Cemetery
Investigations
Population
Demography
Resource
list
compiled
by
Dr.
Laura
Guertin,
Earth
Science,
Penn
State
Brandywine
Educational
modules
Ecological Society of America lab – Cemetery Demography
http://tiee.ecoed.net/vol/expv1/cemetery/cemetery.pdf
Human Population Ecology: Demography
http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/demography.html
http://www.science.widener.edu/~grant/courses/cemet154.html
Cemetery Demography. From Empire State College.
http://www1.esc.edu/personalstaff/kwatson/fieldwork_site/cemetery.htm
Cemetery Demography. From Evergreen State College.
http://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/generalbiologyecology/cemeterylab.pdf
Using local cemeteries to study life tables and demographics. From Lawrence Academy.
http://www.enviroliteracy.org/pdf/materials/1245.pdf
Demography from Epitaphs
http://www.unc.edu/~killgrov/ANTH116/cemetery-project.pdf
Human
survivorship
data
collected
from
cemeteries
http://academics.hamilton.edu/biology/ewilliam/cemetery/
http://facstaff.bloomu.edu/mwood/cemetery/cemetery.html
http://biology.wsc.ma.edu/biology/experiments/cemetery.html
Cemetery
listings
with
data
New Woodstock Cemetery, Town of Cazenovia, Madison County, NY
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nyccazen/Cemeteries/Cazenovia/NewWoodstockCem.html
Evergreen Cemetery, Fayetteville, Arkansas
http://www.projectpast.org/gvogel/Evergreen/Evergreen.html
Articles
Dethlefsen, E.S., & Jensen, K. (1977). Social commentary from the cemetery. National History,
86(6): 32-39.
Gwatkin, D.R., & Brandel, S.K. (1982). Life expectancy and population growth in the third
world. Scientific American, 246(5): 57-65.
Mahler, H. (1980). People. Scientific American, 243(3): 67-77.
Peer‐reviewed
journal
articles
Condran, G., & Crimmins, E. (1980). Mortality differentials between rural and urban areas of
states in the northeastern United States 1800-1900. Journal of Historical Geography, 6(2): 179202.
Dethlefsen, E.S. (1969). Colonial gravestones and demography. American Journal of Physical
Anthropology, 31(3): 321-333.
Abstract
This paper discusses in a general way the range and use of demographic data that are, or may be, retrieved
from colonial New England gravestones. In particular it examines some limitations of the usefulness of
these data. The uses of gravestone data are also discussed in conjunction with those of published vital
records and of early census figures. An optimistic view is expressed of the feasability of using such data in
bridging the credibility gap between paleo and modern demography, with particular reference to
possible studies of average age at death and of population composition and change.
Foster, G.S., & Eckert, C.M. (2003). Up from the grave: a sociohistorical reconstruction of an
African American community from cemetery data in the rural Midwest. Journal of Black
Studies, 33(4): 468-489.
Abstract
Sociohistorical reconstructions of African American communities in the Midwest are often dependent on
diaries and letters that provide a wealth of detail but may not represent the collective pattern. Cemetery and
burial records data are used to reconstruct a sociodemographic profile of a small 19th- and 20th-century
African American community in the rural Midwest. Surnames of African Americans (and their ancestors)
were disproportionately British, suggesting association with or ownership by those of British heritage.
Although the mean age of the Black community was significantly younger than that of the White
community, childhood mortality was no greater. Rather, Blacks generally did not live as long as Whites in
adulthood. However, racial crossover was present. The Black community was disproportionately male,
suggesting a frontier phenomenon and instability, and disproportionately experienced violent mortality.
Seasonal death patterns among Blacks typified a younger population. Finally, familial measures suggest the
Black community was tentative and tenuous.
Kuntz, S. (1984). Mortality change in America, 1620-1920. Human Biology, 56: 559-582.
Abstract
The changing mortality patterns and the dynamics of infectious diseases among the generations of
immigrants to the United States and their descendants are examined for the period 1620 to 1920. During the
colonial period, high levels of baseline mortality were exacerbated by epidemics; dysentery and malaria
were the most significant endemic diseases. From the end of the colonial period to the Civil War, mortality
stabilized as population density became sufficient to make measles and smallpox endemic childhood
diseases. "Between the Civil War and World War I both urban and rural mortality began to decline despite
the fact that more migrants than ever flooded the cities from high mortality countries of eastern and
southern Europe. The decline was the result first of a drop in significance of endemic named diseases,
followed by the non-specific pneumonia-diarrhea complex affecting infants and young children."
L’Abbe, E.N., Steyn, M., & Loots, M. (2008). Life expectancy of the 20th century Venda: a
compilation of skeletal and cemetery data. HOMO – Journal of Comparative Human Biology,
59(3): 189-207.
Abstract
Little information is available on the 20th century mortality rates of rural black South African groups, such
as the Venda. The purpose of this study was to apply abridged life tables in order to estimate life
expectancy from both skeletal remains and death registry information of modern South African
communities. Comparisons were also made with prehistoric and contemporary groups as a means to better
evaluate life expectancy for this time period. The sample consisted of 160 skeletons of known Venda origin
and burial registry information for 1364 black South Africans from the Rebecca Street and Mamelodi
Cemeteries in Pretoria, South Africa. Standard anthropological techniques were applied to determine sex
and estimate age from the skeletal remains. The stationary and non-stationary life table models were used
to analyse the data. A high rate of child mortality, low juvenile and adult mortality with a steady increase in
mortality after the age of 30 years was observed for both the Venda and the cemetery samples. Throughout
the 20th century, life expectancy was shown to increase for black South Africans. However, due to the
widespread HIV infection/AIDS of the 21st century, infant and young adult mortality rates continue to rise
at such a speed that the decline in mortality seen for South Africans in the last 50 years will most likely to
be lost in the next decade due to this disease.
Owsley, D.W., Orser, C.E., Mann, R.W., Moore-Jansen, P.H., & Montgomery, R.L. (1987).
Demography and pathology of an urban slave population from New Orleans. American Journal
of Physical Anthropology, 74(2): 185-197.
Abstract
Twenty-nine skeletons from the first cemetery in New Orleans provide significant new information about
urban slavery in America. Dating as early as 1720 and used perhaps as late as 1810, the cemetery provided
an identifiable sample of two whites, 13 blacks, one individual of possible Indian-white ancestry, and two
possibly mulatto individuals. Numerous skeletal and dental lesions were noted in the series, and historical
information was used in conjunction with the physical data to draw conclusions about rates and patterns of
mortality. Pathological changes indicate that the cemetery contained individuals representing two slave
occupational groups, house servants and laborers. This research provides information in the expanding area
of Afro-American biohistorical research.
List compiled July 2008