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We are happy to present the preliminary analyses from the cemetery project at the annual meeting of the Texas Archaeological Society in San Antonio on October 27, 2018. Because space on a poster is at a premium, we are listing our references here and linking to them with a QR code on the poster. You can download a copy of the poster here as well.

References

Baker, Brenda J., Tosha L. Dupras, and Matthew W. Tocheri. (2005). The Osteology of Infants and Children. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, TX.

Buikstra, Jane E., and Douglas H. Ubelaker. (1994). Standards for data collection from human skeletal remains: Proceedings of a seminar at the Field Museum of Natural History. Arkansas Archeological Survey, Fayetteville, AR.

Burns, Chester R. “EPIDEMIC DISEASES.” The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), 12 June 2010, tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/sme01.

Camp, Stacey, Benjamin Carter, Autumn Painter, Sarah M. Rowe, and Kathryn Sampeck. (n.d.) Teaching Archaeological Mapping and Data Management with KoBoToolbox. In Digital Heritage and Archaeology in Practice, Ethan Watrall and Lynne Goldstein, editors. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

Fischler, Jacob. “Archaeology Project Getting to the Bottom of Cemetery’s Mysteries.” The Monitor, 24 July 2013, www.themonitor.com/news/local/article_cca5108c-f3e6-11e2-ae09-001a4bcf6878.html.

Flores, Daniel A. “Exhibit on Rio Grande Valley’s Violent History to Be on Display at Texas State Museum.” The Monitor, 17 Jan. 2016, www.themonitor.com/life/article_bd2e0f70-bbb0-11e5-adba-07b243b0d803.html.

Garcia, J. (2011). EDINBURG. Charleston, SC: ARCADIA Publishing.

Rosales, F.A. (1996). Chicano! The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement.

Graham, Rod. “Texas Warm Winter Vacation, Snowbirds Retire in Texas, The Winter Texan Connection.” Texas Warm Winter Vacation, Snowbirds Retire in Texas, The Winter Texan Connection, www.wintertexaninfo.com/.

Jara, Stephanie. “In Pictures: Historical Marker Unveiled to Commemorate 1966 Farm Worker Strike and March.” Rio Grande Guardian, 10 Apr. 2017, riograndeguardian.com/plaque-unveiled-to-commemorate-1966-farm-worker-strike-and-march/.

Morgan, L. (2017, August 24). Hurricanes that Texas may never forget. Retrieved from https://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/08/texas_worst_hurricanes.html

The data collection for this public archaeology fieldwork course has to be one of the best parts for me. The first day had some nice weather for the spring semester as I arrived at the cemetery. It’s a fairly filled cemetery so I did get lost until I found that we would all be at a corner end of the cemetery. Richardson Rd is actually about eight minutes away from my home so it has been a friendly commute every Friday.

It was great to start off the semester with in class meetings as an introduction to the course, project and all the things necessary for the rest of the school year. I knew what to expect but also thought there would be more to collect once at the cemetery. What made it easy is that all I needed was a charged phone, a ruler, and a sheet with grave descriptions to start the day. Many details of a cemetery that I did not previously know were very interesting to me. The stone type, material, carvings, and even that most graves face to the east side.

I paid close attention to each individual buried and what family had left to remember them by. Even those that really didn’t have anything or was badly damaged has a story. At first it was difficult to walk around and not feel rude or disturbing of the area. I didn’t want to walk over anything so delicate and important. Being there really made me think of the life each person had and really what I have too, that is valuable and irreplaceable. It doesn’t matter what age or gender, there was a variety to see and reflect on. Rather than leave things on a sad note, the important thing is that data collection itself is for a much bigger picture. We are being respectful of the graves and ethical that nothing nor anyone is being harmed in the process.

The public cemetery lost records, has missing graves or are destroyed and the best thing we could do is restore it. Each grave has a number, a name, and other valuable information. It helps the county’s cemetery and the community of people who share family’s there. It’s not forgotten, but rather fragile that simply needs some restoration to improve it. The data collection process is thorough and I can imagine the time it took to flag and number each one. Over 1,000 graves and all different. Each time I collected, I became more familiar with the marker type and material and saw/learned something new. It feels good knowing that every day we added more into the project to help it grow and build with the community. Not a day felt wasted, including the short rainy days or the very hot long ones. It was important to take the time on each grave and input everything the best we would. What comes next is organizing the long extensive excel sheet and finally placing a name to a number and then mapping each one.
Great data collection experience!

