This leads to a terrific problem in modern archaeology! Following Mary and
Paul, buttons of bone and shell serve as wonderful examples of something we
really don't quite understand well. Cottage work slowly evolved into button
manufacturing industries over the 18th and 19th century, and these
industries siphoned off volumes of what we consider foodways "waste" into
productive-economic activities. At the household level, the
trade/production probably provided supplemental income. Industrially, the
developing industries, ranging from buttons to soap, leather, candles, and
yes, even POTTERY. We understand that the various industries evolved
parallel to the developing industrial food network (see Claassen 1994 and
Landon 1996 for excellent examples!). We also know that we should study
these processes as taphonomic forces effecting our studies of food remains.
Has anyone really nailed down the nature or extent of the trade in such
"waste" products? Differences between local/urban contexts? Considered
this from a household perspective?
We have studies of the bone buttons, their use, how they served as referents
of identity, etc. (although I agree we may not have enough yet on this
topic). We have studies of foodways. Has anybody linked them
systematically, at either household or regional levels? Claassen and Landon
both provide good places from which to leap, but will this will be difficult
to make operational at the household level!
Tim
Refs:
Claassen, Cheryl (1994) "Washboards, Pigtoes, and Muckets: Historic
Musseling in the Mississippi Watershed." _Historical Archaeology_ 28(2).
Landon, David L. (1996) "Feeding Colonial Boston: A Zooarchaeological Study"
_Historical Archaeology_ 30(1)
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Timothy James Scarlett
Assistant Professor of Archaeology
Program in Industrial History and Archaeology
Department of Social Sciences
Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295 USA
Tel (906) 487-2113 Fax (906) 487-2468 Internet [log in to unmask]
MTU Website: http://www.industrialarchaeology.net
SHA Website: http://www.sha.org SIA Website: http://www.sia-web.org
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"What drives graduate students to immerse themselves in some little known
field of study is not expectation of reward-- though we may hope for it.
The driving force is passion. And passion cannot be judged, graded, or put
on a salary scale."
-- Philip Brady, "Tom Clancy and Me" NEA Higher Education Journal 2002.
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