New York African Burial Ground Skeletal Biology Final Report, Volume 1. Chapter 10. Osteological Indicators of Infectious Disease and Nutritional Inadequacy
Part of the Archaeology of African Burial Ground National Monument, New York project
Author(s): C.C. Null; Michael L. Blakey; K. Shujaa; Lesley M. Rankin-Hill; Selwyn H. H. Carrington
Year: 2004
Summary
The present chapter investigates the prevalence of infectious diseases and nutritional inadequacies in the New York African Burial Ground (NYABG) sample, as represented in bone. A broad range of skeletal indicators of pathology was assessed in the Cobb Laboratory. Diagnoses of specific diseases represented by skeletal indicators were usually attempted, as per the long-standing standards of paleopathologists. Data were also gathered in accord with the more strictly descriptive criteria of the new Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains (Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994). Indeed, the pathology coding section of the Standards is clearly the most novel and complex feature of the guide, and we think it constitutes a significant forward step in paleopathologic methodology. Yet, as one of the first projects to utilize and test the Standards in their entirety, we found the strict pathology coding approach to be somewhat cumbersome and time consuming. To mitigate this problem, we developed pathology codes for computerization that saved time and effort without the loss of useful information. Therefore, the skeletal pathology and non-metric trait computer database developed at the New York African Burial Ground Project (NYABGP) is a simplified version of the pathology portion of the Standards (Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994:107-158).
Cite this Record
New York African Burial Ground Skeletal Biology Final Report, Volume 1. Chapter 10. Osteological Indicators of Infectious Disease and Nutritional Inadequacy. C.C. Null, Michael L. Blakey, K. Shujaa, Lesley M. Rankin-Hill, Selwyn H. H. Carrington. In New York African Burial Ground Skeletal Biology Final Report, Volume 1. Pp. 351-402. 2004 ( tDAR id: 365640) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8T72FJ9
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
URL: http://www.africanburialground.gov/ABG_FinalReports.htm
Keywords
Site Type
Funerary and Burial Structures or Features
Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview
•
Data Recovery / Excavation
Temporal Coverage
Calendar Date: 1640 to 1800
Spatial Coverage
min long: -74.02; min lat: 40.704 ; max long: -73.987; max lat: 40.725 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Prepared By(s): National Park Serivce
Submitted To(s): General Services Administration Northeastern and Caribbean Region
File Information
Name | Size | Creation Date | Date Uploaded | Access | |
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husbrabg_ch10_rvsd.pdf | 2.65mb | Dec 22, 2015 7:35:27 AM | Public |