Jonathan Leader

Skeletal Remains from the Confederate Naval Sailor and Marines’ Cemetery, Charleston, SC

The 1999 burial recovery project at the Confederate Naval Sailor and Marines’ Cemetery (38CH1648), Charleston, South Carolina, provided a rare opportunity for the skeletal analysis of Civil War period remains. Dating from 1861, the cemetery contained the remains of 40 males of European ancestry who are known to have died in southeastern naval hospitals. Five of the men buried at the site are believed to have been the first crew of the H.L. Hunley submarine. In conjunction with historical and archaeological evidence, the presence of skeletal and dental lesions is used to draw conclusions regarding the backgrounds, health and disease experiences, military ranks, and occupational stresses experienced by the naval and marine personnel buried at the site.