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Objectives: The aims of the study are to investigate the effects of latitude, settlement type, age, and sex on the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency disease in the Roman Empire using human skeletal remains from cemetery sites (1st to 6th cent. AD)., Materials and Methods: Data from 2,787 individuals (1,143 subadults, 1,644 adults) from 18 cemeteries associated with 15 different settlements in the Mediterranean and north-western Europe were analyzed. Vitamin D deficiency disease (rickets, osteomalacia) was identified using standard paleopathological criteria. Multivariate statistical analysis was used analyze the effects of the variables of interest on the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency., Results: The overall prevalence of rickets in subadults (<20 years) was 5.7%, and 3.2% of adults showed osteomalacia and/or residual rickets. There was a positive association between rickets in subadults and latitude, with numerous cases of rickets among infants. There was no general association with sex or settlement type, although an elevated prevalence of rickets was observed at a cemetery associated with a settlement (Ostia, Italy), which had multi-storey buildings., Discussion: The association of rickets with latitude may reflect care practices that, in more northerly locations where solar radiation is less intense, placed infants at increased risk of insufficient sunlight exposure to permit adequate vitamin D biosynthesis. The elevated level of vitamin D deficiency at Ostia may reflect, at least in part, the lack of sunlight due to dense occupation of multi-storey blocks that prevented direct sunlight from reaching living quarters and the streets between these closely spaced buildings., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: We obtained the oxygen and strontium isotope composition of teeth from Roman period (1st to 4th century CE) inhabitants buried in the Vagnari cemetery (Southern Italy), and present the first strontium isotope variation map of the Italian peninsula using previously published data sets and new strontium data. We test the hypothesis that the Vagnari population was predominantly composed of local individuals, instead of migrants originating from abroad., Materials and Methods: We analyzed the oxygen ( 18 O/ 16 O) and strontium ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) isotope composition of 43 teeth. We also report the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr composition of an additional 13 molars, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values from fauna (n = 10), and soil (n = 5) samples local to the area around Vagnari. The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr variation map of Italy uses 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values obtained from previously published data sources from across Italy (n = 199)., Results: Converted tooth carbonate (δ 18 O DW ) and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data indicate that the majority of individuals buried at Vagnari were local to the region. ArcGIS bounded Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation of the pan-Italian 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data set approximates the expected 87 Sr/ 86 Sr range of Italy's geological substratum, producing the first strontium map of the Italian peninsula., Discussion: Results suggest that only 7% of individuals buried at Vagnari were born elsewhere and migrated to Vagnari, while the remaining individuals were either local to Vagnari (58%), or from the southern Italian peninsula (34%). Our results are consistent with the suggestion that Roman Imperial lower-class populations in southern Italy sustained their numbers through local reproduction measures, and not through large-scale immigration from outside the Italian peninsula., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: One of the hallmarks of contemporary osteoporosis and bone loss is dramatically higher prevalence of loss and fragility in females post-menopause. In contrast, bioarchaeological studies of bone loss have found a greater diversity of age- and sex-related patterns of bone loss in past populations. We argue that the differing findings may relate to the fact that most studies use only a single methodology to quantify bone loss and do not account for the heterogeneity and complexity of bone maintenance across the skeleton and over the life course., Methods: We test the hypothesis that bone mass and maintenance in trabecular bone sites versus cortical bone sites will show differing patterns of age-related bone loss, with cortical bone sites showing sex difference in bone loss that are similar to contemporary Western populations, and trabecular bone loss at earlier ages. We investigated this hypothesis in the Imperial Roman population of Velia using three methods: radiogrammetry of the second metacarpal (N = 71), bone histology of ribs (N = 70), and computerized tomography of trabecular bone architecture (N = 47). All three methods were used to explore sex and age differences in patterns of bone loss., Results: The suite of methods utilized reveal differences in the timing of bone loss with age, but all methods found no statistically significant differences in age-related bone loss., Discussion: We argue that a multi-method approach reduces the influence of confounding factors by building a reconstruction of bone turnover over the life cycle that a limited single-method project cannot provide. The implications of using multiple methods beyond studies of bone loss are also discussed., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

A growing number of paleodiet investigations over recent years have begun to reveal the stark dietary differences that existed between regions of the Roman Empire, as well as significant changes in subsistence strategies after its fall. The present study explores the dietary changes at the Roman to post-Roman (Germanic) transition in the Northwest Iberian Peninsula, in order to improve our understanding of the changes that occurred at end of the Roman Empire in different regions across Europe and to also consider the influence of climate had on them. The carbon and nitrogen stable isotope investigation in bone collagen from A Lanzada, NW Spain (100-700 AD), which was an important commercial, coastal settlement has been presented. A human sample of 59 individuals, 6 of them subadults, is compared with 31 faunal specimens, which include a number of marine fish. Isotope data for the terrestrial fauna reveal the influence of the sea on the local isotope baseline. Analysis of the human samples indicates a mixed marine-terrestrial diet. A shift in mean human δ(13) C values from -16.7‰ to -14.3‰ provides clear evidence for a significant change in diet in the post-Roman period, probably through the intensification of both marine resources exploitation and C4 -plant consumption (presumably millet). A deterioration of paleoenvironmental conditions, together with a poor socioeconomic situation and the arrival of new people, the Sueves, who brought a new political and socioeconomic system have been discussed as the main causes for the dietary modification in post-Roman times., (© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

