Cemetery Lab: Human Population Demographics

A cemetery is an excellent place to study human demography. Demography is

defined as "the study of the characteristics of human populations, such as size,
growth, density, distribution and vital statistics". Gravestones record the dates of
birth and death, which can be used to calculate death rates and survivorship
curves. A survivorship curve is simply a graphical representation of the chance
that an individual will survive from birth to a particular age.

Over the last few centuries, advances in health care and political conflict have left opposing marks on the
demographics of our population. Two major time intervals stand out: before 1950 and after 1950. People who
died before 1950 witnessed the industrial revolution, the ravaging effects of polio, as well as World Wars I and II.
Following 1950, numerous vaccines and antibiotics were widely used, and with the exception of a few non-
global scale wars, this has been an era of relative peace in
North America.

Survivorship curves for different species fit one of three

shapes below. Human survivorship typically fits a type 1
curve. Especially interesting though is that slight, but
distinct, differences can be seen when curves from
separate communities are compared, or when humans
from different decades for a single community are
compared, as you will do in this lab.

Hypotheses

Write your answers to each question below before you

start collecting data:

1. Who do you think was more likely to survive: people who lived before 1950 or after 1950? Why?

People who lived after 1950 are probably more likely to survive because medicine has been improved greatly
after 1950.

2. Which gender: male or female do you think has greater survivorship? Why?

I think women have greater survivorship because I know from previous looks at population pyramids that
women generally have longer life expectancies.

Data: Use the attached data from a cemetery in IL or you can use a local cemetery (but make sure it is old
enough to have individuals born in the 1800’s). You want to organize them on the table on the next page
according to their gender and if they died before 1950 or after 1950. Use each individual’s first name to help you
keep track of who is who. I also highly recommend crossing people of off the list as you add them to the table.
Data Table I

Females who died Females who died Males who died Males who died
before 1950 after 1950 before 1950 after 1950
Name: Bertha Klugherz Name: Eileen Cain Name: Frank Klein Name: John Freundl

Age When Died: 66 Age When Died: 79 Age When Died: 22 Age When Died: 69

Name: Mary Hidde Name: Cynthia Williams Name: Joseph Klein Name: Philip Freundl

Age When Died: 67 Age When Died: 51 Age When Died: 83 Age When Died: 90

Name: Magdalena Klugherz Name: Lorraine Williams Name: Ambrose Lorentz Name: Herman Albert

Age When Died: 56 Age When Died: 80 Age When Died: 77 Age When Died: 87

Name: Catherine Schaus Name: Lena Schulte Name: Jacob Sontag Name: Ralph Albert

Age When Died: 75 Age When Died: 77 Age When Died: 68 Age When Died: 70

Name: Adeline Schaus Name: Sadie Sontag Name: Engelbert Sontag Name: John Theissen

Age When Died: 58 Age When Died: 77 Age When Died: 66 Age When Died: 86

Name: Appolonia Sanger Name: Margaret Reid Name: Jacob Schaus Name: Arlo Sandvig

Age When Died: 70 Age When Died: 86 Age When Died: 70 Age When Died: 94

Name: Frances Sontag Name: Kathryn French Name: Kasper Schulte Name: Edwin Tregemer

Age When Died: 79 Age When Died: 70 Age When Died: 86 Age When Died: 73

Name: Catherine Lorentz Name: Mary Oberle Name: Charles Schulte Name: John Mock

Age When Died: 48 Age When Died: 87 Age When Died: 38 Age When Died: 56

Name: Walburga Klein Name: Rose Freundl Name: Colin Macbeth Name: Robert Mock

Age When Died: 70 Age When Died: 96 Age When Died: 49 Age When Died: 64

Name: Rosa Klein Name: Theresa Borgmeier Name: Dionysius Hodapp Name: Clarence Mock

Age When Died: 7 Age When Died: 96 Age When Died: 74 Age When Died: 86

Total: 596 yrs. Total: 799 yrs. Total: 633 yrs. Total: 775 yrs.
Data Table II: Calculations of Survivorship and Mortality
Directions: Determine the total number of people who died at a certain age. For example you are trying to
determine how many females died between ages 0-9, before 1950. Maybe you have 2 people, so you would
write 2 in Column A. Column B is the number of individuals alive at the beginning of each interval, or how many
people survived to this age range. For ages 0-9 it will be your total number of individuals for this category. For
ages 10-19 you would subtract the number from Column A in the previous age category. So for example, if you
have “2” written in Column A for 0-9 age range you need to have your total – 2 = Column B for 10-19 age range.
Finally, for Column C you take Column B and divide this number by your total individuals (at the bottom of your
table). This number should start at 1 and then become a decreasing decimal.
Your data:
Females Who Died Before 1950
Age Column A Column B Column C
Mortality (M) = # of deaths per age
# "alive" at the beginning of age interval Survivorship (S)
interval
0-9 1 10 1.0 (by definition)
10-19 0 9 0.9
20-29 0 9 0.9
30-39 0 9 0.9
40-49 1 9 0.9
50-59 2 8 0.8
60-69 2 6 0.6
70-79 4 4 0.4
80-89 0 0 0
90-99 0 0 0
100-109 0 0 0

Total Number of Deaths for data set: 10

Females Who Died After 1950

Age Column A Column B Column C
Mortality (M) = # of deaths per age
# "alive" at the beginning of age interval Survivorship (S)
interval
0-9 0 10 1.0 (by definition)
10-19 0 10 1.0
20-29 0 10 1.0
30-39 0 10 1.0
40-49 0 10 1.0
50-59 1 10 1.0
60-69 0 9 0.9
70-79 4 9 0.9
80-89 3 5 0.5
90-99 2 2 0.2
100-109 0 0 0.0

Total Number of Deaths for data set: 10

 Males Who Died Before 1950
Age Column A Column B Column C
Mortality (M) = # of deaths per age
# "alive" at the beginning of age interval Survivorship (S)
interval
0-9 0 10 1.0 (by definition)
10-19 0 10 1.0
20-29 1 10 1.0
30-39 1 9 0.9
40-49 1 8 0.8
50-59 0 7 0.7
60-69 2 7 0.7
70-79 3 5 0.5
80-89 2 2 0.2
90-99 0 0 0.0
100-109 0 0 0.0

Total Number of Deaths for data set: 10

Males Who Died After 1950

Age Column A Column B Column C
Mortality (M) = # of deaths per age
# "alive" at the beginning of age interval Survivorship (S)
interval
0-9 0 10 1.0 (by definition)
10-19 0 10 1.0
20-29 0 10 1.0
30-39 0 10 1.0
40-49 0 10 1.0
50-59 1 10 1.0
60-69 2 9 0.9
70-79 2 7 0.7
80-89 3 5 0.5
90-99 2 2 0.2
100-109 0 0 0.0

Total Number of Deaths for data set: 10

Data Analysis
Make a graph of survivorship (Y axis) as a function of age group (X axis). Each data set should have its own line
(Females before 1950, Females after 1950, Males before 1950, Males after 1950). Include a Key and Clear Labels!

1. Based on your graph who was more likely to survive: people who lived before 1950 or after 1950? Was this
what you predicted?

People who lived after 1950 had a greater survivorship, according to my graph. This does indeed follow my
prediction.

2. Based on your graph which gender: male or female do you think has greater survivorship? Was this what you
predicted?

Women had a greater survivorship, according to my graph. This does indeed follow my prediction.