2008 Faunal Analysis of James Fort
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Faunal Analysis of James Fort: Structure 166, Pit 5, Pit 8, Pit 9, Pit 10, and Pit 11 James City County, Virginia Report submitted to: William M. Kelso Bly Straube Jamestown Rediscovery Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities Submitted by: Susan Trevarthen Andrews November 2008 Table of Contents List of Appendices ............................................................................................. iii List of Tables ..................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................ 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 Recovery Methods .............................................................................................. 2 Laboratory Techniques ....................................................................................... 3 Analytic Techniques ........................................................................................... 3 Relative Dietary Estimate ............................................................................ 3 Number of Identified Specimens ................................................................. 4 Minimum Number of Individuals ................................................................ 4 Useable Meat Weight ................................................................................... 5 Biomass ........................................................................................................ 5 Taphonomy .................................................................................................. 5 Taxa Identified ................................................................................................. 11 Crustaceans ................................................................................................ 11 Fish............................................................................................................. 11 Reptiles/Amphibians .................................................................................. 20 Birds ........................................................................................................... 23 Wild Mammals .......................................................................................... 29 Commensals ............................................................................................... 34 Domestic Mammals ................................................................................... 35 Fishing and Hunting ......................................................................................... 38 Taphonomic Influences .................................................................................... 30 Structure 166 .............................................................................................. 41 Pit 5 ............................................................................................................ 42 Pit 8 ............................................................................................................ 42 Pit 9 ............................................................................................................ 42 Pit 10 .......................................................................................................... 44 Pit 11 .......................................................................................................... 44 Relative Dietary Importance............................................................................. 44 Structure 166 .............................................................................................. 44 Pit 5 ............................................................................................................ 45 Pit 8 ............................................................................................................ 46 Pit 9 ............................................................................................................ 47 Pit 10 .......................................................................................................... 47 Pit 11 .......................................................................................................... 48 Kill-Off Patterns ............................................................................................... 48 Pig Kill-Off ................................................................................................ 50 Element Distributions and Cuts of Meat .......................................................... 52 Cattle Element Distribution ....................................................................... 53 Pig Element Distribution............................................................................ 53 Butchering and Cuts of Meat ............................................................................ 54 Concluding Remarks ........................................................................................ 57 References ........................................................................................................ 67 ii Appendices Appendix A. Summaries Charts ................................................................ 75 Appendix B. Age Distribution Data, Individual Features .......................... 89 Appendix C. Age Distribution Data, Combined Features ......................... 96 Appendix D. Element Distributions, Individual Features .......................... 99 Appendix E. Bone Measurements ............................................................ 102 Appendix F List of Bones By Context. ................................................... 105 List of Tables 1. Assemblages Analyzed ................................................................................ 2 2. Taxa Identified ............................................................................................. 7 3. Taphonomic Influences .............................................................................. 43 4. Relative Dietary Importance, Based on Biomass ....................................... 45 5. Kill-Off Distribution Data, Pig .................................................................. 51 6. Element Distributions, Combined Features ............................................... 54 7. Relative Dietary Importance, Wild vs. Domestic, Biomass ....................... 58 8. Biomass Percentages for Individual Species .............................................. 60 9. Element Distribution for Cattle and Pig, Combined Features .................... 65 10. Summary Chart, Structure 166 ................................................................. 76 11. Summary Chart, Pit 5 ................................................................................ 77 12. Summary Chart, Pit 8 ................................................................................ 81 13. Summary Chart, Pit 9 ................................................................................ 84 14. Summary Chart, Pit 10 .............................................................................. 86 15. Summary Chart, Pit 11 .............................................................................. 87 16. Age Distribution, Cattle, Structure 166 ..................................................... 90 17. Age Distribution, Pig, Pit 5 ....................................................................... 91 18. Age Distribution, Pig, Pit 8 ....................................................................... 92 19. Age Distribution, Cattle, Pit 8 ................................................................... 93 20. Age Distribution,, Pig, Pit 9 ...................................................................... 94 21. Age Distribution,, Cattle, Pit 9 .................................................................. 95 22. Age Distribution, Pig, Combined Features ................................................ 97 23. Age Distribution, Cattle, Combined Features ........................................... 98 24. Element Distributions, Structure 166 ...................................................... 100 25. Element Distributions, Pit 5 .................................................................... 100 26. Element Distributions, Pit 8 .................................................................... 100 27. Element Distributions, Pit 9 .................................................................... 101 28. Element Distributions, Pit 10 .................................................................. 101 29. Element Distributions, Pit 11 .................................................................. 101 30. Bone Measurements ................................................................................ 104 31. List of Bones By Context ........................................................................ 106 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We wish to thank Bill Kelso, Bly Straube, and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities for giving us the exciting opportunity to study faunal remains from Jamestown. The diverse species represented in the assemblages and complexity of the analysis meant that the faunal identification and final report could not have been completed without the expertise and kind help of a number of individuals. From Colonial Williamsburg’s Zooarchaeology Laboratory I would like to thank Steve Atkins for assisting in the identification of the fish,