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Biological Consequences of Segregation and Economic Deprivation: A Post-Slavery Population from Southwest Arkansas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

Jerome C. Rose
Affiliation:
Anthropology Department, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701.

Extract

Analysis of 80 skeletons from Cedar Grove, Arkansas, permits comparison of the skeletal data with historic accounts and interpretations of textual data. The high frequencies of skeletal lesions indicating dietary deficiencies and infectious disease demonstrates that this was a highly stressed population and that Cedar Grove participated in the historically documented nationwide decline of Afro-American health. The evidence is overwhelming that congenital syphilis was a major contributor to high infant mortality and population decline.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1989

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References

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