Abstract
Live animals were a ubiquitous feature of post-medieval cities and provided a variety of products to a broad cross-section of society. Poultry species were portable and accessible to people of modest means. Yet, the quotidian presence of poultry contrasts with the lack of attention to urban animal husbandry. Zooarchaeological data from the faunal assemblage from St. Anne’s Square, a 0.77 ha seventeenth to early twentieth-century site in Belfast, combined with historical legislation, court records, and news sheets held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland reveal the complexity of and contradictions implicit in poultry-human relationships in Belfast and nearby areas.
Highlights
Introduction and Research BackgroundBelfast was officially declared a city in 1888 after separation from County Antrim in 1865, and it was the largest city in Ireland by 1901
An avian proportion of 6–10 % is consistent with the accessibility of poultry species, suitability of domestic avians for urban husbandry strategies, and the persistence of poultry in some anecdotal and very few documentary sources
The archaeological data obtained from the Belfast poultry remains raise interesting questions and offer tantalising possibilities for future research
Summary
Introduction and Research BackgroundBelfast was officially declared a city in 1888 after separation from County Antrim in 1865, and it was the largest city in Ireland by 1901. A history of Belfast is beyond the scope of this work, but whilst published histories vary in terms of tone and perspective (later works tend to recognise a broader socio-economic spectrum and emphasise balance), they share a focus upon trade, industry, politics, and especially conflict. Beyond these themes, animals have shaped the urban experience both historically and archaeologically; they were of critical importance to the many-stranded economic success of Belfast. Animals have shaped the urban experience both historically and archaeologically; they were of critical importance to the many-stranded economic success of Belfast They and their roles have escaped investigation apart from bland acknowledgement as producers of waste, agents of disease, or shadowy features of the backdrop against which history happened. Even economic histories of the keeping, movement, slaughter, processing, and sale of valuable and culturally important large ungulates such as horses and cattle remain obscure, heavily overshadowed by treatises on specific industries such as linen production and shipbuilding
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