OBJECTIVES:During the nineteenth century, the health and living conditions of many working-class European peoples declined in association with growing industrialization and urbanization. Emigration to British colonies grew as people sought to escape such hardships. This research presents the first direct comparison of dental markers of stress in a case study of migrants to a British colony (Otago, New Zealand) alongside a contemporaneous assemblage representing an origin population (London, United Kingdom). MATERIALS AND METHODS:Dental markers of childhood stress, accentuated lines, were observed in thin-sections of archeological teeth from adults (n = 9) and children (n = 16) interred in London, United Kingdom (UK), and adult European migrants interred in Otago, New Zealand (NZ) (n = 24) using standard histological techniques. RESULTS:All individuals interred in London, and 92% (22/24) of those in New Zealand exhibited evidence of accentuated line formation within the first 2.5 years of life. There was no difference in median accentuated line occurrence between adults and children interred in the UK. However, NZ adults had a lower median occurrence of accentuated lines over the first 2.5 years since birth (5 ALs/individual) than UK adults (13 ALs/individual). Accentuated lines most frequently occurred in infancy for all three groups examined. However, temporal trends in accentuated line occurrence differed between groups in association with age. DISCUSSION:These results highlight the impact of childhood stresses on working-class people growing up during the nineteenth century, underlining potential differences in the childhood experiences of hardship in individuals that remained in Britain and those that departed for foreign soils.

Physiological stress during early life can impede development, and signals of this are preserved in nonremodelling tissues such as dental enamel. This article describes nonspecific stress markers in the teeth of European (n = 30) and Southern Chinese (n = 15) adult migrants to New Zealand, and colony-born children (n = 10) interred in four historic Otago cemeteries (c. 1857-1904). Standard histological methods were used to identify and trace accentuated lines (ALs), indicators of enamel formation disruption. All Chinese adults, 93.3% of European adults, and 90% of New Zealand-born subadults exhibited AL formation. Chinese adults exhibited the highest mean occurrence of ALs per individual, and patterns of AL formation during early childhood differed in individuals of different ethnic and environmental backgrounds. This variation could be attributed to genetic variation in ameloblast susceptibility to stress, disparities in stability of the childhood environment, and/or sociocultural influences on growth and development. These data illustrate the embodiment of physiological stress during early life in poorer classes during the nineteenth century. While childhood hardship was a potential driver of adult decisions to depart for new lands such as New Zealand, it was not absent in the early lives of children born in the colony.

OBJECTIVES:Osteological methods for sex estimation are fundamental in biological anthropology, offering critical insights into the biological identity of skeletal remains. However, these methods are not infallible with factors such as age, population affinity, and skeletal preservation impacting their reliability. Recent advancements in peptide analysis present a promising avenue through which to address these limitations. In this study, we aimed to contrast chromosomal sex estimation using peptide analysis with osteological sex estimation results, and assess the impact of any differences. MATERIALS AND METHODS:A skeletal sample derived from nineteenth-century colonial New Zealand cemeteries (n = 57) was sexed using both standard osteological methods and analysis of sex chromosome-linked isoforms of amelogenin. RESULTS:Peptide-based sex estimation both increased the number of individuals we were able to assign chromosomal sex to, and revealed six individuals for whom osteological and peptide-based techniques were not in agreement. DISCUSSION:In this paper, we discuss how peptide analysis of historic New Zealand cemetery samples has both changed our interpretations and added to our understanding of these populations. We show what can happen when osteobiographies are constructed for individuals for whom osteological sex estimation was potentially inaccurate. We also highlight the advantages of peptide analysis in identifying individuals, particularly non-adults for whom osteological sex estimation is not possible.

