Illustration showing identified elements of pig bone from prison excavations.

Other animal remains provided clues to the prisoners’ diet. The type of animal bones found led Yakubik and her team to conclude the prisoners ate low-quality, cheap meat although some wild game and higher quality cuts of meat were also recovered. Recovered remains of an infant pig confirmed that jailers raised livestock in the courtyard. While rats have never been an anomaly in the French Quarter, the discovery of large quantities of rat remains in close proximity with the discarded food remains paints a picture of an unsanitary environment.