The Man in the Iron Coffin: An Interdisciplinary Effort to Name the Past

The examination of a cast-iron coffin from the Mason family cemetery at Pulaski, Tennessee, offered an exceptional opportunity to study relatively well-preserved human remains, associated artifacts, and the coffin itself. Only a few studies of cast-iron coffins and their contents have incorporated the results of interdisciplinary research in the interpretation of the burial and the remains. The investigation is based on the use of an evolving protocol that promotes the collection of relevant information from several disciplines when evaluating cast-iron coffins and their contents. Multiple lines of evidence identify the remains as those of Isaac Newton Mason, a private in the First Tennessee Confederate Cavalry Regiment, and provide a detailed and intimate glimpse into the past.