Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons^™

The Bioarchaeology Of Instability: Violence And Environmental Stress During The Late Fort Ancient (Ad 1425 - 1635) Occupations Of Hardin Village, Amber Elaine Osterholt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Conflict, poor health, environmental instability, captive taking, and culture change are all potential contributors for the abandonment of the Middle Ohio River Valley at the end of the Protohistoric Period in eastern North America. This project investigated the relationship between these factors among the Fort Ancient community of Hardin Village. The data presented in this study use bioarchaeological analysis to reveal how environmental and cultural instability influenced communities to leave their homeland. Bioarchaeology was well suited for this investigation because it links the most direct evidence of violence and poor health and nutrition (skeletal injuries and evidence of disease) to …