Kaufman, Benjamin2024-09-252024-09-252024-08https://unbscholar.lib.unb.ca/handle/1882/38117The objective of this thesis is to investigate and validate the usage of biomolecular methods to study health and physiological stress in past populations through the analysis of osteocalcin and cortisol in human hair and bone. Both hormones play fundamental roles in the acute stress response (ASR) and how the body adapts to metabolic needs when responding to external stimuli (Fukuda and Morimoto, 2001; Moser and van der Eerden, 2019). Archaeological bone and hair samples were collected from 12 individuals from the 18th -century Fortress of Louisbourg skeletal collection and quantified using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results of this study found a meaningful relationship between these two hormones archaeologically. This project significantly aids in expanding the biomolecular study of stress in bioarchaeological contexts through a more targeted and precise measurement of physiological stress than current macroscopic methods of stress analysis (Scott et al., 2016; Webb et al., 2010).xi, 151electronicenhttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2master thesisScott, AmyAnthropology