A demographic analysis of skeletons from the Larson site (39WW2) Walworth County, South Dakota: Vital statistics

A life table methodology was used for paleodemographic analysis of skeletons from the Larson site (39WW2), an Arikara village and cemetery dated to circa A.D. 1750–1785. Vital statistics on mortality, survivorship, age‐specific probability of death, life expectancy and crude mortality rate were derived from skeletal data. The population had an extremely high infant mortality rate and high rates of childhood mortality. The lowest probability of death was for adolescents. Mortality increased for young adults, ages 15–19. This increase was especially marked for females, the actual peak of adult female mortality was during ages 15–19. A second mode in the female mortality curve occurred at ages 35–39. The greatest percentage of male deaths was observed in the fourth decade, ages 30–34. Only 4.0% of the population attained the age of 50. The population crude death rate was 76 per thousand per year. This estimate, although high, is congruent with archaeological and historical sources which report a rapid Arikara population decline during the Post‐Contact period. Causes of specific deaths appear to be linked to childbirth (affecting mother and infant), starvation, diseases especially tuberculosis, and intertribal warfare.