Ned,
I don't think you can generalize on the subject of slaughterhouses. The =
chemical (and subsequent archaeological) signatures of slaughterhouses =
may differ by the type and level of industrialization of each facility. =
If you consult some of the many detailed books available on Chicago's =
Packingtown (ca. 1850 - ) as well as US Government literature on meat =
packing, I believe you will find that there is a considerable amount of =
containment of waste byproducts (blood, offal, etc.) and cycling of it =
toward secondary processors (e.g., paint factories for the blood, glue =
factories, chandleries, rendering and fertilizer plants, etc.). =
Although I have not yet encountered a slaughterhouse archaeologically, I =
would be cautious of relying too heavily on soil chemistry. =20
Again, without the dirt experience, I'm only basing my guess on my =
current historical research, but I suspect that a slaughterhouse without =
any ancillary processing facilities (rendering plant, ect.) will yield a =
signature similar to a barnyard/livestock pen. And again, I would =
caution you to try to determine what type of slaughterhouse you are =
dealing with: was it a pork house, did they kill beeves and sheep, too? =
Each of these entailed very different killing procedures and different =
flow patterns through the plant of the meat, carcass, and waste.=20
Rather than look for organic waste chemical signatures, perhaps elevated =
levels of salts and lime may be more realistic indicators. Also, again =
related to scale, if the slaughter house was full-time industrialized =
operation, youu need to think in terms of three dimensions for the =
architecture. Virtually all industrialized 19th century slaughterhouses =
relied on a downward flow of materials during processing. Stock =
generally entered a second or third story killing floor via a ramp or =
adjacent hillside. The animals were killed and the flow of products and =
wastes was downward toward shipping floors for meats and byproducts as =
well as waste removal, hide removal, etc. to other plants.
David Rotenstein
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