A Glimpse of the Ancien Régime in the French Colonies?

Abstract

Danforth and colleagues report on demography, diet, mitochondrial DNA, and biological stress in remains from Moran, Mississippi, part of New Biloxi, a French colonial settlement. This study is unique, since at the time of this writing, skeletal remains were identified at only six French sites in the U.S. These authors test whether the historically documented policies implemented under “Code Noir” were actually practiced and enforced at the settlement, segregating the European settlers, enslaved Africans and their descendants, and Native Americans. The authors were surprised by the high number of young males of European ancestry they encountered. Stable isotope data indicated that their diets were dominated by C3 based plants and only one had C4 based diet. Although the human remains were small and few possessed high levels of enamel defects, Danforth and colleagues found low levels of physiological stress. They conclude that either the burials from Moran were not part of New Biloxi and did not suffer to the degree the settlers of New Biloxi suffered or there was strict enforcement of segregation, with the remains of other groups interred elsewhere, and the conditions were not as poor for the Moran group as historical documents about New Biloxi say.