Early colonial burial practices for perinates at the Parramatta convict hospital, NSW

The skeletal remains of six perinatal infants were found during archaeological excavation of the Parramatta convict hospital. Perinatal refers to the period around birth, from 24 weeks gestation to 7 postnatal days. Two individuals were found in a double grave dated to the second convict hospital c.1800–c.1810, one individual in a storage cellar dated to c.1820 (second hospital) and three individuals in a pit dated to c.1830–1844 (third hospital). The completeness and preservation of the excavated skeletal remains varies according to the form of burial. Probable ancestry, sex and age of the individuals were examined using morphological and molecular evidence. European ancestry for two individuals has been indicated by mtDNA making these of historical significance in this period of early Australian-British settlement. The death and burial of these infants gives insight into late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century attitudes to death and Australian colonial society.