Payable gold was discovered in New Zealand's South Island in 1861, bringing tens of thousands of people to the Otago Province. Most were men with limited means and no local family. Archival records show that goldfields life was associated with significant risk of disabling injury from earth falls, equine interactions, and violence. Care was usually provided in goldfields shantytowns or rudimentary village hospitals. Until recently, archival records have been the primary means of gaining insight into injuries on the goldfields. In 2018- 2019, the University of Otago and Southern Archaeology excavated unmarked graves at the original Ardrossan Street cemetery in Lawrence, Otago. These are likely associated with the 1861 Tuapeka gold rush. Paleopathological analysis of burial A8 from this site, a middle-aged male, revealed extensive and disfiguring healed fractures to his zygomaticofacial complex, including antemortem loss of most of the left zygomatic arch. This person also had very poor dental health and a lytic lesion in his maxillary palate, suggesting chronic infection in his oronasal region. Computed tomography scans reveal lytic lesions within the diplo & euml; of his cranial vault. Multiple episodes of physiological stress during tooth development were identified histologically. The skeletal evidence indicates difficult childhood and an adulthood marked by survival of a traumatic event with long- standing consequences, including likely issues with feeding and mastication. Here we employ a data- layering approach, integrating our findings with goldfields-era hospital archival evidence and previously conducted bioarchaeological analyses, to explore the provision of care during this socially unique period of New Zealand history.

The inhabitants of New Guinea and its outlying islands have played an important role in the human history of the Pacific region. Nevertheless, the genetic diversity, particularly of pre-colonial communities, is still understudied. Here we present the ancient genomes of 42 individuals from Papua New Guinea (PNG). The ancient genomic results of individuals from Watom Island (Bismarck Archipelago) and the south and northeastern coasts of PNG are contextualized with new (bio-) archaeological data. The individuals' accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates span 2,500 years of human habitation, and our results demonstrate the influences of different dispersal events on the genetic make-up of ancient PNG communities. The oldest individuals show an unadmixed Papuan-related genetic signature, whereas individuals dating from 2,100 years before present carry varying degrees of an East-Asian-related contribution. These results and the inferred admixture dates suggest a centuries-long delay in genetic mixture with local communities after the arrival of populations with Asian ancestry. Two geographically close communities on the South Coast, AMS dated to within the past 540 years, diverge in their genetic profiles, suggesting differences in their interaction spheres involving groups with distinct ancestries. The inferred split time of these communities around 650 years before present coincides with intensified settlement activity and the emergence of regional trade networks.

Payable gold was discovered in New Zealand’s South Island in 1861, bringing tens of thousands of people to the Otago Province. Most were men with limited means and no local family. Archival records show that goldfields life was associated with significant risk of disabling injury from earth falls, equine interactions, and violence. Care was usually provided in goldfields shantytowns or rudimentary village hospitals. Until recently, archival records have been the primary means of gaining insight into injuries on the goldfields. In 2018–2019, the University of Otago and Southern Archaeology excavated unmarked graves at the original Ardrossan Street cemetery in Lawrence, Otago. These are likely associated with the 1861 Tuapeka gold rush. Paleopathological analysis of burial A8 from this site, a middle-aged male, revealed extensive and disfiguring healed fractures to his zygomaticofacial complex, including antemortem loss of most of the left zygomatic arch. This person also had very poor dental health and a lytic lesion in his maxillary palate, suggesting chronic infection in his oronasal region. Computed tomography scans reveal lytic lesions within the diploë of his cranial vault. Multiple episodes of physiological stress during tooth development were identified histologically. The skeletal evidence indicates a difficult childhood and an adulthood marked by survival of a traumatic event with long-standing consequences, including likely issues with feeding and mastication. Here we employ a data-layering approach, integrating our findings with goldfields-era hospital archival evidence and previously conducted bioarchaeological analyses, to explore the provision of care during this socially unique period of New Zealand history.

