Caroline and Patrick on the Easter Island - page 7

Anthropological research in the Sebastian Englert Museum

The Museum owns a lot more skeletons than we thought: more than 800 instead of 300 individuals! So we first had to select the most complete individuals for isotope analysis and taking dental casts. The first results of this anthropological study show a high frequency of caries (even with children) and arthritis.

Dental wear
We made dental casts to study dental microwear under a scanning electron microscope. The microwear type depends on dietary habits.

Preparation of isotope analyses
We chose about 150 individuals, including many children between 0 and 2 years, to perform carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses. These analyses allow a reconstruction of their dietary habits and give also evidence of their weaning practices. We obtained the permission to sample bones. It took us a very busy week to finish this meticulous work!