Health effects of European colonization: An investigation of skeletal remains from 19th to early 20th century migrant settlers in South Australia

The British colony of South Australia, established in 1836, offered a fresh start to migrants hoping for a better life. A cohort of settlers buried in a section of St Mary’s Anglican Church Cemetery (1847–1927) allocated for government funded burials was investigated to determine their health, with a focus on skeletal manifestations associated with metabolic deficiencies. Findings of St Mary’s sample were compared with those published for contemporary skeletal samples from two British cemeteries, St Martin’s, Birmingham, and St Peter’s, Wolverhampton, to explore similarities and differences. To investigate the changing economic background of the St Mary’s cohort, which may have influenced the location of their burial within the cemetery, the number and demographic profile of government funded burials and those in privately funded leased plots were compared. The study sample consisted of the skeletal remains of 65 individuals (20 adults, 45 subadults) from St Mary’s Cemetery ‘free ground’ section. The bones and teeth of individuals in this cohort showed evidence of pathological manifestations, including areas of abnormal porosity in bone cortices in 9 adults and 12 subadults and flaring of metaphyses (one subadult) and costochondral junctions of the ribs (one subadult). Porous lesions of orbital roof bones (Types 3 to 4) were seen on three subadults. Macroscopic examination of teeth identified enamel hypoplastic defects and micro-CT scans showed areas of interglobular dentine. Comparison of St Mary’s findings with the British samples revealed that prevalences of manifestations associated with vitamin C deficiency were higher at St Mary’s and manifestations associated with vitamin D deficiency were lower respectively. The location of burial pattern at St Mary’s Cemetery, from the mid-1840s to1860s, showed differences in the economic status of migrants. This pattern changed from the 1870s, which reflected improvements in the local economy and the economic recovery of the colony.Angela Gurr, Jaliya Kumaratilake, Alan Henry Brook, Stella Ioannou, F. Donald Pate, Maciej Henneber

Teaching, Learning and Australian Archaeology

[Extract] This volume is based on papers and posters presented at the 2004 Australian Archaeological Association Annual Conference held at the University of New England,\ud Armidale, plus some additional contributions. In a session\ud called 'Learning Archaeology' organised by Wendy Beck,\ud Martin Gibbs and one of us (SC) contributors were asked to\ud address the following questions: How do we learn archaeology? What can we learn from archaeology? What are some links between learning, teaching, research and professional practice? Learning was defined not only as\ud formalised teaching in the class or field, but included learning through practice, learning for ourselves, and\ud learning and teaching through communicating our results\ud and knowledge to others.\ud \ud Papers which addressed the conference theme of 'Networks and Narratives' were especially welcome, however, any presentation relevant to the topic was encouraged. The only provisos were that papers must move beyond the purely anecdotal and descriptive, place teaching and learning into some broader theoretical framework and include analysis and discussion of some data or evidence to support their conclusions. Presenters were also asked to address issues of broad concern or interest to Australian archaeology

‘Do dead men tell no tales?’ The geographic origin of a colonial period Anglican cemetery population in Adelaide, South Australia, determined by isotope analyses

Tooth enamel and dentine samples from 13 individuals buried in the unmarked ‘free ground’ colonial section of St Mary’s Anglican Cemetery in Adelaide were analysed for oxygen and strontium isotopic composition to assist with the determination of their geographic origin. As the life history of these individuals is not well-documented in the historical record, isotopic data provide important information about migration and mobility in a colonial South Australian population. This was supplemented with further analysis of diet from previously published stable isotope data. While the results are somewhat ambiguous, they suggest that of the 13 individuals in this study, one was probably born in Adelaide, eight in Britain/Ireland, three could have been born in either location; one was born elsewhere. This interpretation supplements and supports the results from the analysis of skeletal morphology, microbiomes, and historical records.Christine Adams, Timothy D. Owen, F. Donald Pate, David Bruce, Kristine Nielson, Robert Klaebe, Maciej Henneberg and Ian Moffa

Baseline bioavailable strontium and oxygen isotope mapping of the Adelaide Region, South Australia

Strontium and oxygen isotopes provide a useful method for provenancing bioapaties, such as teeth and bone. In order for this approach to be successful, regional baseline bioavailable isotope data are required; however, few databases are currently available in Australia. This study measured stable oxygen and bioavailable strontium isotope ratios from low mobility fauna sampled from the major geological and physiographic provinces in Adelaide, South Australia in order to create a database for this region. Bioavailable strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) obtained from the predominantly siliciclastic metasediments of the Neoproterozoic Adelaide Geosyncline have a range of 0.7122 ± 0.0001 to 0.7202 ± 0.0001. Cainozoic samples (dominantly terrestrial fluvial/lacustrine and marine carbonate sediments) from the Adelaide Plains have values in the range of 0.7098 ± 0.0002 to 0.7121 ± 0.0001. Samples from the alluvial fan sediments near the Eden-Burnside Fault at the boundary between these regions have values of 0.7131 ± 0.0001 to 0.7143 ± 0.0001. Stable oxygen isotope results range from − 9.5 to − 4.5‰ δ18OC (VPDB) and do not appear to vary systematically based on elevation, temperature, rainfall or humidity. These results demonstrate that strontium isotopes are potentially a useful tool for provenance studies within the Adelaide area. Oxygen is probably a more appropriate tool for discriminating seasonality rather than location within the study region. This research also suggests that rats are better suited for mapping strontium isoscapes than koalas, and that, while (non-systematic) offsets appear to exist between laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICPMS) and thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS) data, this effect is considerably less than the variation between geological provenances in the region.Lee Rippon, Mark Rollog, David Bruce, Juraj Farkas, F. Donald Pate, Timothy Owen ... et al

Initial results and observations on a radiocarbon dating program in the Riverland region of South Australia

This paper presents a preliminary occupation chronology for the Riverland region of South Australia, based on 31 radiocarbon age determinations. This region has represented a significant geographic gap in understanding occupation chronologies for the broader Murray-Darling Basin. The dating forms part of an ongoing research program exploring the long-term engagements of Aboriginal people with the habitat mosaics of the central River Murray corridor. Dating targets were selected on the basis of their landscape context. Results relate occupation evidence to an evolving riverine landscape through the period extending from approximately 29 ka to the late Holocene. These results include the first pre-Last Glacial Maximum ages returned on the River Murray in South Australia and extend the known Aboriginal occupation of the Riverland by approximately 22,000 years. © 2020 Informa UK Limite