On our first day of cemetery data collection it was a fresh/cold Friday morning around 11 p.m. as the cold front lasted all throughout the afternoon. When Dr. Rowe arrived at the cemetery she proceeded to take out all the equipment that we will be using for the remainder of the semester, which include: a ruler (to measure the graves), a permanent marker (to check mark the graves that are completed), and a legend (of all the possible graves that would be available to input into KoBoToolbox). The only tool that we must bring ourselves is our cellular phone or device with internet connection to input the data of the grave. One of the main tools that we are using is the total station to map the grave site. that tool is delicate and takes precise instructions to set up or else will not properly function, this device shoots a laser to the prism that is used to mark the grave, this data is then stored in the total station which in return is used to mark the graves. Dr. Rowe has also used the drone to have an aerial view of the cemetery, as well as the GPR, which is penetrating radar that is also used to properly mark the graves.

on the first day I was operating the Total station along with other classmates that where handling the prism. This was a good day for data collection because it was not a typical hot Texas day which enabled us as a team to collect and map a good number of graves on our first day of data collection. Based on my observation it is amazing how old this graveyard is I have come across a couple of graves from the 1800’s, the work that is being conducted in this cemetery is astonishing and helpful not only to the individuals that have been laid to rest, but to their families and the community as a whole, this public archaeology mapping is essential to learn more about our past in our Culturally diverse Rio Grande Valley, upon further investigation I have also stumbled upon a grave in which the man was from Sweden the epitaph was written in Swedish, in addition the grave was also from the 1800’s.

Overall the first day of data collection had a profound impact on me, because it seems as if the cemetery is split in two just like our society, there are the graves that have lush green grass around them that are mowed weekly and watered almost daily with marble and granite headstones, while the other half which is the help that we are mapping is dry with weeds and dirt covering a lot of the headstones, the only clean graves are the ones that the family of the deceased come to pay their respects and offer maintenance to the graves. the graves remind me of the forgotten people of the Rio Grande Valley that in my opinion are the poor that lives in colonias and respectively had a very humble lifestyle.

Marginalization and inequalities occur all over the United States continent since, after the conquerization of the land and people, the new laws and enforcements discriminate minority races. In particular, by viewing the graves and the landscapes physical conditions in Hidalgo County Public Cemetery (HCPC) we can witness such aspects of neglect and marginalization from the other cemeteries. To express the findings of marginalization and inequalities the project needs to explore the neighboring cemeteries. What should be compared is the date range of the burials, race types, maintenance of the site, maintenance of individual graves, and difference of used grave markers. With all that, we can address the issue of diversity to find if racism has taken place in this mainly Hispanic descended area.

Date range of burials can help view the start of burials and the end. Has this location filled up leading to the need to start other cemeteries nearby? Or did the other cemeteries also began burials at the same time? How old are the decedents? In Hidalgo County Public Cemetery Project (HCPCP) there are some burials that have been relocated to this area. Why where they moved? Was there a renewal movement at their previous location? In all, the date can help view the shift of people migrating into the region and the past race as well as class that dwelled within Edinburg, Texas.

Maintenance of site shows how the owner has the number of funds gained from the burials to continue maintaining the land clear and clean. When the HCPCP began the area had no restroom facilities unlike the neighboring cemetery Hillcrest who has a building. Even more, most of the road is dirt road whereas Hillcrest has paved roads. There were no trash cans in the location when first starting the project. Now there is one. In fact, now there is more maintenance of yard work compared to the first day of the project. Moreover, there is no inputted sprinkler system in HCPC but there is in Hillcrest. therefore, we can state that the owner does not have the funds like how Hillcrest has. Is it because HCPC was cheaper to purchase compared to purchasing a grave plot at Hillcrest. This can help figure out the class of the region.

Maintenance of individual graves can explain reasons why the location looks like it does. The amount of people who still visit their buried family members by leaving offerings (such as flowers) gives a glimpse of what family members are still present in the area. It can also help determine if some have been forgotten or have no determination of who they are.  In HCPC there are some burials with no names and date of birth as well as death. Did someone know this person? Is this location a place for lower income, therefore, the family members had no money to buy a durable gravestone? Has the time caused failure to remember where their family member was buried? For sure, it is a lower class graveyard. Do the other cemeteries also have poor grave monuments? Also, have some of the there burials been of people that no one recalled since their death, which caused the city to bury them in this location.

