Join the Massachusetts Archaeological Society – Northeast/Gene Winter Chapter for a presentation by Dr. Jess Munkittrick on exploring lead toxicity and migration in the 17th to 19th century North Atlantic.
During the 17th to 19th centuries, European descent populations were exposed to high amounts of lead, which we were able to detect in tooth enamel from fishing communities in Newfoundland, Canada, and New England soldiers buried at the Fortress of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia. We used Pb concentrations and stable isotope ratios within tooth enamel to enrich our understanding of the life histories of individuals within historical populations. Interpretation can be challenging, and our analyses demonstrate the need to contextualize Pb within the physical environments and increasingly interconnected cultural landscapes in which they lived.
