"The dead shall be raised": Multidisciplinary analysis of human skeletons reveals complexity in 19th century immigrant socioeconomic history and identity in New Haven, Connecticut.

摘要: In July 2011, renovations to Yale-New Haven Hospital inadvertently exposed the cemetery of Christ Church, New Haven, Connecticut's first Catholic cemetery. While this was active between 1833 and 1851, both church its disappeared from public records, making discovery serendipitous. Four relatively well-preserved adult skeletons were recovered with few artifacts. All four individuals show indicators manual labor, health disease stressors, dental issues. Two trauma, possibility judicial hanging in one individual. Musculoskeletal markings are consistent physical stress, two have arthritic repetitive movement/specialized activities. Radiographic analyses osteopenia, healed other pathologies several individuals. Dental calculus analysis did not identify any tuberculosis indicators, despite osteological markers. Isotopic teeth indicate that all likely recent immigrants Northeastern United States. Nuclear mitochondrial DNA three individuals, these identified ancestry, hair/eye color, relatedness. Genetic isotopic results upended our initial ancestry assessment based on burial context alone. These provide biocultural evidence Haven's Industrial Revolution plasticity ethnic religious identity immigrant experience. Their recovery multifaceted described here illuminate a previously undescribed part city's rich history. The collective expertise biological, geochemical, archaeological, historical researchers interprets socioeconomic cultural better than could Our combined efforts changed assumptions poor urban cemetery's membership, template for future discoveries analyses.