A preliminary investigation of lead poisoning in a Napoleonic era naval cemetery in Antigua, W.I.
A preliminary investigation of lead poisoning in a Napoleonic era naval cemetery in Antigua, W.I.
Author
Varney, Tamara L.
Swanston, Treena
Coulthard, Ian
Cooper, David M. L.
George, Graham N.
Pickering, Ingrid J.
Murphy, A. Reginald
Faculty Advisor
Date
2012
Keywords
colonial West Indies , lead , synchrotron techniques , bioarchaeology
Abstract (summary)
Lead poisoning has been suggested as being
partially responsible for the ‘demise’ of the British
military in the West Indies during the colonial era.
Lead was pervasive in the colonial environment, being
employed in items such as eating and cooking
utensils, water catchments and alcohol distillation
equipment. This preliminary study represents the first
attempt to determine whether this suggestion has any
validity. A bone sample taken from an individual
excavated from a cemetery associated with a Royal
Naval Hospital cemetery (c. 1793-1822 C.E.) in
Antigua was used for initial testing. A control sample
from an individual from a pre-contact site provided
baseline/control data. Lead levels and distribution in
the samples were mapped by synchrotron microprobe
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) at the Stanford
Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL).
Preliminary results revealed that the precontact
sample had little to no detectable lead, while that
from the historic period did indeed contain lead.
Further, within the historic sample, discreet biological
structures were found to contain a high level of lead
relative to the surrounding bone. This result strongly
suggests a biogenic rather than diagenetic origin for
the heavy metal. This study marks the first successful
application of this technology to archaeological bone
samples from this region, and represents an exciting
new potential tool for bioarchaeology.
Publication Information
Varney, T., T. Swanston, I. Coulthard, D.M.L. Cooper, G.N. George, I.J. Pickering, and A.R. Murphy. 2012. A Preliminary Investigation of Lead Poisoning in a Napoleonic Era Naval Cemetery in Antigua, W.I. Caribbean Connections 2(1) Special Issue focusing on the Bioarchaeology of the Caribbean http://fieldresearchcentre.weebly.com/issues.html
DOI
Notes
Item Type
Article
Language
English
Rights
All Rights Reserved