Demography and pathology of an urban slave population from New Orleans

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.