The social organization of a boardinghouse: archaeological evidence from the Buffalo waterfront.

A contextual analysis of three privies excavated on the Buffalo waterfront yielded information about the structure of daily life in a 19th-century urban environment. The study of these features included the analysis of their structure and artifact content, as well as extensive investigation of the documentary record. This research afforded the opportunity to examine the distinctions between boarders and families in a boardinghouse context. Privies associated with a saloonhoardinghouse were compared with evidence from a single family home. The archaeological evidence suggested the differential use of teawares by the boardinghouse family as a means of distinguishing the familial unit within the larger boardinghouse population. Analysis also indicated that the boardinghouse family enjoyed a somewhat higher standard of living than the neighboring single family household.