A Bioarchaeological Exploration of Adolescent Males at the Eighteenth-Century Fortress of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Using skeletal remains from the eighteenth-century Fortress of Louisbourg, this study aimed to explore whether the adolescent (< 25 years) and adult (> 25 years) male experiences were synonymous in this New France colony. Additionally, this study also considered the geographic origins of these adolescent males to better understand their lived experience at Louisbourg. For this study, skeletal remains from 13 adolescent male individuals (16-25 years) were compared to 24 adult male individuals (27-47 years). Osteological analysis involved the assessment of macroscopic indicators of stress, including cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, linear enamel hypoplasia, fractures, Schmorl's nodes, periosteal new bone formation, dental caries, and dental abscesses. When statistically compared, there were no differences between these age cohorts and the prevalence of these indicators. Mortuary data were also assessed, including burial depth, coffin use, and the prevalence of grave goods, again with no differences observed between these age cohorts. We explored dietary patterns and their relationship to geographic origin by measuring stable carbon (d13C) and nitrogen (d15N) isotope ratios in bone collagen and d13C values of tooth enamel carbonate. All but one of the adolescent individuals consumed a mixed C3 and C4 diet during childhood, suggesting possible origins in an area consistent with what is now the eastern United States. Based on this multi-proxy approach, it is likely that the male adolescents in this group were soldiers from New England stationed at Louisbourg after the first siege in 1745 and had a similar lived experience to that of adult males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]