Analysis of the Ft. Laurens, Ohio, skeletal sample

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This report describes the analysis of the Colonial Period (1779) skeletal sample (N = 21) from Ft. Laurens, Ohio. The determination of age, sex, and ancestry reveals a relatively young sample (x = 23.5 years) of males of northern European ancestry. Morphometric analysis shows little difference in cranial and postcranial size and shape measures between this sample and a modern sample of Euro‐Americans and previously described Colonial to Civil War samples. The analysis of skeletal pathologies indicates that the individuals in the Ft. Laurens sample were active and subject to at least moderate amounts of stress. Dental pathologies were frequent, with a caries incidence higher than would be expected for a Euro‐American Colonial period sample. Numerous traumatic pathologies, in the form of cut and hack marks, are present in this sample. These marks were expected, since historical records indicate a violent death and scalping for virtually all individuals lost at Ft. Laurens. The results of the various analyses are interpreted in light of available historical information. In most cases the results are consistent with historically based expectations.