Grave markers can determine the type of class the family and deceased stood on. Here there are some that are just a wood marker, with no name and date. Has there been a previous maker that was stolen or broken? Or was that the original? Also, there are a lot of grave markers that are personally made rather than store bought. Did they want to make them themselves or was it more inexpensive than buying one? We can analyze the type of material used like if its something you can easily find lying around the house. For example, fencing made out of house bricks. This could have been leftover material from their house. There are some who seemed very expensive like those made of marble or granite. How many of there stone monuments are there in the area? Compare to the other cemeteries. This can determine the number of well-off people in the region.

It is how Paul A. Shackel conducts his research in New Philadelphia with the assurance  that “the history of racism on the landscape is obvious (Shackel, 2007: 252).” With all these questions we can answer if there is a separation of class and race. Then, we can raise the consciousness of the landscape history in order acknowledge the city’s cultural aspects, classification, and historical shifts (Paul Mullins, 2007: 97). We can then ask ourselves if there have been improvements in racial norms and marginalization or is there a maintenance. It is obvious that there is marginalization within this area. The researchers are here to address these inequalities and make aware to the public of the graveyard that has been forgotten.

Our media technology continues to advance by creating new forms, engagements, and access towards it. As explained by Neil Postman, these new inventions have created ecological adaptations, making the people adjust to the new ways (Bonacchi, 2017: pp.2). With this, digital engagement seems to be the aim of public archaeology in order to give the audience wider access to the resource and research that are conducted. In fact, digital engagement goes beyond locals having access to the data for the internet is international. Even more, the storage of information is great because there are diverse programs one can engage in with little to no money. At first, one might struggle to find a good web source, but you can switch around to diverse apps or tools. Also, the online storage makes updates of data and digital forms easier to conduct compared to previous usages like pen and paper. In all, HCPCP would be better off digitally since our society has been moving forward with improvements in our mass media technology.

Nowadays, since adolescence, the younger people have been raised with technology.  They have embraced technology at all times, creating a change towards our methods of teaching, performing and interacting. This social change is worldwide, therefore; there are more international connections than ever seen before.  It is great news for archaeologist because it helps them expand their connections, access to materials and providing information worldwide. In specific, the HCPCP can become collaborative with the younger civilization. I have always thought that to better the nation, the young students should be pushed and have access to newer inventions so once they grow up they can develop more complex technology that will better our civilization. The way HCPCP can be helpful to students is by showing them ways to store historical information, maintain it and accessing the past. Later on one might find such technique used as well, and also start to store past records digitally. Yet, that is not the most important aspects of making HCPCP data digitalized. The beauty of this is so the students and people can have access to the information.

Kevin Garstki states that holding or studying the full artifact itself brings you back to the actual individual that made it (Garstki, 2017: 727). Here he is talking about a 3D object that can be physical but as well as digital. If HCPCP would make the data in 3D mode and make it accessible online, the people can get a better glimpse and understanding of the material and information collected. The project can go certain ways. Firstly, having a better aerial view of the landscape can give the people understanding the location of the cemetery. What kind of landscape is the cemetery? What part of the world is it located? What else is nearby? How big is the cemetery? Is there a pattern within the burials? We can also see the nature of the land and where each individual decedent is located. This will help some find a certain individual as well as the type of burial. Another possible 3D model is each individual burial is by taking a panoramic picture of the monuments. The information can be stored to view the condition of the monuments. We can also capture the diverse styles and how they interconnect. Furthermore, the number of offerings will be present in order to determine the cultural background, if the burial was a memorial to the family members or friends, and can help determine the age and gender of the decedent. That last point is nice to know in case the grave marker has been damaged or missing, this can help identify the decedent. It will be a great way to store history and information in case the cemetery values and materials get damaged. Lastly, HCPCP can get an underground 3-D x-ray of the burials. With that image, the researchers can analyze the skeletons decays, burial positions and once again gender and age. We can also view if there are other unmarked burials. Again this will help see patterns and cultures.

