Reconstructing the Childhood Diet of an 18Th to 19Th Century Land

RECONSTRUCTING THE CHILDHOOD DIET OF AN 18TH TO 19TH CENTURY LAND- OWNING FAMILY IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA by Corinne Taylor August, 2020 Director of Thesis: Dr. Megan Perry Major Department: Anthropology Breastfeeding and weaning practices can greatly impact a child’s immune system development and nutritional status, later causing long-term health effects. This research explores the relationships between weaning practices, metabolic disease, and childhood frailty in an 18th to 19th century coastal North Carolina land-owning family. Ten individuals were recovered from the 2017 and 2018 field seasons at the Gause cemetery at Seaside (GCAS), and six of the ten individuals were under the age of eight. Most of the GCAS individuals experienced non-specific physiological stress in the form of either dental enamel hypoplasias (DEH) and/or cribra orbitalia. The δ15N and δ13C values received from incremental dentin collagen of 13 teeth and 10 bone collagen samples were used to analyze dietary and trophic level shifts that occurred during weaning and post-weaning periods. Additionally, radiographic and histological analysis were performed on the first permanent molars of the adult from Grave 2, and two subadults from Grave 9 and Grave 10 Burial 1, to determine whether they experienced a metabolic disease during childhood. The GCAS sample had a diet consisting of C3 plants with supplementation of marine sources or C4 plants. The GCAS sample ceased weaning at age 2.5 years with a weaning diet that largely consisted of C3 plants with a larger contribution of C4 plants than adults. Stable isotopes incremental dentin values were compared to DEH formation ages. Much but not all of the DEH coincided with the weaning period of the GCAS sample. Only the adult individual from Grave 2 experienced interglobular dentin (IGD) between the ages of 2.5 and 3 years suggesting they were vitamin D deficient. Evidence from analysis of stable isotopes and dental histology indicates that weaning age and metabolic disease did not notably increase childhood frailty in this family. RECONSTRUCTING THE CHILDHOOD DIET OF AN 18TH TO 19TH CENTURY LAND- OWNING FAMILY IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA A Thesis Presented To the Faculty of the Department of Anthropology East Carolina University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts, Anthropology by Corinne Taylor August, 2020 © Corinne Taylor, 2020 Title: RECONSTRUCTING THE CHILDHOOD DIET OF AN 18TH TO 19TH CENTURY LAND-OWNING FAMILY IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA By Corinne Taylor APPROVED BY: DIRECTOR OF THESIS: Megan A. Perry, PhD COMMITTEE MEMEMBER: Charles Ewen, PhD COMMITTEE MEMEMBER: James Loudon, PhD COMMITTEE MEMEMBER: Robert Tykot, PhD DEPARTMENT CHAIRPERSON: I. Randolph Daniel Jr., PhD DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL: Paul J. Gemperline, PhD ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank Mr. J.R. Robinson for providing me the opportunity to study his ancestor’s remains and delve deeper into the Gause family history and daily lives of North Carolina land-owning families in 18th and 19th century. I would also like to thank Dr. Megan Perry for supporting and guiding me through each stage of my research. Furthermore, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Robert H. Tykot for teaching and instructing me through the process of prepping stable isotope samples, and Dr. Andrea Vianello for his help prepping some of my stable isotope samples. Special thanks also to Dr. James Loudon, Dr. Charles Ewen, and Dr. Robert H. Tykot for serving as my thesis committee members. Additionally, I am deeply grateful to Courtney Grace Olah for providing assistance in prepping teeth to be examined and analyzed for interglobular dentin. Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family for helping and supporting me along this journey and for providing endless love and support every step of the way. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Intellectual merit ......................................................................................................................... 2 Broader impacts........................................................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER TWO: BACKGROUND .............................................................................................. 5 Historical background ................................................................................................................. 5 Excavation of the Gause Cemetery at Seaside .......................................................................... 19 Diet and subsistence in 18th and early 19th century coastal North Carolina .............................. 26 Investigations of diet and weaning practices using stable isotopes .......................................... 32 Bioarchaeological investigation of metabolic disease .............................................................. 39 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 49 CHAPTER THREE: METHODS ................................................................................................. 51 Stable isotope methods .............................................................................................................. 51 Radiographic and histological methods .................................................................................... 55 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS ..................................................................................................... 53 Stable isotope analysis .............................................................................................................. 53 Infants (Grave 10 Burial 2 Individuals 1 and 2, Grave 11, and Grave 12) .......................... 64 Grave 2 .................................................................................................................................. 65 Grave 3 .................................................................................................................................. 66 Grave 6 .................................................................................................................................. 67 Grave 8 .................................................................................................................................. 68 Grave 9 .................................................................................................................................. 69 Grave 10 Burial 1 .................................................................................................................. 70 Adults and Subadults ............................................................................................................. 71 Non-specific physiological stress and stable isotopes............................................................... 73 Grave 2 .................................................................................................................................. 74 Grave 3 .................................................................................................................................. 74 Grave 6 .................................................................................................................................. 75 Grave 8 .................................................................................................................................. 76 Grave 9 .................................................................................................................................. 77 Grave 10 Burial 1 .................................................................................................................. 78 Childhood vitamin D deficiency ............................................................................................... 79 Radiograph and Microscopy Results ..................................................................................... 79 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION ................................................................................................. 83 Overall diet ................................................................................................................................ 84 Weaning practices and childhood diet ...................................................................................... 89 Non-Specific Physiological Stress and Stable Isotopes ......................................................... 93 Variation between Types of Tissues ....................................................................................... 93 Childhood vitamin D deficiency ............................................................................................... 95 Implications ............................................................................................................................... 97 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION ................................................................................................

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