New Technology or Adaptation at the Frontier? Butchery as a Signifier of Cultural Transitions in the Medieval Eastern Baltic

Abstract

This paper focuses on a number of examples of cut marks on animal bones from a range of sites associated with the cultural transformations in the eastern Baltic following the Crusades in the 13th century. Recorded observational and interpretational characteristics are quantified and explained through more detailed selected case studies. The study represents a pilot project, the foundation for a more detailed and systematic survey of a larger dataset within the framework of the ecology of Crusading project. Relatively clear differences between sites are observable on the basis of the cut marks; however, the initial trends do not suggest a straightforward connection between butchery technology and colonisation in the east Baltic region.

Military Diet on the Border: Butchery Analysis at Fort Brown (41DF96) Cameron County, Texas

“…The large slices of meat and bone, particularly from non-steak bearing regions such as the os coxae and the appendicular elements, suggest the use of stews and soups as an integral part of Fort Brown's foodways. While interpreting food patterns across ethnic, class, or gender divisions using zooarchaeological remains can be difficult (Crabtree 1990;Gifford-Gonzalez 1991, 1993Huelsbeck 1991;Reitz 1987;Reitz et al 2006;Seetah 2006a;Seetah et al 2014;Twiss 2012), it is clear that there are Mexican influences on border diets.…”

“…Some aspects of beef butchery seen in the Fort Brown assemblage are strikingly similar to modern butchery practices. The splitting of the carcass down the vertebral column is an extremely common cross-cultural pattern after the slaughter and removal of the head and meatless phalanges (Seetah 2006a;Seetah et al 2014). The slicing of lumbar vertebrae is also consistent with the creation of prized steaks, such as the T-bone or porterhouse.…”

“…Zooarchaeological methodologies through the past several decades have developed in complexity to address questions of how meat consumption reflects social identities and inequalities (Crabtree 1985(Crabtree , 1990Jolley 1983;Landon 2005Landon , 2009. Recent studies have accessed how diet breadth and butchering patterns differed between indigenous and immigrant populations (Seetah 2006a;Seetah et al 2014) and different ethnic populations within cities (Gifford- Gonzalez 1991;Landon 1996). As Fort Brown and Brownsville were home to a diverse set of military and local peoples, foodways should also reflect those influences.…”

Disassembling cattle and enskilling subjectivities: Butchering techniques and the emergence of new colonial subjects in Santiago de Guatemala

“…These remains present a total of 1262 butchery marks corresponding to the processing of the animals’ carcasses. These marks were recorded and analyzed following Seetah’s methodology on archaeological butchering techniques (Seetah, 2018; Seetah et al., 2014).…”

The Baltic Crusades and ecological transformation: The zooarchaeology of conquest and cultural change in the Eastern Baltic in the second millennium AD

“…The post-medieval decrease in size may reflect a shift in husbandry priorities, whilst the increase in Gdańsk cattle may reflect improved grazing in the Vistula Fens. It is also important to note that new butchery technology, particularly the use of cleavers and standardised cuts, is a post-crusade introduction that is most visible in sites associated with the new regime and is only adopted by the native population much later, although large, heavy blades are used to a small degree in some of the pre-crusade centres of the Piast state (Seetah et al 2013). The difference between Livonia and Prussia can therefore be related to diverging histories of migration following the crusades, particularly in rural Prussia and the dominance of indigenous husbandry regimes, particularly in rural Livonia.…”