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Zooarchaeology and GIS: Enslaved and Free Black Diet at a Late Eighteenth- to Mid-Nineteenth-Century Delaware Farm, New Castle County, Delaware, United States

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Abstract

Archaeological investigations at Locus 1 of the Rumsey/Polk Tenant/Prehistoric site (7NCF112) in St. Georges Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, United States unearthed spatially distinct features and artifacts providing information about the lives of eighteenth- through mid-nineteenth-century enslaved and free Black occupants. Some assemblages are intermixed with those associated with white tenants. Associated faunal remains reveal complex dynamics of meat consumption between social classes and cultural groups. Geographic Information Systems technology aids in visualizing data to reveal contrasts in faunal usage across space between groups and nuances in chronology and variability of meat consumption at Locus 1.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration for sponsoring and funding the archaeological investigations. We extend our appreciation to David Clarke, Heidi Krofft, and Kevin Cunningham of DelDOT; Craig Lukezic, Alice Guerrant, and Gwen Davis of the Delaware State Historic Preservation. Office/Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs. Alice Domm, Richard Grubb, Paul McEachen, Damon Tvaryanas, Mary Lynne Rainey, Ilene Grossman–Bailey, Philip A. Hayden, Teresa Bulger, Catherine Smyrski, and the crew of Richard Grubb and Associates, Inc., are thanked for their roles and assistance in the project that provided the data for this article. Appreciation is also extended to the peer-reviewers.

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  1. Monmouth University - Department of History and Anthropology, 400 Cedar Avenue, West Long Branch, NJ, 07764, USA

    Adam R. Heinrich

  2. 119 South Main Street, Medford, NJ, 08055, USA

    Michael J. Gall

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Correspondence to Adam R. Heinrich.

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Heinrich, A.R., Gall, M.J. Zooarchaeology and GIS: Enslaved and Free Black Diet at a Late Eighteenth- to Mid-Nineteenth-Century Delaware Farm, New Castle County, Delaware, United States. Int J Histor Archaeol 27, 424–457 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-021-00622-7

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