An osteological and stable isotopic investigation of diet and health during the Late Woodland Period at Hidden Spring in Richmond Hill, Ontario

This thesis investigates the diet and health of seven individuals recovered at Hidden Spring (dating to ca. A.D. 1430-1480) in Richmond Hill, Ontario, using osteological, dental and isotopic analyses in conjunction with archaeological and ethnographic data. Diet was analyzed using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of bone collagen and bone bioapatite. The isotope data are consistent with a varied diet that included maize, terrestrial animals and freshwater fish. No age or sex differences in isotopic data were documented. Dental data support the isotopic data. Osteological measures of health such as paleopathology, stature and age at death were also evaluated. High rates of pathology and dental defects were observed as well as a young average age at death. The poor health indicated by these data contrasts with the isotopic data for a well balanced diet (i.e., a varied diet) and taller than average (relative to nearby sites) stature. These data, together with archaeological and ethnohistoric data, suggest that this population was exposed to chronic and persistent stressors (e.g., parasitism/infectious disease) but due to their overall good health (indicated by isotope data and stature) were able to survive these stressors. It is this survival that can account for the high rates of pathological and dental lesions. This thesis illustrates the complexity of reconstructing health and nutrition in past populations and highlights the importance of combining multiple indicators of health for each individual.;Keywords: stable isotopes, dentition, paleopathology, stature, mortuary archaeology, Late Woodland southern Ontario.