Continuity and change in the food habits of the seventeenth‐century English colonists in Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay

This case study uses historical dietary data and archaeological evidence to assess the extent of continuity and change in the diet of the seventeenth‐century English colonists who settled in Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay relative to the traditional English diet. Observations of prominent seventeenth‐century chroniclers suggest that the colonial diet in Massachusetts featured a combination of familiar and novel foods, both domestic and wild, varying over time and across different local environments. Evidence further suggests that the colonial diet underwent modification relative to the English diet due to environmental conditions, cost, palatability, and contact with Native Americans. Archaeological information from the region further supports these observations. It is concluded that the conceptual framework proposed by food habits researchers for the assessment of dietary continuity and change among migrant groups is useful in describing the diet of European peoples, specifically the seventeenth‐century English colonists who settled in the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies.

Key words:

• Colonial diet
• food habits
• continuity and change
• New England
• seventeenth century

Notes

Address correspondence to: James B. Petersen, Archaeology Research Center, University of Maine at Farmington, Farmington, ME 04938. Phone [phone], Fax [phone].