Most Americans probably don’t realize that we have a very limited understanding of the first Thanksgiving, which took place in 1621 in Massachusetts.

Indeed, few of our present-day traditions resemble what happened 400 years ago, and there’s only one original account of the feast.

As an anthropologist who specializes in reconstructing past diets, I can say that even though we don’t have a definitive account of the menu at the first Thanksgiving, letters and recorded oral histories give us a pretty good idea of what they probably ate. And we know for a fact that it didn’t include mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.

A main course of waterfowl and venison

The main course is the one scholars can speak about with certainty.


Read more at The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/what-the-first-thanksgiving-dinner-actually-looked-like-85714

Image courtesy: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Right_and_Left_by_Winslow_Homer%2C_1909.png