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Human Demography of Oberlin Village Cemetery
- Dr. Andrew Pais
William Peace University August 26th, 2019
What does an ecologist do?
Studies interactions between
- rganisms and their environment.
Human Demography of Oberlin Village Cemetery Dr. Andrew Pais - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Human Demography of Oberlin Village Cemetery Dr. Andrew Pais - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Human Demography of Oberlin Village Cemetery Dr. Andrew Pais William Peace University August 26 th , 2019 What does an ecologist do? Studies interactions between organisms and their environment. What is demography? The study of the structure
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What is demography?
The study of the structure and growth of populations
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Life table
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Survivorship Varies among Human Populations
Survivorship curve: the probability that someone will be alive at a given age
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Why study cemeteries?
- Course-based
Undergraduate Research Experience:
- How to create and interpret life tables
- Examine patterns of life and death in
humans
- Connect students with local
communities and their history
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Why study cemeteries?
- Course-based
Undergraduate Research Experience:
- How to create and interpret life tables
- Examine patterns of life and death in
humans
- Connect students with local
communities and their history
Cohort studies
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Why study cemeteries?
- Course-based
Undergraduate Research Experience:
- How to create and interpret life tables
- Examine patterns of life and death in
humans
- Connect students with local
communities and their history
Static studies
Linda Wade
B- July 1, 1825 D- June 20, 1875
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Why study cemeteries?
- Course-based
Undergraduate Research Experience:
- How to create and interpret life tables
- Examine patterns of life and death in
humans
- Connect students with local
communities and their history
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Question:
How do patterns of human survival in Raleigh area vary among ages, sex, time period, and community?
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- Modern human populations live longer on average than
historic populations
- Females live longer than men
- Different communities will show different patterns
Student Hypotheses
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- Male or Female
- Note age at death
- Note time period of
death:
- Pre 1910
- 1910-1950
- Post 1950
- Skip ambiguous
tombstones
Methods
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Results
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Clear differences in populations from different time periods
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Expected differences between males and females less apparent in modern (post-1950s) era
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While survivorship patterns lower overall for Oberlin Community pre-1910…
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Disparity is nearly reversed in Oberlin population dying post 1950
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Conclusions
- Clear differences in populations from different time periods
- Expected differences between males and females less apparent in
modern (post-1950s) era
- While survivorship patterns lower overall for Oberlin Community
pre-1910 , disparity is nearly reversed in Oberlin population dying post 1950
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Biases, limitations, and other disclaimers
- Infant graves are likely underrepresented
- Differences in maintenance of cemeteries
- Patterns noted from comparison of three cemeteries should not
be generalized to our understanding of socioeconomic trends at national, state, or regional level
- Underlying causes of observed patterns are speculative
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Acknowledgements
- NC State
- Dr. Tom Wentworth
- Dr. Nick Haddad
- 2013-2016 Ecology Labs
- William Peace University
- Dept. of Science and Mathematics
- Dr. Vincent Melomo
- 2018 Fall Ecology Lab
- Student Project
- Savannah Jackson
- Tiaja Arnold
- Friend of Oberlin Village
- Cheryl Williams
- Sabrina Goode
- All of you who came to listen today!
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