Map of the Week: Elmbank

I've been getting around to this since spacing.ca's excellent post on Elmbank, the rural community that once existed on the Pearson airport site. After its expropriation in the 1930s, visible signs of the village (south of the present-day control tower ) vanished, though archaeologists removed a 622-grave cemetery from the airport grounds in the fall of 2000. (link, link, link, link (.pdf).)

The archaeologists reported:

The observation of disease and traumatic injuries on skeletal remains provides insight into the overall health status and occupational hazards of the population. By recording the frequency of individuals manifesting certain disease markers, as well as fractures and dislocations, it is possible to reconstruct the everyday struggle endured by the nineteenth-century pioneers buried at Elmbank cemetery.

Specific conditions and diseases, such as osteoporosis, arthritis, tuberculosis, periostitis, and various forms of cancer were observed on a number of adult remains. Some adults, and especially the remains of children, exhibited non-specific signs of chronic disease and/or nutritional stress that cannot be attributed to one specific disease or episode of disease. These findings of chronic disease in adults and children are not unusual in populations that pre-date modern Western medicine with antibiotic treatment and knowledge of basic hygiene, sanitation, and balanced nutrition.

Numerous instances of fractured bones, arthritis, and spinal column disorders, as well as the robust appearance of the skeletal muscle attachments in many males and females, all indicate a life of hard work for both sexes. This finding mirrors observations of other historic Ontario populations.

Just under half of the analyzable crania showed evidence of a pathology of the eye socket indicating malnutrition. The presence of this pathology decreased with the age of the individuals and it was seen more frequently among females than among males. No severe cases of this pathology were seen among the wealthy.

The overlay is an 1878 sheet which covers roughly the north half of modern Mississauga. It came from this project.

The file will open in Google Earth, Google Maps’ three-dimensional cousin, which can be downloaded here. The map overlay is contained in this .kmz file, which you can right-click to download.