All sounds great but the downfall is having a lack of access to creating the 3D models. The time doesn’t really matter since HCPCP researchers are college students and professor. What matters is funds. With limited funds, the project can only do so much. There are some free digital technologies around the internet, but are not as high quality as other priced software applications. In addition, the 3D X-ray scanner machine is expensive. It is actually a new technology used to scan the ground not only by anthropologist but as well as armed forces. The HCPCP researchers might even face trouble with the decedent’s families who might not want to see or have someone bother the dead. These are a few of difficulties that the project faces when trying to make the information 3D.

For researchers, the ability to engage with others is the main goal. This way their research and data can be further used by others. When doing research there is never ending inquiries.  So by providing the information publicly, others can use the material for further studies. Also, storing history is helpful for a person to find their background roots. It is just a nice way to give someone something to look back on.   

The project might become more collaborative by inviting members of the public to do research on their own, and send us relevant information (that we then digitize and add to our database/website). I’m thinking newspaper articles and photographs of the deceased, journals, deeds or other paper documents that are related to them. The digital newspaper archives are very difficult to read online, and many of the Hispanic names here are so similar that it would be helpful for the families to provide us with specific articles, or if they could find the relevant articles online for us.

We could become more co-creative by perhaps making a “digital ofrenda” with pictures of the deceased and biographies written by the family, with pictures of their family members attached. The idea being that the families create the content and make the connections, we only provide the hosting platform. I like this idea personally, because so many of the graves have pictures of the deceased that aren’t visible anymore, or won’t be visible for long. The families wanted their loved one’s images to be remembered, we should honor and facilitate that desire.

The information that will be the most valuable to the community will be that which makes the occupants of the cemetery come back to life, in a sense. And that information is most likely in the possession of the families. I am sure families would appreciate the chance to tell their own stories and make their own interpretations.

The benefits 3D technology can provide to public archaeology projects are many! 3D technology can help us to accurately recreate real objects as digital models, which can then be shared, manipulated, printed, analyzed and many other things. 3D technology allows for an unlimited level of creativity in making admittedly boring data become relevant and interesting to the public. Not only is 3D tech about making physical models that can be shared and manipulated, but its also about making digital models. The possibilities when working with digital models are practically endless, and the more ubiquitous virtual reality software becomes the more creative we can become about how we use digital models of archaeological artifacts and sites. There are some pitfalls: like unscrupulous individuals making copies of artifacts and trying to pass them off as real; or someone using a digital model of an artifact in a disrespectful manner; or someone using our models to spread misinformation. Or lesser pitfalls exist as well, such as if the proliferation of artifact copies causes the public to value the original artifacts less, or if we make an error in our models that then becomes accepted as truth.

It may be possible to recreate the headstones or graves themselves, especially given the incredible variety in handmade grave markers: pictures alone simply do not do them justice! Additionally, it seems obvious that this cemetery is not static at all, the families are constantly coming in and redecorating, or making new grave markers, or the old grave markers are crumbling away as the families neglect them. We have a duty to preserve the cemetery as it exists now, and the most accurate and participatory method to do that is to recreate the grave markers digitally. Photographs alone are insufficient, I think. Further, this specific cemetery is unique. People in other areas of the world may experience the cemetery in a more immediate and visceral way if we can provide them with a digital representation of the cemetery itself. This makes what we do even more valuable, not only are we documenting and preserving, we are enabling a virtual personal experience with the cemetery for members of the public.

ethics are needed not just for everyday living, but they are extremely important in the field of anthropology, ethics are needed because often times the archaeologist may be working in foreign countries and are working on indigenous lands. Which is where The Society for American Archaeology’s principle number eight comes into play, principle number eight states: “Given the destructive nature of most archaeological investigations, archaeologist must ensure that they have adequate training, experience, facilities, and other support necessary to conduct any program of research they initiate in a manner consistent with the foregoing principles and contemporary standards of professional practice.”

It is also important to report any and all objects, artifacts or burials that are found by archaeologist, otherwise what is the objective of the archaeologist if he or she does not report what he or she has discovered. The archaeologist must record and publish her or his findings to as many publication as possible. as it states in principle number 6 “The documents and materials on which publication and other forms of public reporting… archaeological sites  must be taken into account when publishing and distributing information about their nature and information.” For this reason we need ethics and principles in archaeology, because the public needs to know and learn what public or any type of archaeologist are doing.

