Shell Fragment (Archaeological Find)
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Title:
Shell Fragment
Subject:
These shell fragments found in Harvard Yard tell us a little about the diet of colonial students at Harvard. Shellfish, like the oysters seen here, would have made up part of the cuisine of any student at Harvard. Cookbooks from the seventeenth century tell us how they may have been served: covered in flour and then fried. In addition, images from the eighteenth century tell us how much they would have cost: twelve pence a peck (approximately 15 pounds).
Dining at Harvard would have been a community affair, and there were very strict rules for dining staff about what could be served and when. One such rule was, “not to have the same dish ordinarily above twice in one week.” Students, professors, and tutors could all be found dining together in the hall. It is very possible that one of the dishes they dined on was shellfish, probably locally sourced from the Atlantic Ocean.
Knowing the date of these particular shells is difficult to determine, as they are organic materials without any style or build that might indicate their time period. They were found with pipe stems dating between 1720-1800, so it is possible they are also from that time, but certainly not definitively.
Source:
To frye Mussels, Perywinckels, or
Oysters, to serue with a Ducke,
or single by themselves.
BOyle these shell-Fishes: then
flowre and frye them: then put
them into a Pipkin, with a pinte of Claret
Wine, Sinamon, Sugar, and Pepper.
Take your Ducke boyled or roasted,
and put them into two seuerall
Pipkins, if one be boyled, and the other
roasted and a little Sugar, large Mace,
and fryed toasts, stuck around about it
with Butter.
http://www.staff.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/1615murr.htm
This 1615 cookbook shows a common method of cooking shellfish. The Puritans would have had English cookbooks like this one in 17th century New England.
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.ARCH:14107855
The Harvard Steward Records show what dining at Harvard would have been like, including the rule “That there always be two dishes for dinner.” Shellfish may have comprised one of those dishes.
http://id.lib.harvard.edu/via/olvwork732808/catalog
This 1733 image shows a man selling Oysters, a common food in the period, and a common find in the Harvard Yard Excavation.
Contributor:
Jamie
Object Name:
Shell Fragment
Inventory Description:
Shell Fragment
Peabody Number:
2018.24.93
Intrasite:
H955 Level 1
Depth:
51-61 cm
Class 1:
Organic
Class 2:
Shell
Class 3:
Fragment
Quantity:
5
Height (cm):
1.9
Width (cm):
1.6
Depth/Thickness (cm):
0.2