Investigating individual migration life histories: An isotopic case study from 17th to 18th century Nouvelle France

This isotopic study explores the mobility patterns of a growing urban population from Notre Dame's Catholic cemetery (1691-1796), located in Montreal (Canada). The site offers a unique opportunity to investigate early colonial settlement in Nouvelle France through individual life patterns.

Stable oxygen isotopic compositions (δ¹⁸O) were measured on the enamel of 32 individuals from the Notre Dame collection. Premolars and third molars were selected, as they reflected the δ¹⁸O of the drinking water during childhood (2.5-5.5 years) and pre-adulthood (9.5-15.5 years). Firstly, premolars from three children (4-8 years of age) allowed us to provide a mean δ¹⁸O for the water consumed locally (22.7 ±  1.0 ‰ vs. VSMOW). Then, our δ¹⁸O were compared with published data from various geographical regions in North America (Eastern Canada and the United States) and Europe (France and the British Isles) to highlight mobility patterns of each individual.

Forty-eight percent of our sample (14 out of 29 individuals) did not reflect any long-distance mobility, as all their δ¹⁸O reflected Montreal's variation during their lifetime. The remaining (15 out of 29 individuals) experienced mobility within (n = 8) and outside (n = 7) North America and at different phases of their life (five at pre-adulthood, six at adulthood and four during both phases). Their migration patterns were analyzed according to age, sex, diet and possible ancestry in order to propose some "biographies."

This study highlights high population diversity in early colonial Montreal. Historians wrote that the city was growing, not only with the arrival of Europeans (e.g., young male workers, sailors), but also other groups (e.g., Indigenous people, slaves from North America). Additional analyses (e.g., ancient DNA) will be needed to explore further this phenomenon.