Bioarchaeological and Archaeological Analysis of Human Remains from a Medical Waste Deposit at Point San Jose, San Francisco

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Life and Death in the San Francisco Bay: Multi-Disciplinary Approaches to Historic Lifeways", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 2010, human and faunal remains and medical waste were inadvertently discovered in a pit behind the historic military hospital at Point San Jose (now Fort Mason), San Francisco. The contents of the pit dated to the 1870s. In partnership with the National Park Service, Chico State anthropologists analyzed the skeletal material to reconstruct bioarchaeological and archaeological information. Most faunal remains indicated food refuse and other artifacts reflected hospital waste. The human skeletal remains consisted of portions of at least 22 individuals, including both sexes, and various ages and ancestries. Postmortem modifications included incised and saw cut marks, suggesting these were cadavers used for anatomical dissection and training. Pathological indicators suggested moderate levels of disease and stress, and isotope studies indicated a diet of C3 terrestrial resources and a nonlocal origin for the individuals. We review these studies and reflect on the use of the socially marginalized for anatomical dissection.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• Life and Death in the San Francisco Bay: Multi-Disciplinary Approaches to Historic Lifeways

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow