Misfortunes of a Miner Provision of Care on the Nineteenth-Century Otago Goldfields

Abstract

Payable gold was discovered in New Zealand’s South Island in 1861, bringing tens of thousands of people to the Otago Province. Most were men with limited means and no local family. Archival records show that goldfields life was associated with significant risk of disabling injury from earth falls, equine interactions, and violence. Care was usually provided in goldfields shantytowns or rudimentary village hospitals. Until recently, archival records have been the primary means of gaining insight into injuries on the goldfields. In 2018–2019, the University of Otago and Southern Archaeology excavated unmarked graves at the original Ardrossan Street cemetery in Lawrence, Otago. These are likely associated with the 1861 Tuapeka gold rush. Paleopathological analysis of burial A8 from this site, a middle-aged male, revealed extensive and disfiguring healed fractures to his zygomaticofacial complex, including antemortem loss of most of the left zygomatic arch. This person also had very poor dental health and a lytic lesion in his maxillary palate, suggesting chronic infection in his oronasal region. Computed tomography scans reveal lytic lesions within the diploë of his cranial vault. Multiple episodes of physiological stress during tooth development were identified histologically. The skeletal evidence indicates a difficult childhood and an adulthood marked by survival of a traumatic event with long-standing consequences, including likely issues with feeding and mastication. Here we employ a data-layering approach, integrating our findings with goldfields-era hospital archival evidence and previously conducted bioarchaeological analyses, to explore the provision of care during this socially unique period of New Zealand history.