Regional insights into childhood lead exposure from historical North American skeletal remains ...

• Main Author: Munkittrick, Tricia Jessica Anne
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 2024
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48336/qrj0-y418; http://research.library.mun.ca/id/eprint/16456

Lead (Pb) concentration and isotope analyses of human remains have been used to examine differences in Pb exposure to examine the movement of peoples and Pb-containing cultural materials. The thesis reviewed 55 bioarchaeological studies of Pb concentrations and isotope analyses of teeth and identified limitations in the archaeological, ethnographic, and historical documentation, and variability in tooth choice and analytical approach that complicate transparency and interpretation. Early fishing settlements (17ᵗʰ to 19ᵗʰ century) in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia lacked local anthropogenic Pb exposure. Pb concentrations in tooth enamel of 46 individuals from St. Paul’s Anglican Church (Harbour Grace), Foxtrap-2 (Foxtrap), Wester Point (Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s), Tors Cove, St. Luke’s Anglican Church (Placentia), and Block-3 (Louisbourg) cemeteries ranged from 0.1 to 28.9 ppm. These were compared to 19 individuals associated with the mid-18ᵗʰ-century St. John’s Royal Naval cemetery, Newfoundland who showed ...