‘Do dead men tell no tales?’ The geographic origin of a colonial period Anglican cemetery population in Adelaide, South Australia, determined by isotope analyses

Abstract

Tooth enamel and dentine samples from 13 individuals buried in the unmarked ‘free ground’ colonial section of St Mary’s Anglican Cemetery in Adelaide were analysed for oxygen and strontium isotopic composition to assist with the determination of their geographic origin. As the life history of these individuals is not well-documented in the historical record, isotopic data provide important information about migration and mobility in a colonial South Australian population. This was supplemented with further analysis of diet from previously published stable isotope data. While the results are somewhat ambiguous, they suggest that of the 13 individuals in this study, one was probably born in Adelaide, eight in Britain/Ireland, three could have been born in either location; one was born elsewhere. This interpretation supplements and supports the results from the analysis of skeletal morphology, microbiomes, and historical records.

Keywords:

• Strontium and oxygen isotopes
• Adelaide
• provenance
• mobility
• geographic origin
• St Mary’s Anglican Church cemetery

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a Flinders University Faculty of EHL grant to Pate, Owen, and Moffat. Ian Moffat is the recipient of Australian Research Council Discovery Early Researcher Career Award (DE160100703). The analytical facilities used in the study were supported by Australian Research Council grants (LE140100141 and LE180100185). The study was conducted as a thesis component (Adams 2019) of the Master of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Management program at Flinders University, and is a component of a larger research project involving St Mary’s Anglican Cemetery in Adelaide.