Osteological, multi-isotope and proteomic analysis of poorly-preserved human remains from a Dutch East India Company burial ground in South Africa

Abstract

Skeletal remains discovered in Simon’s Town, South Africa, were hypothesised as being associated with a former Dutch East India Company (VOC) hospital. We report a novel combined osteological and biochemical approach to these poorly-preserved remains. A combined strontium (87Sr/86Sr), oxygen (δ18OVPDB) and carbon (δ13CVPDB) isotope analysis informed possible childhood origins and diet, while sex-specific amelogenin enamel peptides revealed biological sex. Osteological analyses presented evidence of residual rickets, a healed trauma, dental pathological conditions, and pipe notches. The combined isotope analyses yielded results for 43 individuals which suggested a diverse range of geological origins, including at least 16% of the population being non-local. The inclusion of δ13CVPDB had intriguing implications for three individuals who likely did not have origins in the Cape Town region nor in Europe. Peptide analysis on the dental enamel of 25 tested individuals confirmed they were all biologically male. We suggest that isolated enamel may provide crucial information about individuals’ pathological conditions, geographical origins, diet, and biological sex. These data further demonstrated that a combined approach using multiple osteological and biochemical methods is advantageous for human remains which are poorly preserved and can contextualise a site with little direct evidence.

From flesh to bones: Multi‐omics approaches in forensic science

“…Similarly, Mays et al [335] identified the sex of highly degraded skeletal remains dated 1 st century BCE overcoming the limitation posed by high-throughput DNA sequencing, that failed as no aDNA survived in such remains. Olszewski et al [336] recently conducted proteomic analyses on human remains from a Dutch East India Company burial ground in South Africa and managed confirm the biological sex of the remains from these poorly preserved samples.…”