This grant permits Dr. Larsen and his collaborators to analyze a series of human skeletons recovered from the site of Mission Santa Maria on Amelia Island, Florida. These remains date from the period 1684 . 1702 and were discovered during the process of land clearing for property development. Emergency excavation yielded a series of aproximately 175 individuals. These remains will be analyzed to provide demographic and health data. Sex and age.at.death will be determined. Postcranial, dental and cranial elements will be measured to provide information on growth. Pathological conditions which reflect disease will also be noted. The goal of this project is to gain insight into human response to stress. Through comparison of a series of skeletal populations which date to different times, Dr. Larsen has obtained baseline information for Southeast U.S. Indian groups immediately prior to European colonization. Through study of later groups it is possible to determine what happened during the contact period as the social situation changed, as their diet was also altered and as they were exposed to European diseases. The Mission Santa Maria population is especially important since these Indians are the direct descendents of a St. Catherines Island group and were moved to Amelia Island by the Spaniards after St. Catherines was abandoned. Dr. Larsen has already analyzed comparable St. Catherines material. This research is important because it shows how human populations adapt biologically to stresses imposed by changing diet, disease and social situation. In the Southeast U.S. it is possible to gain some control of these independent variables through historical records and archaeological excavation and this provides an excellent context for the skeletal analysis. Because these skeletons will be reburied it is important to conduct the research now.