Another principle is the respect of intellectual property. For example archaeologist discovers a tomb or a buried artifact he or she has the right to claim the principle founder of the object or place this is principle number five, however it follows principle number six very close. In doing so the archaeologist should not perceive it as personal possession of the objects or place in the ethics of archaeology it quotes the following about principle number five: “Intellectual property, as contained in the knowledge and the documents created through the study of archaeological resources, is part of the archaeological record. As such it should be treated in accord with the principles of stewardship rather than as a matter of personal possession. If there is a compelling reason, and no legal restrictions or strong countervailing interest, a researcher may have primary access to original materials and documents for a limited and reasonable time, after which materials and documents must be made available to others.”  Principle number five is closely related to principle number 5, because both principle require for findings to be publicly published.

The last principle in the ethics of archaeology is principle number nine, Safe Educational and Workplace Environments. Archaeology is a job/profession, obviously there must be rules in the workplace such as no sexual harassment. Furthermore, their should be no scrutiny on people based on their sexual orientation, religion, and ethnicity.  In addition ” Archaeologist in all work, educational, and other professional settings, including fieldwork and conferences, are responsible for training the next generation of archaeologist.” this i believe it to be one of the most important principles because i believe that upcoming archaeologist should be properly trained by well experienced archaeologist to pass on the great skills to keep up the excellent work this fairly new field of study.

 

public archaeology to me means that archaeologist are working on public land to preserve or excavate archaeological sites or as in our case trying to map out a cemetery. however, archaeology has both practice and theory, in practice it is a fairly new field of study that is gaining traction. public archaeology may be an umbrella term that encompasses various political, socio-economic, and of course public aspects, as quoted from the article. “Holtford Archaeology is a brand! The meaning of Archaeology in contemporary popular culture “offers three models for the practice of public archaeology: The ‘education model’ , the ‘public relations model’, and the ‘democratic model’. The ‘education model’ suggest that archaeologist need to support the public to ‘come see both the past and the occupation of the archaeologist in the same terms as the professional archaeologist themselves’. (The meaning of archaeology in contemporary culture. Oxford: Archaeopress). The ‘public relations model’ suggest that an increase in social, economic and political support for the professional archaeological sector will arrive only if the archaeologist can improve their public image.”

Public archeology does not just fall into one specific category but several, and as far as theory goes, it varies, because archaeology is also political, theories may vary from country some coountries may be more lenient in the way that public archaeologist carry out their work, while other countries may be more oppressive and leave little to no input on the public archaeologist input on how the archaeological work should be carried out. a quote from the articles states the following about theory in public archaeology “Differing theoretical approaches to archaeology can be found in different countries, depending on the history of the foundation of the national disciplinary tradition. These approaches have developed alongside the socio-economic and political circumstances under which publicly accessible and publicly understandable archaeology takes place, ad is subject to policy, which varies from nation to nation”. Our cemetery project align with this in both practice and theory for the following reasons. Dr. Rowe mentioned that they city of Edinburg reached out to map the public cemetery. they gave permission to do public archaeological work, the city was concerned that there are many unmarked graves which allows the public sector to work with public archaeologist for a common goal, to reunite families with their deceased loved ones.

The lines of investigation that I am interested in pursuing is finding out exactly how many graves are unmarked. Because it comes to show just how poverty we have in the  Rio Grande Valley. Dying is a very expensive process, and to get buried it includes funeral services that are estimated at ten thousand dollars including the casket and burial. plenty of families do not have the financial stability to lay to rest their loved ones. which is why i am interested in seeing just how many graves  there are that are unclaimed. because, there might be a correlation between poverty  and the number of unmarked graves there are in the Hope Cemetery. with any luck our group might be able to mark the graves.

