Demography of Skeletal Remains from Point San Jose

Summary

A critical question concerning the Point San Jose (PSJ) skeletal remains is the nature of the living population from which the assemblage was derived. We approach this issue indirectly through comparison with other mortality profiles. Here, we report the age, sex, and ancestry of the PSJ skeletal remains, and compare them with those parameters of other groups. The comparative age distributions consist of the 1870 California mortality census, 1870 California living census (as a proxy for a catastrophic population), mortality data from California military regulars, a hospital distribution, and a prehistoric distribution. The PSJ age distribution shows significant differences from all those groups except the hospital distribution. The PSJ sex ratio (approximately 3 females: 4 males) demonstrates similarities with the 1870 California mortality census. Ancestries present in the PSJ skeletal series indicate that Asian or Asian-related individuals equaled the number of European-derived ones, contrasting with the 1870 California mortality census. That mortality census consists of many more deaths among European-related people than Asian or Asian-related ones. Such exclusionary testing allows us to draw inferences about the selection processes at work in incorporating individuals into the PSJ assemblage.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21139