Abstract
Vertebrate remains from Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, near St. Augustine, Florida, provide a unique opportunity to examine African foodways at what may have been the first legally sanctioned, free, African town within the boundaries of what today is the United States of America. The collection contained 28,592 bones and an estimated 281 individuals. When data from Mose are compared to those from the nearby Nombre de Dios Native American village, it is clear that the refuse from Mose contained a higher percentage of domestic animals than did Native American refuse, although the subsistence strategies practiced by each group were similar in other respects. Compared to residents of St. Augustine, the people at Mose may have used less domestic meat. Slaves on coastal plantations later had greater access to domestic meat than did the residents of Mose and St. Augustine. These data suggest a high degree of self-sufficiency at Mose.
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Reitz, E.J. Zooarchaeological analysis of a free African community: Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose. Hist Arch 28, 23–40 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374179
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374179