Overview

"In Eating in the Side Room, Mark Warner uses the archaeological data of food remains recovered from excavations in Annapolis, Maryland, and the Chesapeake as a point of departure to examine how material culture shaped African American identity in one of the country's oldest cities. Warner skillfully demonstrates how African Americans employed food as a tool for expressing and defending their cultural heritage while living in a society that attempted to ignore and marginalize them. The """"side rooms"""" where the families ate their meals not only satisfied their hunger but also their need to belong. As a result, Warner claims, the independence that African Americans practiced during this time helped prepare their children and grandchildren to overcome greater challenges of white oppression."

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9780813061115

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Reviews

A timeless publication and significant contribution to the discipline. . . . Students of African America will find Warner's book an illuminating study, and a strong example to follow. --Historical Archaeology A striking interdisciplinary analysis. . . . Underscores the value of zooarchaeological analysis in informing our understanding of the past, especially of people devalued and muted in our mainstream historical texts. --American Anthropologist Rooted in a meticulous study of the faunal remains excavated at an Annapolis, Maryland, house, Mark S. Warner's book addresses sweeping questions about race, resistance, and identity. --Journal of Southern History A timely and welcome addition to the literature on African American identity studies and to foodways more generally. . . . Mandatory reading for any courses concerned with the archaeology and anthropology of African Americans. --Northeast Historical Archaeology Demonstrates the influence of mass consumer culture on African-American diets andthe role played by food in establishing African-American identity and resistance to racism andoppression. --Civil War Book Review Raises critical, important questions concerning African-American food consumption. . . . Eating in the Side Room asks readers to . . . consider the ways African-American families have exhibited agency even when alleviation of inequalities seemed nearly impossible. --FoodAnthropology

A timely and welcome addition to the literature on African American identity studies and to foodways more generally. . . . Mandatory reading for any courses concerned with the archaeology and anthropology of African Americans. --Northeast Historical Archaeology

Author Information

Mark S. Warner is associate professor of anthropology at the University of Idaho, USA and coeditor of Annapolis Pasts: Historical Archaeology in Annapolis, Maryland.

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