To market, to market: Animal husbandry in New England

This work explores archaeological age data and their ability to identify shifts in animal husbandry that are the direct result of changes that occurred in Boston during the 18th century, when the city’s population was growing and the regions’ market system was evolving into a well-developed market system. Archaeological age data illustrate two important points: first, that households living in urban communities were enmeshed in economic trade systems, and second, that patterns evident in the archaeological record are, to a greater extent than often presumed, the result of large-scale distribution systems rather than variability related to household rank and ethnic affiliation.