Geophysical Survey of a Choleric Mass Grave in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Cemetery outside the walls of San Felipe del Morro Fort

In 1855, Puerto Rico was struck by the cholera epidemic, killing 20,000 to 50,000 individuals – 4-10% of the total population at the time. Due to the high volume of corpses piling up and fear of the disease’s further spreading, a cemetery outside of the walls of El Morro was established. This cemetery remained untouched for over a century, due to fears that the disease might resurface. Today, however, this cemetery is in danger of being destroyed, as tourists in Old San Juan have been recently granted access to this section of the fort, uncovering human remains as they walk in the trail.

José Marrero Rosado

Jose Marrero Rosado
Graduate Student
Research Website: 
Linked-in profile

My research interests focus on structural violence and infectious disease, and how we can study this through human skeletal remains. 

Region(s): 
Caribbean
Research Theme(s): 
Bioarchaeology, structural violence, infectious disease, Historical Archaeology, molecular bioarchaeology

William A. White

Bill White
Affiliated Faculty

When he was four-years-old, Bill White decided he wanted to either be an astronaut or an archaeologist when he grew up. He decided to follow his dream career of doing archaeology as a teenager when he realized he was an inch too tall to fit into a NASA space suit. Since then, Bill has never looked back.

Region(s): 
Northern Rockies, Caribbean
Research Theme(s): 
Historical Archaeology