Approaches to Sample Selection for Strontium Isotope Testing Within Historic Cemetery Contexts: An Illustrative Example from the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery Project

Summary

Strontium isotope analyses have become a vibrant frontier for historic cemetery research in the United States. Isotopic analyses can make vital contributions to our understanding of the past, particularly in the categories of demographics, temporal refinements, and individual identifications. This analytical method can be understood as a catalyst for research- similar to a catalyst in a chemical reaction. When utilized in combination with multiple lines of evidence, strontium analyses become a powerful, albeit expensive, tool. Thus, one of the most important components of strontium isotope research is sample selection. How a sample set is developed depends on the proposed research questions and what additional types of evidence are available for a given historic cemetery context. An illustrative example of how to negotiate the process of sample selection is provided within the framework of a major ongoing research project based on the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery (MCPFC) Collection.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Bookends: What We’ve Learned in the Twenty-two Years Separating Archaeological Excavations of the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 224