Publishing the Perished: Uniform collection standards and the future of cemetery excavations in the United States.

Summary

As research in historic archaeology progresses, it is possible to explore numerous facets of past cultures from health to funerary practices through cemetery excavations. Despite this, only a handful of historic cemetery reports in the United States include certain categories of data or the most basic anthropological analysis necessary to address specific research questions. Fewer still have been widely disseminated. As part of one of the largest surveys of historical cemetery excavations to date, 109 reports were studied for their analysis and inclusion of available data in five categories: osteology, artifacts, grave features, secondary data sources, and synthesis. The average number of pages per report was 248, with African-American cemetery reports tending to be the most comprehensive. Reports have focused on artifacts and historical background with information limited in the remaining categories. Biological anthropology and synthesis are particularly lacking, however gaps exist in every other area from basic grave depth measurements to biochemical analysis. Excavation and publication requirements vary by state so report content strongly reflects the personal values and specialist skills of the excavators. This study offers guidelines detailing the wealth of information that historic cemetery excavations may yield and proposing uniform standards for collecting it.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

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