
you a copy of each report, but they are very large (even in pdf), so I would
have to mail you a cd.  If you think they may be helpful, just let me know
and I can get them to you.

You may also want to peruse the reports put out by the Anthropological
Studies Center at Sonoma State University.  Quite a few of their projects
were in urban contexts from the late 19th and early 20th century.  A list of
publications is at http://www.sonoma.edu/asc/publications/index.html

Wendy M. Nettles
Staff Archaeologist
Applied EarthWorks, Inc.
5090 N. Fruit Ave.
Suite 101
Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 229-1856 ext 13
     


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