Mary Goose Case Study

There are a couple of ways I could approach the dating of the grave of Mary Goose. Using seriation, I would examine the headstones within the Granary Burial Ground and in other regional historical cemeteries. I would pay close attention to the decorative motifs and styles of inscription while noting the dates of each burial. From this data I would create a relative chronology in the form of a battleship curve and determine if the design of Mary Goose’s headstone is consistent with the style employed in that area at the time of her alleged death in 1690. I would also search for records of marriages, births, and deaths, and any other pertinent historical documents that would validate the engraved date of death. Basing my results on the analysis of the gravestone alone, I find, …show more content…
The analysis of the strata below the grave and the extraction of any datable artifacts is not possible with out greatly disturbing the cemetery. No logs or timbers are used in the grave except for possibly the coffin to which we do not have access, so dendrochronology can not be used. Radiocarbon dating requires an organic sample which, again, is not available and this absolute dating process is not effective for dates less than 400 years ago. Potassium-argon dating, which is used to date volcanic rocks 80,000 years old or older and uranium series dating, which is associated with travertine at least 10,000 years old are also not applicable. Fission-track dating analyzes the damage caused by the division of uranium-238 atoms to determine age. Although the headstone might contain uranium-238, fission-track dating would only provide the age of the stone and not of the gravesite. Thermoluminescence dating, electron spin resonance dating, and archaeomagnetic dating all involve artifacts that have been baked or burned. Optical dating would also not be of use because it tests artifacts that have been exposed to light and then