Uprooted: C, N, S, Sr Stable Isotope Analysis of Dentition at Kingston Hospital’s Irish Emigrant Mass Grave

This research stems from ASI’s 2021-2022 exhumation of typhus victims buried at Kingston Health Sciences Centre, part of a mass grave of Irish Great Famine immigrants. Of 55 burials excavated, 38 had teeth retained for analysis. This study aimed to identify their probable geographic origins in Ireland using strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and sulfur (δ³⁴S) isotope analyses and well-established isoscapes. Results indicated the following provincial origins; Connacht (15), Munster (11), Leinster (2), and Ulster (5), as well as the Scottish Highlands (1), and 4 of indeterminate origin. Incremental enamel and dentin samples were used to track dietary or migratory changes during childhood, including one individual who likely lived in the UK for a time. Contextual dietary clues from δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N data suggest potential life histories, such cattle or linen industry occupation. Additionally, five groups of individuals with similar stable isotope ratios could have immigrated together or grown up in similar locations.