Nine years ago today, Superstorm Sandy ripped through the East Coast of the United States, ultimately causing $65 billion in damage. In the town of New Haven, Connecticut—which incurred about $360 million of damages—residents were surprised to witness the felling of “Lincoln Oak,” a 103-year-old oak tree in the New Haven Green planted on the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.
What residents saw the next day while assessing the damage surprised them even more—skeletal remains were apparent in the roots of the now-upended tree.
Thus, on Halloween, former state archeologist Nick Bellantoni found himself on the New Haven Green excavating skeletal remains. In a presentation Thursday night, one day removed from the anniversary of the storm, Bellantoni and his partner Gary Aronsen, director of the Yale University Biological Anthropology Laboratories, revealed some of the results from the analysis of the bones recovered that day.
After ensuring the remains were not a modern criminal investigation, Bellantoni and his team got to work.
“Excavation was difficult,” the anthropologist said. “We had to work in a vertical excavation, as opposed to normally, where we do them horizontally, [digging] down into the ground. It was difficult and delicate. The fact was, the human remains were caught up into the root mat and were fragile. And, of course, the root mat was breaking up some of the elements. So, we had to work very carefully and controlled.”
Working in sections divided by the root map, the excavation team found the remains of seven individuals, both adults and children, as well as coffin remains and coffin hardware, including nails and brass tacks.
“I was surprised the root maps encompassed the remains,” said Bellantoni. “The root map goes outward instead of deep, whereas remains are usually at least 6 feet down.”
The archeologist posits that, in the late 19th century, early 20th century, there was a lot of landscaping going on in the New Haven Green, which caused the remains to become shallower than they were when first interred. In fact, subsequent historical research indicates that the now-Green was once a cemetery. In the 1700s, however, the town reorganized and the headstones were moved further down the road into the new Grove Cemetery. But, only wealthy residents could afford to have the bodies of friends and family members moved, leaving who knows how many buried bodies without headstones in the area that would become the Green.
Of the seven individuals found, the researchers recovered very small bone fragments for some, while a more complete skeleton was found for others. Based on the fusion of long bones and the degree of dental eruption, the remains range from 3/4 years old to mid-20s.
According to bone analysis, most of the remains show indicators of metabolic stress. In fact, evidence of linear enamel hypoplasia, failure of tooth enamel to develop correctly during growth, on most teeth found suggests seasonal/episodic episodes. The bones and teeth of one individual even showed chronic issues.
Unexpectedly, isotopic analysis indicated the individuals survived on corn, as opposed to wheat, as once thought. At the time, corn was not grown in Connecticut. Biological anthropologist Arson said the team is still collecting further archival research on weather, agriculture, medicine and demography for late 18th century New Haven.
Thus far, DNA extraction efforts have not worked, but Arson said they are going to try one more time.
“The answers that will be available through genetic analysis is entirely dependent on what DNA is available and can be amplified,” he said.
Both Arson and Bellantoni were not overly confident that DNA could be extracted and then matched to living relatives, as some have hoped.
“But, the last 3 years have had lightspeed advancements in the quality and ability to identify very specific aspects of genetic markers, including things like ancestry,” said Arson.
Once research is complete, all remains will be reinterred, although it is undecided at the time if the remains will go back to the Green or to a modern cemetery.
Photo: Cataloging and examining remains from the roots of Lincoln Oak. Credit: Gary Aronsen