Ofelia Meza-Escobar

Thesis Abstract

By analysing the “Cementerio General de Santiago” skeletal collection (curated at the University of Chile), this project aims to generate bioarchaeological evidence of demography, growth and development, health status and exposure to infectious disease among inhabitants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries Santiago, Chile.

These individuals represent the working-class inhabitants of Santiago that endured an intensive economic transition period of rural-to-urban migration (1885-1952), during which the majority encountered deficient living conditions such as a lack of health care, poor hygiene, and limited access to basic services, among other challenges (Abarca 2011). Using theoretical frameworks based on intersectionality theory (Yaussy 2019), Life Course theory (Agarwal 2016) and Developmental Origins of Health and Disease approach (Gowland 2015), this research will identify and analyse skeletal markers that reveal health during childhood, puberty, adulthood and old age, thus creating an extended osteobiography of a city.

The project will also explore historical and epidemiological information from governmental and independent records addressing the social and demographic changes that occurred during this period in Chile that could affect the health status, lifestyle and well-being of the population. The ability to contrast bioarchaeological markers with historical and epidemiological records of the time offers the opportunity to gain a deep understanding of how observed patterns of health and lifeways may relate to patterns of urbanisation and migration and what is known about how this community lived when they arrived in the city.