April 8th, 2014
Today during class we drove to the Williamsport Cemetery to complete the lab; Gravestones as Indicators of Human Demography. Our goal is to learn how to extract information concerning death rates from the study of tombstones.
Data Collection:
(1) Period 1 1800-1875
(2) Period 2 1876-1945
(3) Period 3 1946-present
Ages:
(N) Neonatal 0-1 yrs
(SB) Sub Adult 2-15 yrs
(A) Adult 16-45 yrs
(O) Older Adult 46-..n
Tombstone types:
(C) cross
(H) headstone
(SP) ground level stone plaque
(SM) stone monument
Data collection
We also walked over to St. Boniface Cemetery to take down last names:
Ziegler Seewald
Younes Crouse
Blitz Katz
Kern Gnilka
Aleberte Kressling
Hartland Yagle
Fischer Kranz
Cummings Staib
Orso
Audet
Juskowiak
Fitzpatrick
Yetter
1) Adults had the highest mortality rates for the first time period.
2) Older adults had the highest mortality rates from the second time period.
3) Older adults had the highest mortality rates from the third time period.
4) Yes, once into the 3rd period there was basically no neonatal or sub adults buried in the cemetery.
5) Life spans were shorter in the first time period.
6) The second time period had many more adults and sub adults, also the first had the most infants.
7) Different living conditions and scientific advances in health care would cause pattern changes.
8) The men had more older adults buried, but a female was the oldest adult I recorded (97). The men lived into their 60's and 70's.
9) In the earlier time periods the women died younger than the men, but in the 3rd the women started to live longer. I would assume this is due to the dangers of childbirth in the first time period.
10) The tombstones were mostly headstones, and then stone plaques. Rarely a stone monument among my sample. Stone monuments indicated a wealthy person, unlike a cheaper headstone, or stone plaque.
Today during class we drove to the Williamsport Cemetery to complete the lab; Gravestones as Indicators of Human Demography. Our goal is to learn how to extract information concerning death rates from the study of tombstones.
Data Collection:
(1) Period 1 1800-1875
(2) Period 2 1876-1945
(3) Period 3 1946-present
Ages:
(N) Neonatal 0-1 yrs
(SB) Sub Adult 2-15 yrs
(A) Adult 16-45 yrs
(O) Older Adult 46-..n
Tombstone types:
(C) cross
(H) headstone
(SP) ground level stone plaque
(SM) stone monument
Data collection
We also walked over to St. Boniface Cemetery to take down last names:
Ziegler Seewald
Younes Crouse
Blitz Katz
Kern Gnilka
Aleberte Kressling
Hartland Yagle
Fischer Kranz
Cummings Staib
Orso
Audet
Juskowiak
Fitzpatrick
Yetter
1) Adults had the highest mortality rates for the first time period.
2) Older adults had the highest mortality rates from the second time period.
3) Older adults had the highest mortality rates from the third time period.
4) Yes, once into the 3rd period there was basically no neonatal or sub adults buried in the cemetery.
5) Life spans were shorter in the first time period.
6) The second time period had many more adults and sub adults, also the first had the most infants.
7) Different living conditions and scientific advances in health care would cause pattern changes.
8) The men had more older adults buried, but a female was the oldest adult I recorded (97). The men lived into their 60's and 70's.
9) In the earlier time periods the women died younger than the men, but in the 3rd the women started to live longer. I would assume this is due to the dangers of childbirth in the first time period.
10) The tombstones were mostly headstones, and then stone plaques. Rarely a stone monument among my sample. Stone monuments indicated a wealthy person, unlike a cheaper headstone, or stone plaque.
