Bioarchaeology of a Hospital Cemetery from the American Revolution: The Courtland Street Burying Ground, Lake George, New York

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "“A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 1776, at the end of the failed campaign to take Quebec, the greatest threat to the Continental Army was not battlefield trauma but disease. The retreat from Canada to New York was marred by an epidemic of smallpox and thousands were sent to a hospital hastily established at Fort George on the southern end of Lake George, NY. Inadequate medical knowledge and a lack of basic supplies contributed to hundreds of deaths in just a few months. In 2019, an unmarked cemetery associated with the general hospital was disturbed by construction. It became the subject of a large-scale recovery and analysis by community volunteers and professionals. The commingled remains of more than 40 individuals likely represent a cross section of the military including noncombatants and reinforcements. Most exhibit little evidence of the expected health and musculoskeletal stress possibly due to their brief time in service and acute disease.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025   •
• “A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow