Human Osteology
Human Osteological Studies
GMI’s ability to address municipal, state, federal, and private clients’ needs relating to the investigation of historic cemeteries and prehistoric burial sites is demonstrated in the firm's history of successfully completing such studies. GMI has in-house staff members who are qualified physical anthropologists who oversee burial excavation and are able to conduct in-field analyses when necessary. The presence of these specialists alongside qualified historians and archaeologists provides an expert team for the evaluation of cemetery contexts.
In the past five years, the Cultural Resources Division has participated in over $2,000,000 of projects involving unmarked graves, historic cemeteries, the inadvertent discovery of human remains, or human identification. Our clients for these efforts have included Dallas County (Park and Open Space Program); U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, Tulsa, Galveston, and Vicksburg districts; Pulte Homes (a Rowlett, Texas, housing development); and the Texas Department of Transportation. These investigations required extensive coordination with federal and state regulatory agencies as well as descendant communities. Geo-Marine has been successful in these endeavors, for it recognizes the significant stake of the local descendant community in the decision-making process and attempts to reach a solution that both serves the objectives of science and the needs of the descendant community. Our team has experience in:
- Human remains identification
- Cemetery relocation
- Recovery operations
Related Projects
Historical Study of Freedman’s Cemetery, 41DL316
GMI
was contracted to conduct several tasks that would complete Texas
Department of Transportation obligations under the Antiquities Code
of Texas (Antiquities Permit # 991) for investigations conducted at
Freedman’s Cemetery. Geo-Marine was tasked with interpreting and
reporting on the archaeological and archival investigations at
Freedman’s Cemetery, Dallas, Texas. The Cultural Resources Division
of Geo-Marine, Inc., worked closely with TxDOT, Black Dallas
Remembered, and the African American Museum to tell the story of
Freedman’s Town/North Dallas and the associated cemetery. An
ethnically diverse team of historians, archaeologists, and
biological and cultural anthropologists completed the research. A
number of community scholars were also used to complement the staff
of Geo-Marine, Inc.
The contracted tasks involved several aspects of the history of Freedman’s Town/North Dallas. A technical report was prepared that interpreted the data collected from the excavations of 1,150 burials conducted in the early 1990s at Freedman’s Cemetery. The technical report also focused heavily on the history of Freedman’s Town/North Dallas, tracing the enclave’s social, political and economic growth from its inception to the 1930s through extensive archival research and oral histories. The osteological and funerary artifacts were used to tell the story of the local African American community in relation to the larger community and for comparison with other African American community studies with comparable data. In conjunction with the technical report, a master plan was developed for immediate and ongoing community involvement, outreach, and education programs. Educational materials were prepared for use by DISD, the African American Museum and Black Dallas Remembered. A state-of-the-art exhibit and associated video were produced for display at the African American Museum (opened in 2000 and is still on exhibit). The story of a successful African American pioneer community was successfully retold.
Texas Historical Commission review staff found the report to be exemplary. Preservation Texas recognized the project as an outstanding example of the preservation of Texas’ multicultural history. The Council of Texas Archeologists awarded the E. Mott Davis Award for Outstanding Public Outreach to the project. The American Cultural Resources Association recognized the Texas Department of Transportation for supporting an outstanding cultural resources project.
Clyde Lane/Greenwood Cemetery Investigations
The
presence of 17 interments identified during investigations for the
expansion of Clyde Lane necessitated the removal and relocation of
those burials. Under-the-street drainage was to be constructed prior
to the widening of a 650-ft strip of Clyde Lane impacting all 17
burials. The burials were exposed using a Gradall that removed
overburden inches at a time. As each grave was exposed and the
outline defined, two trained archaeologists recorded the remains in
situ with scaled drawings, osteometric measurements, and
photographs, and then exhumed the remains. All soil from each burial
was screened through 0.25-inch hardware cloth in search of material
goods or personal items associated with the remains. The remains and
any associated materials were placed in appropriate boxes and taken
to the GMI laboratory for detailed analyses. Reinterment of
remains and associated materials was conducted at Greenwood
Cemetery, with a service and installation of a marker in
remembrance.
Phase I Cultural Resources Investigations for the Expansion of the City of Dallas Convention Center
This project was conducted as part of the required cultural resources investigations related to plans to expand the Dallas Convention Center in the area adjacent to the southern edge of the Pioneer Cemetery.
Cultural resources investigations were conducted to determine the potential for cultural resources, particularly human burials, in the area adjacent to the Convention Center along its property boundary with the historic Pioneer Cemetery. Archival investigations and research were conducted to establish historic contexts and the locations of potentially significant historic properties around the periphery of the Convention Center. Archaeological investigations including the use of GeoProbe coring to examine soils and to determine the extent of filling and disturbances, and systematic Gradall stripping and trenching to locate burials and other buried cultural resources, were used.
Seventeen burials were identified and removed during data recovery investigations in areas that were to receive the most extensive impacts. Laboratory analyses of eight juveniles and seven adults disinterred determined that these individuals ranged in age from a few days to older than 40 years, and that these individuals experienced similar levels of physical stress, disease, and other afflictions as other pioneering populations in Texas. The remains of these individuals were reinterred in the adjacent Pioneer Cemetery in a public, yet respectful ceremony at the end of the project.
These investigations were conducted under a permit required by the
Texas Antiquities Code and administered by the Texas Historical
Commission.