Historical Mass Cholera Cemetery from San Juan, Puerto Rico: Inventory and Analysis of Bioarchaeological Deposits
Sabrina Agarwal, Professor
Anthropology
Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.
In 1855 Puerto Rico was struck by a cholera epidemic that killed nearly 10% of the population.
Due to the high volume of the deceased and fear of the disease spreading further, a cemetery outside of the city walls of San Juan was established. With time, this mass grave was
forgotten, and today, a city hiking trail lays on top it on the edge of a National Park. Due to environmental and anthropogenic
erosion of the landscape, human bone fragments became already visible on the surface, causing an urgent need for a rescue bioarchaeological project. As the field of bioarchaeology continues its path toward more ethical and community-oriented work, our research project in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is recovering the remains of dozens and possibly hundreds of individuals who died during the 19th century and early 20th century, and whose skeletal remains ended up in this forgotten part of the city’s cemetery. Apart from recovering these remains from further destruction and damage, this project seeks to understand who these individuals were, how they lived, and why they ended up in this forgotten burial ground outside the city walls and cemetery.
In recent years, we have conducted archival research to find the little information there is on this mass grave, its creation, use, and later detachment from the cemetery boundaries. We have also conducted pedestrian and geophysical surveys, including magnetometer and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). During Summer 2023 and 2024, excavations have recovered thousands of skeletal fragments associated with this annex of the cemetery, including secondary depositions.
Role: This part of the URAP project deals with the post-excavation processing and inventory of these skeletal remains which are temporarily on loan in the Anthropology Skeletal Biology Laboratory. The primary goal is to inventory the elements and determine the Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI).
The undergraduate student(s) involved in this project will beprovided with all necessary background information regarding the project, the site, and the excavations that have taken place in the past. The undergraduate student will be trained in the post-excavation processing of the skeletal remains, osteological data collection, and data entry and management. The main task of the undergraduate student is to process the skeletal material and to record osteological landmarks to be used in the MNI estimation.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Jose Marrero Rosado, Graduate Student
Qualifications: Qualifications: To be a good candidate for this job you should be highly detail-oriented, organized, reliable, patient, diligent, and coordinated for delicate hands-on work. Applicants must be willing to work carefully and respectfully with archaeological human skeletal materials. The cleaning and inventory of fragmented skeletal remains is an incredibly detailed, time-consuming process, so applicants who showcase concentration for extended periods of time and patience will be prioritized. Students must be willing to follow proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) protocols and standard operating procedures within lab. Prerequisites: having taken or current enrollment in Anth 127A (Skeletal Biology/Bioarcheology), Anthro 112, human anatomy, osteology or forensic anthropology, or otherwise knowledge of human skeletal system and bone biology. Proficiency in Excel required. Quantitative analysis and understanding is a plus and any statistical software (SPSS, JMP, R) would also be great.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Jose Marrero Rosado, Graduate Student
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Related website: www.sabrinaagarwal.com
Social Sciences