Making cheese: Archaeology of a 19th century rural industry (original) (raw)

The concept of production strategies is employed to analyze the variety of organizational forms and technologies created by 19th century rural cheese makers. Archaeologically recovered data and historic documents are used to reconstruct the sequence of production strategies utilized at the Columbus Center Cheese Factory site in south-central New York State. Information on six changing aspects of plant operation is provided. These include ownership and management, marketing, materials procurement, manufacturing processes, expansion of production, and disposition of by-products.