Anthropologist discusses iron coffin discovery
Halloween may be over, but some of us still have cadavers, coffins and mummies on our minds. Last night, the Spurlock Museum welcomed David Hunt to the Dr. Allan C. Campbell Family Distinguished Speaker Series. Hunt is the collections manager of the physical anthropology division at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
At the presentation, Hunt discussed his most recent project that dealt with the excavation of an iron coffin. The coffin was found accidentally by construction workers who were digging out a pipeline. With Hunt’s expertise in the field, detectives asked him what steps should be taken with the coffin. So began Hunt’s research.
“It’s a fascinating area of research in looking at iron coffins because if the coffin has remained sealed, the body is very preserved,” Hunt said. “Its flesh is still supple and you can move it and do histology, so it gives you the opportunity to study an individual who comes from 100 to 150 years ago.”
The process of identifying the body has been long. After taking DNA samples from the boy, Hunt had to identify who he was. Experts from the museum scoured obituaries for a boy age 14 to 17 between the years 1850 and 1854. Of the four matches they found, DNA from one group of descendants matched the boy’s. He was identified as William White. White was born around 1837 in Accomack County, Penn., and died in 1852 from pneumonia.
The descendant Hunt found was a woman named Linda Dwyer, White’s great-great grandniece.
Jazmin Martin-Billups, junior in LAS, found Hunt’s presentation to be very informative.
“The genealogy … was really cool,” Martin-Billups said. “It’s really nice to see things so far away get connected with the present.”
White’s family held a memorial service for the boy before turning over his body and the coffin to the Smithsonian Institution.
Nathan Banion, senior in LAS, initially went to the presentation for anthropology extra credit but came out with a new appreciation for the field.
“I’ve actually come to a few Spurlock speakers before, and they’re always really interesting,” Banion said.
Hunt said the best part of the project was educating White’s family.
“The true greatness of it was the fact that we were able to reassociate a boy with this family, granted it was 150 years later,” Hunt said. “He was sort of a lost-and-then-found-again story.”
Author: Taylor Odisho | Source: The Daily Illini [November 02, 2011]
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| David Hunt examines the iron coffin [Credit: Taylor Odisho/The Daily Illini] |
“It’s a fascinating area of research in looking at iron coffins because if the coffin has remained sealed, the body is very preserved,” Hunt said. “Its flesh is still supple and you can move it and do histology, so it gives you the opportunity to study an individual who comes from 100 to 150 years ago.”
The process of identifying the body has been long. After taking DNA samples from the boy, Hunt had to identify who he was. Experts from the museum scoured obituaries for a boy age 14 to 17 between the years 1850 and 1854. Of the four matches they found, DNA from one group of descendants matched the boy’s. He was identified as William White. White was born around 1837 in Accomack County, Penn., and died in 1852 from pneumonia.
The descendant Hunt found was a woman named Linda Dwyer, White’s great-great grandniece.
Jazmin Martin-Billups, junior in LAS, found Hunt’s presentation to be very informative.
“The genealogy … was really cool,” Martin-Billups said. “It’s really nice to see things so far away get connected with the present.”
White’s family held a memorial service for the boy before turning over his body and the coffin to the Smithsonian Institution.
Nathan Banion, senior in LAS, initially went to the presentation for anthropology extra credit but came out with a new appreciation for the field.
“I’ve actually come to a few Spurlock speakers before, and they’re always really interesting,” Banion said.
Hunt said the best part of the project was educating White’s family.
“The true greatness of it was the fact that we were able to reassociate a boy with this family, granted it was 150 years later,” Hunt said. “He was sort of a lost-and-then-found-again story.”
Author: Taylor Odisho | Source: The Daily Illini [November 02, 2011]
