The Bethel Cemetery Relocation Project: Historical, Osteological, and Material Culture Analyses of a Nineteenth-Century Indiana Cemetery
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "The Bethel Cemetery Relocation Project: Historical, Osteological, and Material Culture Analyses of a Nineteenth-Century Indiana Cemetery" at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Due to unavoidable redevelopment and facility expansion, the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA) contracted with the cultural resource management specialists of Cardno Inc. (now Stantec) to conduct public coordination, background research, field documentation, geophysical investigation, excavation, and relocation of individuals buried in the Bethel Cemetery (12MA1025), located in Decatur Township, Marion County, Indiana. This once-rural cemetery, established in 1827, was utilized by early Indiana pioneers and their descendants until 1935. During the summer of 2018, 540 burial features, only 135 of which were unequivocally associated with headstones, were removed by Cardno in collaboration with faculty and students from Indiana University-Purdue University (IUPUI), University of Indianapolis (UIndy), and Indiana State University (ISU). Subsequent osteological and artifact analyses were conducted prior to reburial at a new cemetery in August 2019; this new location was rededicated in September 2019. This symposium presents ongoing research related to this excavation and associated analyses. Poster topics include photogrammetric imaging of the cemetery landscape and individual burials, bioarchaeological investigations of the human remains including demography and paleopathology, above- and belowground material culture analyses, and a discussion of the collaboration between the archaeological team, the living descendant community, the client, and additional stakeholders.
Other Keywords
Historic •
Bioarchaeology/Skeletal Analysis •
demography •
Mortuary archaeology •
Historic Cemetery •
Paleopathology •
Historical Archaeology •
Mortuary Analysis •
Cultural Resource Management •
Material Culture and Technology
Geographic Keywords
United States of America (Country) •
Missouri (State / Territory) •
Kentucky (State / Territory) •
Illinois (State / Territory) •
Wisconsin (State / Territory) •
Indiana (State / Territory) •
Michigan (State / Territory) •
Nebraska (State / Territory) •
Kansas (State / Territory) •
Iowa (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-7 of 7)
- Documents (7)
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An Analysis of 3D Mapping Methods of Historic Burials at Bethel Cemetery (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "The Bethel Cemetery Relocation Project: Historical, Osteological, and Material Culture Analyses of a Nineteenth-Century Indiana Cemetery" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the summer of 2018, cultural resource management professionals in collaboration with local universities excavated a nineteenth-century cemetery as part of planned infrastructure expansion by the Indianapolis International Airport. Project...
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Bethel Cemetery Reburial, Agency, and Stakeholder Coordination (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "The Bethel Cemetery Relocation Project: Historical, Osteological, and Material Culture Analyses of a Nineteenth-Century Indiana Cemetery" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Bethel Cemetery excavation required extensive coordination with a number of agencies. Both the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology (SHPO) and the State Revolving Fund provided regulatory oversight. The scientific investigation was...
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Children of the Gilded Age: Juvenile Age Estimation and Fertility Approximation for the Bethel Cemetery (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "The Bethel Cemetery Relocation Project: Historical, Osteological, and Material Culture Analyses of a Nineteenth-Century Indiana Cemetery" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Bioarchaeological analyses of the Bethel Cemetery have provided a unique opportunity to understand population dynamics in central Indiana during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With over 40% of exhumed individuals classified as juveniles,...
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“Getting Long in the Tooth” at the Bethel Cemetery: A Paleoepidemiological Analysis of Dental Disease (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "The Bethel Cemetery Relocation Project: Historical, Osteological, and Material Culture Analyses of a Nineteenth-Century Indiana Cemetery" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Building on our prior paleodemographic research as part of the Bethel Cemetery Relocation Project, this study examines the patterns of dental disease and rates of decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) across the three periods of interment and...
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Mastoid Osteoma on the Skeleton of a Known Individual from the Bethel Cemetery (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "The Bethel Cemetery Relocation Project: Historical, Osteological, and Material Culture Analyses of a Nineteenth-Century Indiana Cemetery" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Elizabeth Poland was a member of one of the prominent families interred at the Bethel Cemetery, located in Indianapolis, IN; she died in 1896 at the age of 76. Her skeleton indicated several pathological conditions including pedal arthritis, vertebral...
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A Not-So-Secret Affair: A Case Study of Treponemal Infection from the Bethel Cemetery (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "The Bethel Cemetery Relocation Project: Historical, Osteological, and Material Culture Analyses of a Nineteenth-Century Indiana Cemetery" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. When records and textual evidence from the past are subjective, piecemeal, or absent, bioarchaeological analyses can be indispensable for elucidating otherwise buried histories. The case study of Burial 505 from the Bethel Cemetery highlights an...
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Our Dearly Loved Daughter and Sister: A Bioarchaeological, Material Culture, and Archival Case Study in Extraordinary Organic Preservation from Bethel Cemetery, Marion County, Indiana (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "The Bethel Cemetery Relocation Project: Historical, Osteological, and Material Culture Analyses of a Nineteenth-Century Indiana Cemetery" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the 2018 Bethel Cemetery Relocation Project, 26 concrete or metallic burial vaults were recovered. Established field protocol dictated that these were to remain unopened and were to be reinterred at the new cemetery location without further...