In this paper we test a long-held assumption regarding Otago, New Zealand, goldfields life and death- that scurvy was a ubiquitous and persistent cause of misery and death among the goldminers. We will also explore a parallel argument that the Chinese market gardeners played a large role in stamping out the disease in the goldfields. Through the interrogation of various archival medical primary sources, we show that scurvy was indeed a terrible scourge in the Otago goldfields, but only during the initial rushes into new regions. We also argue that while Chinese market gardeners undoubtedly contributed to a more nutritious and varied diet for European miners and settlers, scurvy had already markedly reduced in frequency by the time of their arrival in the gold fields. Patient-oriented accounts of scurvy in the gold demonstrate the clinical and functional cost of scurvy in during the initial gold rushes of Otago. Furthermore, individual stories of previously anonymous patients found locked in these archival sources demonstrate the importance of re-humanising the past to understand the biological and social context of these frontier times.

Many mid-19th-century immigrants to New Zealand are presumed to have been in pursuit of a "better life" than was achievable in their origin countries. Here, we utilize histological analyses of internal indicators of enamel growth disruption (accentuated lines [ALs]) in 19 European and Chinese immigrants and five colony-born children from three 19th-century Otago sites. Observations of regular enamel microstructure were used to estimate a chronology of periods of enamel growth disruption. Clear or potential ALs were present in 18/19 (95%) adults and 4/5 (80%) subadults. Mean occurrence of ALs was higher in Chinese individuals than in European individuals between birth and 1 year of age (Chinese mean = 11; European mean = 3.8) and between 3 and 5 years of age (Chinese mean = 12.7; European mean = 1.3). Potential prenatal ALs were observed in three colony-born children. Although similar stressors such as malnutrition and infectious disease would have been present in both Europe and China, their expression in these individuals may reflect the embodiment of different push factors that stimulated emigration to New World colonies such as New Zealand. The presence of ALs in colony-born children indicates some continuation of developmental stressors in New Zealand. The results presented here highlight the value of utilizing microscopic analyses on poorly preserved archeological samples that are frequently excluded from histological examination. This preliminary glimpse into enamel formation disruption challenges the ubiquitous 19th-century narrative of New Zealand as free from the hardships of industrial revolution era Europe and sheds light on the stresses of childhoods spent in rural China and the potential attractions of the Pacific goldfields in comparison. Future work with larger sample sizes will contribute to a critical exploration of experiences of childhood physiological stress in those who lived and died in colonial New Zealand.

Historical phenomena often have prehistoric precedents; with this paper we investigate the potential for archaeometallurgical analyses and networked data processing to elucidate the progenitors of the Southwest Silk Road in Mainland Southeast Asia and southern China. We present original microstructural, elemental and lead isotope data for 40 archaeological copper-base metal samples, mostly from the UNESCO-listed site of Halin, and lead isotope data for 24 geological copper-mineral samples, also from Myanmar. We combined these data with existing datasets (N = 98 total) and compared them to the 1000+ sample late prehistoric archaeometallurgical database available from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Yunnan. Lead isotope data, contextualized for alloy, find location and date, were interpreted manually for intra-site, inter-site and inter-regional consistency, which hint at significant multi-scalar connectivity from the late second millennium bc. To test this interpretation statistically, the archaeological lead isotope data were then processed using regionally adapted production-derived consistency parameters. Complex networks analysis using the Leiden community detection algorithm established groups of artefacts sharing lead isotopic consistency. Introducing the geographic component allowed for the identification of communities of sites with consistent assemblages. The four major communities were consistent with the manually interpreted exchange networks and suggest southern sections of the Southwest Silk Road were active in the late second millennium bc.

The nineteenth century New Zealand goldfields were a place where people from across the world came together in search of their fortunes. Written accounts of life on the diggings do exist but are of varying veracity and we therefore have little knowledge of the life experiences of those who came seeking gold. Recent excavations in cemeteries associated with the Otago goldrushes, however, are allowing direct reconstruction of lives using biological evidence from the skeletons themselves. In this study we use dietary isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N) of tissues which form at different points in the life course of an individual to create ‘isotopic biographies’ of goldrush-era individuals. In addition to telling the individual stories of these people, we also highlight differences in life experience between members of the European and Chinese communities, evidence for seasonal availability of resources on the goldfields, as well as unusual weaning patterns which potentially link to rural poverty experienced during childhood.

