Bioarchaeology of Burials Associated with the Elkins Site (7NC-G-174)

Summary

Bioarchaeological interpretations of five burials from a small family cemetery likely associated with one of the domestic structures at the Elkins Site integrate information from in situ data collection and standard laboratory assessment, as well as DNA and stable isotope analysis. Four of the burials (two adult males and two adult females) were tightly clustered and the fifth burial (a male infant) was spatially separated within the cemetery. Despite craniofacial morphology that could be mistaken as indicating African ancestry, all individuals had European maternal ancestry as revealed by mtDNA. The craniofacial morphology observed is often found among early Colonial Europeans in North America. Additionally, mtDNA analysis revealed that one of the adult males (60+ years of age) shared a maternal relationship with the infant whose sex was determined via DNA analysis.

Cite this Record

Bioarchaeology of Burials Associated with the Elkins Site (7NC-G-174). Ashley H. McKeown, Meradeth H. Snow, Rosanne Bongiovanni, Kirsten A. Green, Kathleen Hauther, Rachel Summers-Wilson. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Washington, D.C. 2016 ( tDAR id: 434622)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 515