The Social Structuring of Biological Stress in Contact-Era Spanish Florida

Winkler and colleagues investigate the relationship between social status and well-being among the Guale from St. Catherines Island in Spanish Florida (A.D. 1607–1680). Specifically, they examine stress through dental caries, linear enamel hypoplasias, tooth size, and long bone length. Their analysis of mortuary data identifies postcontact social status variation on the basis of funerary offerings and proximity to the altar, and they integrate ethnohistorical evidence to enrich their interpretations. While Winkler and colleagues do not find any direct relationship between stress markers and mortuary offerings, there were spatial relationships between involving well-being and proximity (or distance) from the altar. While the study of colonialism in Spanish Florida has a long history, this work at St. Catherines Island represents new directions involving the spatial dimensions of mortuary and skeletal data on an intracemetery level. Winkler and colleagues conclude with discussions about their findings within the context of Spanish colonialism in Spanish Florida and the implications for bioarchaeology of colonialism.