Hi Tim,
You may have already checked this but if not you might find the US Census Non-Population Agricultural Schedules (1850-1880) interesting. It shows what each farmer had for livestock, crops, orchards, etc. I seem to recall accounts that settlers would often let the hogs run free to forage in the woods, especially to eat acorns. At the Warner site (settled in 1841 and in the family for over 170 years) in Brighton, MI, we find butchered bone throughout the living area (over 4,000 square feet excavated) of the back yard. One of the oddest finds was a about a dozen cow jaws with the distal ends sawn off - not exactly sure why. The jaws were found in a refuse pit along with hundreds of other Civil War era artifacts. A brick lined fire pit with a large kettle was used to render the hogs which were slaughtered on site in a nearby barn even into the 1960s.
Tim Bennett
Warner Site
--- On Wed, 7/4/12, scarlett <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> From: scarlett <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Butchering activity areas
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Wednesday, July 4, 2012, 12:29 AM
> On line it is!
>
> Preliminary IDs include cow, pig, and sheep/goat, and
> others. Includes heads and feet. Lee Sweitz will scold me
> for not using technical terms, but all the IDs are
> preliminary as things came out of the mud.
>
> The bones are of interest, but what we are wondering is
> about space for the activity. This is in a yard between a
> group of probable boarding houses, 1850-1860ish, near a
> barn. All that is totally preliminary also, however. We just
> wrapped in the field.
>
> Have people found floors? If yes, how were they constructed?
> How maintained? Sizes? Residues?
>
> And because my students will ask me, yes I searched the
> histarch archive before posting my request:
> https://lists.asu.edu/
> Most of the discussions were interesting, but concerned with
> the bone analyses.
>
> Thanks.
> Tim Scarlett
> Industrial Heritage and Archaeology
> Michigan Technological University.
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>
> On Jul 3, 2012, at 11:29 PM, "T. Arron Kotlensky" <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > Tim,
> >
> > Are you able to determine at this point what faunae you
> have in front of
> > you? And can you tell if it's an operation for
> butchering livestock for
> > human consumption or perhaps a knacker's yard? I
> worked on an evaluation of
> > a rural horse vet barn/knackery in Indiana in 2008 and
> would be happy to
> > pass along our results if it'll help your cause.
> >
> >
> > -T. Arron Kotlensky, RPA
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> > My colleagues and I think we uncovered an 1850-1860s
> butchery area where
> > animals were slaughtered and initial butchery occurred.
>
> >
> > I'm wondering if anyone has excavated a slaughtering
> activity area before,
> > as a specifically designed area outside or alongside a
> barn. I would like to
> > read about construction details and workspace
> arrangements.
> >
> > Off list might be best.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Tim
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> >
> > Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>
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