Heritage, Volume 15, Number 4, Fall 1997 Page: 10
38 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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11
Patent illustrations of late 19th century "life signal" or "life detector" devices that played upon people's fear of being buried alive. These illustrations are adapted
from plates 34 and 36 in The History of American Funeral Directing by Robert W. Habentstein and William M. Lamers, 1968 (revised edition, 1962 original
publication), Bulfin Printers, Milwaukee. Above, left, is a drawing of a simple above-ground bell that could be rung by a person who had experienced the misfortune
of being buried alive. On the right is a drawing of an elaborate device whereby the person in the casket turns the periscope-like handle causing the above-ground
dial to rotate inside an all-weather glass case, alerting people above.related symbols found on late 18th century
headstones with less morbid motifs, such as
hearts, lambs, and angels found on late
19th and early 20th century headstones.
One interesting example is that many of
the casket handles found on the 1907-1908
caskets at the State Cemetery were decorated
with a stamped design that is a stylized
version of the "death's head" motif.
Although few people would recognize it as
such, this image was a holdover from bygone
days when puritanical beliefs associated
death with evil.
Bioarchaeological Analysis
Bioarchaeology is the analysis of human
skeletal remains recovered from archaeological
sites. A bioarchaeological analysis
of the skeletal remains of men and women
excavated from the Texas State Cemetery
provided an opportunity to examine the
lives and deaths of people at the turn of the
20th century. This sample was especially
unique because it was composed primarilyof long-lived survivors of a major war. All
skeletal remains were examined by the
osteologists, who cleaned, inventoried, and
studied the bones prior to their reburial.
Age, which was determined from headstones
and other written sources for all
people except one, ranged from 60 to 95
years, with an average age at death of 77
years. As might be expected in such an
elderly population, the frequency of agerelated
disorders was high. For example,
the antemortem (pre-death) tooth loss rate
was high. Only two people had lost no
teeth prior to their deaths, and 12 had lost
from 1-6 teeth. The other 42 people were
missing 25-100 percent of their teeth. Six
people wore partial or full sets of dentures,
indicating that some dentistry techniques
were available, but only on a limited basis.
Furthermore, all of the examined individuals
had some degree of degenerative
joint disease, or osteoarthritis. This was
most commonly manifested as bony growths
or porosity on skeletal elements of thehands, feet, shoulders, elbows, hips, and
knees. The extremely high rate of arthritis
among these people is related to their advanced
ages, as well as to the fact that many
were employed in labor-intensive jobs such
as farming, ranching, and blacksmithing.
Other medical disorders observed in the
population include a high frequency of
bone discease, reflecting chronic infections.
One man had a severe bone infection resulting
from a woundto the leg. The man
lived with the infection for 40 years before
succumbing (Confederate Home records
show) to "blood poisoning". In addition,
almost 15 percent showed evidence of
chronic maxillary sinusitis, induced by factors
such as overcrowding, malnutrition,
pollutants, and poor overall health.
Of the 56 skeletons examined, 21 males
and two females had fractures, dislocations,
or traumatic wounds. Many of the
fractures may have resulted from combat in
Civil War battles. For instance, four men
had broken noses or other cranial fractures.10 HERITAGE *FALL 1997
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 15, Number 4, Fall 1997, periodical, Autumn 1997; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45403/m1/10/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.