Mortimer Wheeler said, ‘It is the duty of the archaeologist, as of the scientist, to reach and impress the public, and to mould his words in the common clay of its forthright understanding’. I completely agree with this! What is the point of investigating the past if we do not somehow report our findings to others? My opinion here definitely doesn’t agree with the readings, I really don’t like the complication of adding a new label for everything we do! I believe that the term public archaeology is any archaeological pursuit which identifies the public at large as its primary consumer- irrelevant of the source of funding or political context in which it operates. If I am being completely honest, I would say that this means that ALL archaeology is inherently public archaeology. Even privately funded CRM salvage excavations which do not publish their findings immediately, can and do periodically publish summaries or compilations of their excavations in a region. The process of systematically collecting and maintaining excavation records and artifact repositories allows for a future use of such data for dissemination to the public. The primary intent of an archaeological excavation may not be to immediately create a public presentation of some sort, but if the data exists it has the potential to be repackaged into a publicly consumed product in the future. The act of recording an excavation, doing some sort of an analysis, and maintaining these records belies the understanding that this data is meant for others. And in my opinion, “others” and “the public at large” are the same thing. Therefore, I think it’s a superfluous label, we are quibbling over divisions on a spectrum again. Having said that, I very much appreciate the need for archaeologists to focus on the public as its primary consumer; I truly wish ALL archaeologists would agree that this is fundamental to archaeology. There is no point to what we do if we don’t share it with others.

 

Our project aligns with the goals of public archaeology in a very clear way, we have specifically stated that the intent of this project is to share our findings with as many people as we possibly can. We have created online databases so that people can see the data we collect, and we are compiling this data into formats which highlight interesting or informative aspects. We aren’t simply cataloging information and making pretty pictures, we want to provide context and identity to a forgotten piece of our local history and then tell as many people as we can what we learned! I am most interested in providing stories to attach to the graves, I truly feel that more than anything we learn about social trends or discriminations, personal stories will be the most impactful thing that we can provide to the relatives and the community. We already know this area was rife with inequality, it still is. I think the relatives of the people we are studying will appreciate their stories being told, more than anything else. I do think we can find those stories by investigating trends, so we need to do big picture as well as individual focuses. One of the things I’m also interested in is looking through the newspapers to find big stories of social unrest or other movements in the area, and trying to find some of the key players involved. Maybe I can focus on a decade and see if I can find any names we have recorded so far mentioned in a newspaper? I like the idea of being a forensic investigator!

Last year Hidalgo County Officials contacted UTRGV’s Anthropology Department to assist in identifying graves at the Hidalgo County Pauper’s Cemetery. The cemetery had been virtually abandoned since it had not been used since the 1990’s. Information of individuals buried there had not been kept up with or were lost due to water damage at the facility housing the records. Over vegetation had taken over the cemetery grounds and damaged headstones as well as grave offerings/decorations. Hidalgo County provided a cleanup team to clear the area for Archaeology students in 2017. Many graves had headstones that showed signs of biological damage as well as weathering. Some graves had no identifying markers but were able to be identified as a grave by an obvious slump. These areas were then verified as a grave with the aid of human remains detection dogs. Use of GPR has not yet been applied; hopefully this semester our class will have the opportunity to practice using the GPR and perhaps even more unidentified graves can be found.
Many of the graves encountered have headstones composed of different types of stone, wood, and different types of metal. The type of headstone can possibly give an insight to the individuals’ family and their social status. Most of the headstones of the neighboring cemetery seem to be made of marble and granite while those of the Pauper’s Cemetery are mostly made of inexpensive materials. Most wooden crosses of HCPC no longer bare the name of the individual who is buried in the plot, and some wooden crosses have broken and fallen onto or into the grave. Some headstones appear to be homemade with cement and pebbles. Grave offerings and decorations can be found all through the cemetery. Children and infants usually have toys or angels while adults mostly have flowers and/or other items. Some other items include candles, jars, voo-doo dolls, and other religious materials.
Descriptions of each individual grave are being recorded for data collection. This information will be entered into a data base where the public will have access to find lost buried relatives. Some students have been approached by families that come to visit the cemetery to ask what the group is doing. When families are made aware of this project they are usually glad to hear what we are doing and will ask if we can find their family members. So far most of the public doesn’t know about the project but we are hoping to change that and make the community aware. With the help of the community we can learn the stories of the individuals buried in the cemetery. We have noticed many children and infants from the 1960’s and 1970’s are buried at HCPC. Some of the infants have the same birth and death date. This could indicate that the infant was stillborn or possibly born with life threatening complications which led to death shortly after birth. I personally would like to know the stories of these young lives lost. What was happening in the area at the time these children and infants died? What improvements have been made to decrease infant mortality?