Osteological Analysis of Human Remains from the Historic Mt. Auburn United Methodist Cemetery, Indiana

• Main Authors: Sutter, Richard C, Guitierrez, J C, Lehman, A, McPherson, C, McVey, N, Staley, N, Taylor, A
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Opus: Research & Creativity at IPFW 2010
• Subjects: Anthropology; Archeological Survey
• Online Access: http://opus.ipfw.edu/anthro_facpubs/121

During the fall of 2008, the IPFW Archeological Survey excavated eighteen individuals from the Historic Mt. Auburn United Methodist Cemetery, Indiana as part of a mitigation project. Both historic records and associated grave hardware indicate that area of the cemetery where the remains were exhumed was in use from ca. 1860–1895. For this paper, we present the results of our osteological analyses. Human remains from the site range in age from ~7 months in utero to approximately 60 skeletal years of age, with the majority of the remains being those of subadults. Skeletal pathologies for adults largely reflect typical age related changes, including osteoarthritis and a high rate of dental pathologies indicative of a general lack of dental care. We also discuss the results of our analyses in light of other osteological trends reported for other skeletal analyses for remains of similar antiquity.