Reassessing Skeletal Stress Indicators: Implications for Changing Population Health in the Freedman’s Cemetery, Dallas, TX

Authors

• Samantha M. McCrane, University of West Florida, Office of the Medical Examiner
• Megan Fry, University of Cincinnati, University of Florida
• Siobhan A.E. Summers, University of Florida, University of Maryland

Document Type

Article

Anticipated Volume

96

Anticipated Issue

1

Abstract

Inferring biological stress from stature and skeletal pathological conditions is common practice in bioarchaeology. Interpretations of these data can greatly enrich knowledge about past peoples’ lifestyles, cultural practices, and socio-political constraints and shifts. However, interpretations are not always clear, are often drawn from a single skeletal indicator of stress and not always subjected to statistical testing. In this study, we reanalyze archaeological data from 742 individuals buried at Freedman’s Cemetery in Dallas, Texas. We focus on four commonly used skeletal measures of ‘stress,’ broadly defined (stature, linear enamel hypoplasia, porotic cranial lesions [e.g., cribra orbitalia & porotic hyperostosis], and bone infection) to infer the changing population health among African Americans at the turn of the century. The sample was divided into Antebellum (1820–1859), War & Reconstruction (1860–1879), and Post-Reconstruction (1880–1907) periods to elucidate temporal trends caused by the changing social and political climate to improve our understanding of physiological responses to external stress, as well as biological variation in an understudied population. Statistical tests showed that only LEH and infections varied significantly across the three periods: LEH decreased, and infections increased over time. LEH was more common in males and adults, while infections were more common in children. Porotic cranial lesions (PCL) were significantly associated with the Post-Reconstruction period only. There were no significant interactions between the different skeletal indicators of stress. Analyzing multiple skeletal indicators of stress with rigorous statistical testing and offering historically contextualized interpretations of bioarchaeological health assessments can provide nuanced understandings of population health during periods of dynamic social change.

Recommended Citation

McCrane, Samantha M.; Fry, Megan; and Summers, Siobhan A.E., "Reassessing Skeletal Stress Indicators: Implications for Changing Population Health in the Freedman’s Cemetery, Dallas, TX" (2026). Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints. 238.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol_preprints/238