Abstract:
ABSTRACT
FAUNAL REMAINS AS MARKERS OF ETHNIC IDENTITY:
THE PHILADELPHIA HOUSE AS A CASE STUDY OF
GERMAN-AMERICAN ETHNICITY
by
© Jennifer Marie Muñoz 2011
Master of Arts in Anthropology
California State University, Chico
Fall 2011
For the last three decades, zooarchaeologists have been fairly successful in
utilizing the faunal remains from historical archaeological sites to provide insights into
the socio-economic status and ethnicity of those groups of people who generated each
faunal assemblage. Most zooarchaeological studies on ethnicity have focused on those
groups of people considered to have minority status, with little attention paid to those
thought to be part of the mainstream majority. This study utilizes the faunal assemblage
from a late 19th century historical site from Sacramento, California known as the
Philadelphia House to expand upon the available literature on socio-economic status
and ethnicity.
The Philadelphia House, which for most of its existence was operated by and
catered to German immigrants, provides a wonderful opportunity to examine
anthropological and zooarchaeological perspectives on an ethnic group long treated as a
mainstream, majority group, and thus not likely to be easily recognizable in the
archaeological record. The German immigrants who settled in early Sacramento
however, created their own neighborhoods and businesses, and established institutions
such as the Turn Verein through which they could maintain traditional beliefs and
customs. It was thus hypothesized that the faunal assemblage from the Philadelphia
House would reveal patterns that could be attributed to socio-economic status as well as
German-American food preferences.
Using a conjunctive approach that included an analysis of anthropological
perspectives on immigrant ethnicity combined with the history of German immigration
into California, a traditional zooarchaeological analysis of species and meat cut
frequencies as compared to similar sites in Sacramento, and a cookbook analysis of
traditional German cuisine, it was found that faunal specimens could indeed by used as
indicators of German-American ethnicity. The results revealed that in terms of beef
cuts, the Philadelphia House assemblage was significantly different from the
Sacramento City Jail site, Hannan’s Saloon, Klebitz and Green’s Saloon, and the
Golden Eagle Hotel. The meat cuts with the highest frequencies identified for beef,
pork, chicken, and rabbit corresponded well to the frequencies of these cuts as they
appeared in German cookbooks. One unanticipated discovery was a relatively high
frequency of sheep or goat specimens, which may be a reflection of dietary preferences,
socio-economic status, or a possible business relationship with German immigrant
sheep ranchers within the Sacramento area.
