FINDING A FEW TREES: AN OSTEOLOGY-OUT APPROACH TO PROVISIONAL IDENTIFICATION OF SINGLE OSTEOLOGICAL LATE CHILDREN FROM THE MILWAUKEE COUNTY POOR FARM CEMETERY 2 (1882-1925)

Abstract

During the 19th and 20th centuries, four locations on the Milwaukee County Institution Grounds (MCIG) in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin became the resting place for the poor and indigent population of Milwaukee County. These include: Cemetery 1 (1878-1882), Cemetery 2 (1882-1925), Cemetery 3 (1925-1974), and Cemetery 4 (date unknown; potentially 1884-1914). An estimated 7,226 individuals were buried at the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery 2 (1882-1925). Under the Wisconsin Burial Site Preservation statute §157.70, two archaeological excavations, one in 1991-1992 and the second in 2013, were carried out at Cemetery 2. Extensive archival research has provided a general demographic picture of Cemetery 2. Spatial analysis using temporally diagnostic material culture has refined the spatial-temporal understanding of Cemetery 2. In 2024, the documentation of nonadult human skeletal remains was completed for the 1991-1992 cohort. Osteological documentation for the 2013 cohort was completed in 2014. This thesis compares the final estimated age category demographics for all archaeological nonadult individuals from single interment contexts to the previously established demographic age category analyses of archival nonadult individuals. To visualize the spatial relationships among the nonadults interred in Cemetery 2, this research maps the final estimated age categories for all archaeological nonadult individuals from single interment contexts using ArcGIS powered by ESRI. Finally, this research utilizes extant spatial-temporal, archaeological, archival, and osteological data to refine potential provisional identifications of archaeological individuals whose final estimated mean age falls within the Late Child (6-12.99 years) age category. Provisional identification describes the association of an archaeological individual with a specific historical individual (UWM CRM 2023). This thesis contributes to the provisional identification process by comparing the archaeological and archival demographics, visualizing the spatial relationships between age categories, and evaluating the archival record for potential matches to specific archaeological individuals.