Alexis Ohman

The complexities of the colonial period across the Atlantic have been explored from myriad angles and disciplines. Historical zooarchaeology—the study of faunal material from archaeological sites—has investigated this time period via intersections between New World and Old World animals, environments, and foodways practices. Such research has revealed archaeological evidence of servants, soldiers, and enslaved Africans, whose daily lives were often neglected in historical documents. My research at Betty’s Hope plantation and Shirley Heights fort in Antigua, West Indies, addresses an additional lacuna in the archival documents for both sites: the ways in which fish and mollusks were procured and utilized. The comparative research between these two sites has revealed significant distinctions in how these taxa were consumed along race- and class-based lines at both the plantation and fort site. Specimens from the herring family provide the opportunity for further research ventures because they may represent local tropical species or imported temperate species. A pilot study was designed with the University of British Columbia to extract ancient DNA from the herring bone to identify the species. The results of the study provide more concrete information on long- and short-distance provisioning networks throughout the Caribbean and North Atlantic.

Alexis Ohman is a Ph.D. candidate in the Anthropology Department at William & Mary. Her research uses zooarchaeological and archival evidence from Betty’s Hope plantation and Shirley Heights Fort in Antigua, West Indies, to explore how certain animals were differentially consumed on these sites along race- and class-based lines. She holds a B.A. (Anthropology) from the University of Victoria and an M.A. (Archaeology) from Simon Fraser University. All co-authors are affiliated with the Ancient DNA Laboratory in the Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University. She is the Chair of the 19th Graduate Research Symposium.