The Nineteenth Century Farmer In Upper-Canada

by Dwayne R. James

Overview

Historical subsistence has received a great deal of attention in the literature of recent years, yet it is still relatively misunderstood, particularly in respect to the 19th century North American immigrant. The interpretation of zooarchaeological remains have proven useful in contributing to the overall knowledge, but the analysis of faunal material is often mediocre because quantitative units are ambiguous, and the impact of taphonomic forces on the survival of skeletal remains is unclear.

It is proposed that a fuller understanding of subsistence may be achieved through the study of butchering patterns, specifically in respect to culturally relevant units of consumption. These units are calculated specifically for the domestic species of cow, pig and sheep, in four 19th century zoo-archaeological assemblages from across Upper Canada.

Results illustrate the complexity of historical butchering patterns, and ultimately demonstrate that self-sufficiency, as it has come to be defined, did not exist, but took many varied forms in early pioneer life.

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Product Details

BN ID:	2940044264144
Publisher:	Dwayne R. James
Publication date:	01/20/2013
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Writer and watercolour artist Dwayne James lives outside of Lakefield, Ontario where he writes and paints as often as he can, that is when he's not spending time with his very forgiving family.

Dwayne studied archaeology in University, and as a result learned how to write creatively. "The most important skill I learned in University," he says, "was the ability to pretentiously write about myself in the third person."

With no formal art training, Dwayne has always preferred the self-guided, experimental approach. In fact, he taught himself how to illustrate archaeological artifacts while completing his Master's degree at Trent University. Said his thesis supervisor at the time: "There might not be much in the way of coherent theoretical content in Dwayne's thesis, but damn, it looks pretty!"

After spending close to a decade as a technical communicator at IBM, Dwayne opted to look at their Jan 2009 decision to downsize him as an opportunity to become a stay-at-home Dad for his young twins, and pursue his painting and creative writing whenever they allow him to do so. It is a decision that continues to make him giggle with wild abandon to this very day.