Penn State student 阿德里亚娜Vagelli's 本科研究 project won first place at the 讴歌 poster fair for information literacy.
阿宾顿,爸爸. — 阿德里亚娜Vagelli was watching a story unfold on a local television newscast.
“It was about graves from an old cemetery accidentally being dug up in Old City (Philadelphia),“ 宾州州立大学阿宾顿分校 高级说. “他们想确认埋葬在那里的人的身份. 我很感兴趣，想参与其中.”
The remains and coffins were being evaluated by a team of volunteer archaeologists from Rutgers University, 费城穆特博物馆, 和新泽西学院, 谁把它称为“拱街工程”." Vagelli contacted the Rutgers professor who was leading the investigation, 她被邀请加入了这个小组.
Vagelli的获奖 讴歌 (阿宾顿 College 本科研究 Activities) and her Schreyer Honors College thesis were born out of this salvage 考古 project at the former burial ground of the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia.
Workers excavate the site of the former cemetery in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia in 2017.
Vagelli, 在新泽西的仓库里和团队一起工作的人, 专注于一个叫托马斯·威尔的人的遗体.
“The purpose of my study was to conduct a socio-anthropological analysis of Thomas Weir’s remains and burial characteristics to uncover information about his life,“ 生物学 主要说.
详尽的图书馆, museum and archival research concluded that the majority of the excavated remains most likely dated from the 18th century, “meaning that they could belong to one of five possible individuals named Thomas Weir who died during that time frame,瓦格里说.
Since most of the recovered coffins displayed hardware that dated to the mid- to late-18th century, 很可能威尔就是在那段时间里去世的. 除了, a coffin carrying a nameplate very similar in style and identical in font to Weir’s had a legible date of death of 1782.
瓦格里研究的第一步是对骨骼进行总体盘点, 记录每块骨头的缺失或保存的百分比, 包括牙齿. Next, a skeletal analysis was conducted in the Anthropology Laboratory at the College of New Jersey. 性别估计是通过研究骨盆和头骨确定的.
Most of Weir’s bones were recovered, although the facial bones were missing. The skeletal remains were in good condition except for damage to the cranium that probably occurred post-mortem, 最有可能是在挖掘过程中, as evidenced by the differences in the color and soil deposits between the surfaces and the rupture lines of the bone fragments.
一张1858年的费城地图，地图上有公墓的位置.
瓦格里从这个托马斯·威尔身上了解到了什么? 他是一名成年男性，身高约5英尺5英寸, which was determined using the statistical program FORDISC by measuring the left femur and tibia.
瓦格里说，他死时的年龄在23岁到39岁之间. The age estimate was determined by analyzing the clavicles, pubic symphyses, and the sacrum. 尽管骨骼分析确定了大致的年龄, Weir most likely was not older than 29 given the “2” visible on the nameplate on his casket.
Pathologies were determined by visually inspecting each bone 包括牙齿, 注意任何异常情况. 他的骨骼残骸显示出明显的骨病理或骨病. Weir’s dental inventory determined that three teeth were missing before death and one was post-mortem, 据瓦格里说. The disruption of enamel formation of the incisors could indicate a disease or tooth 感染.
The presence of protrusions of the intervertebral discs into vertebrae in Weir’s lower back could indicate weakened endplates due to stress or direct trauma. Indications of osteoarthritis vertebral pathologies suggest that Weir may have participated in activities that required heavy lifting.
除了, Vagelli报道, an area showing healing in the right tibia indicates Weir suffered either some type of significant injury, 感染, 或者右腿有肿瘤.
在18和19世纪, coffins in Philadelphia were made by cabinetmakers and often exhibited imported English decorative hardware such as inscription plates and handles, 说Vagelli. Only a few of the unearthed coffins still had metal plates displaying some information such as the name and date and age of death. The plates were generally poorly preserved and only partial information was distinguishable.
The coffin and remains of Weir are examples of one of these cases, explained Vagelli. 魏尔被葬在六角形木棺中, which displayed decorative hardware including a metal inscription plate and handles. It’s hexagonal design (versus a simpler square one), its decorative hardware, and the “Mr.” inscription on the nameplate indicates Weir had some social standing.
“The coffin style suggested that Weir had a certain amount of wealth,瓦格里说.
不幸的是, 尽管她努力了, available resources could not determine this Thomas Weir's true identity, 说Vagelli.
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