Abstract:
Trauma analysis in archaeological human remains can aid our understanding of cultural practices, socioeconomic
status, environmental and social conditions, and even aspects of a person’s occupation. For this
reason, fracture patterns and frequencies can be useful in making inferences about the environment people
lived and worked in. This is especially true for the 20th century mining industry where unskilled migrant
labourers were often subjected to harsh working and living conditions. In this study, the skeletal remains of
36 Chinese indentured mine labourers, who worked and died on the Witwatersrand mines, South Africa,
during the period AD 1904–1910, were assessed for evidence of trauma. Historical information suggests that
these indentured Chinese labourers were unfamiliar with the workings of deep-level mines and as a result
sustained many work-related injuries. Analyses suggest low frequencies of ante-mortem trauma. In the few
instances where they occurred, these healed fractures most probably reflect injuries already sustained in
China, some time before Chinese indentured employment on the Witwatersrand mines. A high frequency of
traumatic lesions, specifically peri-mortem fractures, however, suggests a drastic shift in their working
environment attesting to the hazardous working conditions associated with deep-level mining in the early
20th century.
