Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 3

Comparison of the Faunal Remains from French and British Refuse Pits at Fort Michilimackinac: A Study in Changing Subsistence Patterns

by Charles E. Cleland

Abstract

A study of animal bones from French (1715-60) and British (1760-80) refuse pits at Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City, Michigan) reveals subsistence patterns of the Europeans during their occupation of this site. Their eating habits are compared with those of the Indians who occupied the Late Woodland Juntunen site on Bois Blanc Island in the Straits of Mackinac. In contrast, the Europeans are shown to have relied heavily upon food supplies brought into the Straits area. Differences between French and British diets are shown to have been a result of the more efficient transportation system during British occupation of the site as well as the social, political, ideological and technological systems of both cultures.