This paper presents the preliminary results of archaeological excavations at the Drybread Cemetery in Central Otago, New Zealand. The excavations were the third phase of a bioarchaeological research programme into the lives of early colonial-era settlers in Otago, following investigations at St. Johns Cemetery in Milton and the Adrossan and Gabriel Street cemeteries in Lawrence. The Drybread excavation investigated 13 graves, 10 of which contained human remains, and five of these individuals were Chinese. This paper describes the site history, the archaeological investigations and the preliminary results including the basic details of the individuals and their funerary traditions.

The preservation of soft tissue in the archaeological record is a rare phenomenon, especially in temperate contexts. Despite this, brain material is sometimes preserved in temperate climates, even in the absence of other soft tissue survival. However, little has been published on such finds. Archaeologists understandably have minimal experience in handling soft tissue, which may lead to brain material being left under-studied, or potentially unrecognised in situ. As such, there is a need to improve awareness of the preservation of brain material to further its identification, recovery, and analysis in the archaeological record. This paper examines preserved brain material identified in 8 of 77 unmarked colonial burials dating from the mid-to late-nineteenth century in New Zealand. This New Zealand case study provides an opportunity to consider brain preservation in archaeological contexts, and a means to study both in-life health and burial environment conditions. The preserved brain material was analysed macroscopically and microscopically using histological techniques to assess whether in vivo structures were preserved or pathogens affecting the individuals’ health could be identified. Analysis revealed that all preserved brains were diagenetically altered by the burial environment macroscopically in the form of shrinkage, fragmentation, colour change, and incorporation of exogenous microorganisms. Microscopically, neural structures were not observable in the tissue, however in five cases vasculature might be preserved. Preserved vasculature in archaeological contexts may prove useful in the investigation of blood-related disorders, such as sickle cell disease, aneurisms, and blood clotting. Spirochetes (bacteria responsible for multiple diseases in humans, including syphilis) were observed in one individual; however, this analysis could not determine if these were a species which would have caused pathology in life or a species endogenous to the soil and incorporated after death. Importantly, no correlation between macroscopic and microscopic preservation was apparent, serving as a cautionary tale for archaeologists who may wish to analyse brain material in the future – microscopic analysis is necessary to fully assess preservation.

Toxic metal or element exposure has the potential to cause significant negative health effects in human populations. During the goldrushes of the colonial period, mercury amalgamation was one of the most common methods of extracting gold from alluvial deposits or crushed ore, and exposure to mercury was an occupational health hazard. In this study we examine mercury exposure in mining populations from New Zealand's first major goldrush, which began in Central Otago in 1861. We explore mercury toxicity through laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometric analysis of archaeological hair and sediment samples associated with the Tuapeka goldfields. Our analysis highlights ubiquitous low-level mercury exposure on the goldfields, as well as one individual with such high mercury concentrations in their hair that we suspect direct mercury intake, perhaps medicinally, rather than from environmental contamination.

The long period spanning the Neolithic to the Metal Age is still poorly understood in the Thai-Malay peninsula (TMP), and current interpretations rely on limited data from a large region and a few dates obtained mainly from inland cave sites. There has yet to be any published research on estuarine and coastal contexts for this period. In 2017 The French Archaeological Mission in Peninsular Thailand carried out an excavation at Wang Duan, near Prachuap Khiri Kan on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, in order to start to fill this gap and to investigate coastal groups in the upper part of the TMP. The aim of the investigation was to study the evolution of coastal groups in relation to their involvement in exchange networks both along and across the TMP. The investigations identified traces of coastal and estuarine occupation characterized by ceramics of slightly different types and by the notable absence of human or animal bones. Occupation of these scattered sites took place during a prehistoric period that roughly corresponds to the early and late Neolithic period (corresponding elsewhere in Mainland Southeast Asia to the Bronze Age). The evolution of the ceramics and parallels with other assemblages in Thailand suggest contact during the first part of the first millennium BCE, and engagement in regional networks. This engagement appears to have led to changes in culinary (and possibly also funerary) practices in the area.