Bones and Food Remains at the Willett Center Site

Then and Now: Archeology at Fort Stanwix

Archeology Home		Bones and Food Remains Bones, shells, and other kinds of food remains can tell archeologists a lot about what people ate and how much money they had. Expensive cuts of meat, such as steaks and prime rib, were eaten by people with more money, while stews were eaten by everyone. By seeing what kind of bones are left after a meal, you can find out a lot about the person who was eating it.
FOST Home
Willett Center
Archeology
On This Spot
Living in Rome
Maps


These bones are from the main meats eaten in Rome during the nineteenth century. Beef, pork, and mutton were eaten by nearly everyone, but the wealthier people ate more expensive cuts of meat.
	Duck and turkey were expensive foods, and so was chicken when compared to pork, beef, and mutton. All three of these were served at the Stanwix Hall Hotel, and found in the hotel privy. Duck and turkey were not found at the other hotels.
Turtle was an exotic dish, usually served as tutle soup. This shell comes from a snapping turtle, from the bottom side of the shell. It also came from the Stanwix Hall Hotel privy. The foods served at the hotel catered to the wealthy travellers that passed through Rome on the Erie Canal.
	Passenger pigeons are now extinct, but were still eaten during the nineteenth century. It was becoming rare during the time that the Stanwix Hall Hotel was open, so serving passenger pigeon would have been a mark of distinction on the menu. It was this drive to eat passenger pigeons and the ease of their capture in the wild that led to their extinction.

The faunal identification and analysis was conducted by Marie-Lorraine Pipes.