In the Roman period, urban and rural ways of living were differentiated philosophically and legally, and this is the first regional study of these contrasting life-ways. Focusing on frailty and mortality risk, we investigated how these differed by age, sex, and status, using coffin type as a proxy for social status. We employed skeletal data from 344 individuals: 150 rural and 194 urban (1st-5th centuries A.D.) from Dorset, England. Frailty and mortality risk were examined using indicators of stress (cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, nonspecific periostitis, and enamel hypoplastic defects), specific metabolic and infectious diseases (rickets, scurvy, and tuberculosis), and dental health (carious lesions and calculus). These variables were studied using Chi-square, Siler model of mortality, Kaplan-Meier analysis, and the Gompertz model of adult mortality. Our study found that overall, mortality risk and survivorship did not differ between cemetery types but when the data were examined by age, mortality risk was only significantly higher for urban subadults. Demographic differences were found, with urban cemeteries having more 0-10 and >35 year olds, and for health, urban cemeteries had significantly higher frequencies of enamel hypoplastic defects, carious lesions, and rickets. Interestingly, no significant difference in status was observed between rural and urban cemeteries. The most significant finding was the influence of the skeletal and funerary data from the Poundbury sites, which had different demographic profiles, significantly higher frequencies of the indicators of stress and dental health variables. In conclusion, there are significant health, demographic, and mortality differences between rural and urban populations in Roman Britain., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

As part of the road widening scheme between London and Dover, Oxford Archaeology South uncovered a large boundary ditch of Iron Age origin that contained Iron Age and Roman inhumations, adjacent to which was a small mid-late Roman cemetery, interpreted as a rural cemetery for Romano-British farmers. Grave goods in the cemetery were restricted to a few individuals with hobnailed boots. Bulk bone collagen isotopic analysis of 11 skeletons of Iron Age and Roman date gave a typical C(3) terrestrial signal (average δ(13) C = -19.8‰, δ(15) N = 9.3‰), but also revealed one (SK12671) with a diet which included a substantial C(4) component (δ(13) C = -15.2‰, δ(15) N = 11.2‰). This is only the second such diet reported in Roman Britain. Subsequent δ(18) O(c) and (87) Sr/(86) Sr measurements on the dental enamel in this individual were, however, consistent with a "local" origin, indicating that either C(4) protein was consumed in Late Roman Britain, or that he came from somewhere else, but where conditions gave rise to similar isotopic values. If we accept the latter, then it indicates that using oxygen and strontium isotopes alone to identify "incomers" may be problematic. The provision of hobnailed boots for the dead appears to have had a strong symbolic element in Late Roman Britain. We suggest that in this case the boots may be significant, in that he was being equipped for the long march home., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

The Roman conquest of Britain was previously shown to have negatively impacted health, particularly for children, older adults, and men. We build upon this previous research by investigating the effect that status had on risks of mortality within the Roman Britain populations of Dorset. This study incorporates a sample of 291 individuals excavated from several cemeteries in the county of Dorset dating between the first to early fifth centuries AD. To assess the effect of status on risks of mortality, burial type was used as a proxy for status and modeled as a covariate affecting the Siler and Gompertz-Makeham models of mortality. The results of these analyses indicate that high-status individuals, particularly children, had a lower mortality risk compared to lower-status groups; and for those buried in urban cemeteries, higher-status individuals of all age-groups had a lower mortality risk. As with our previous study (Redfern and DeWitte: Am J Phys Anthropol 144 (2011) 269-285), we found that male mortality risk was higher than females, which we consider to reflect underlying sex-differences in immunity and disease response., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

This study integrates isotopic, palaeopathological, and historical evidence to investigate infant and young child feeding practices in a Roman period (1st to 3rd centuries AD) skeletal sample from the Isola Sacra necropolis (Rome, Italy). Stable isotope analysis of bone collagen from 37 rib samples indicates that transitional feeding began by the end of the first year and weaning occurred by 2-2.5 years of age. Both delta(15)N and delta(13)C data clearly show the trophic level effect associated with breastfeeding. Childhood diet is investigated using dental pathology data in the deciduous dentitions of 78 individuals aged between 1 and 12 years. The presence of calculus, caries, and tooth wear in young children suggests that individuals were provided complementary foods and other items that impacted their dental health at an early age. The isotopic and dental data are generally consistent with the historical evidence from the Roman period with respect to the general timetable of weaning and the character of complementary foods. This is the first study to integrate isotopic and deciduous dental pathology data to explore infant and young child feeding practices in the Roman world.

Dento-alveolar pathologies and alterations (dental wear, caries, abscesses, ante mortem tooth loss (AMTL), calculus, hypoplastic defects, and chipping) and skeletal markers of health (cribra orbitalia and periostitis) were analyzed in two skeletal samples from the necropolises of Quadrella (I-IV c. AD) and Vicenne-Campochiaro (VII c. AD) in the Molise region of central Italy. The aim was to determine if the Roman Imperial Age-Early Middle Ages transition characterized by political, socioeconomic, and cultural transformations affected the biology of these populations, particularly their alimentation and health status. The frequencies of caries and AMTL, similar in the two samples, suggest a high consumption of carbohydrates. The higher levels of heavy wear, calculus, and interproximal chipping in the Vicenne population indicate a greater use of fibrous foods (both meat and others), in line with the dietary model of Germanic peoples. Health conditions do not appear to have been good in either period, as shown by the high frequencies of linear hypoplasia and the presence of cribra orbitalia and periostitis. The diet of the individuals buried with horses of the Vicenne population did not differ from that of the rest of the population, whereas there were evident differences in the use of the teeth for nonmasticatory activities among these individuals. Therefore, from the point of view of alimentation and health status, the profound socioeconomic and cultural transformations during the Late Antiquity-Early Middle Ages transition do not seem to have been translated into a true discontinuity of the two Molisan populations., ((c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

This study examines general health in the first year of life of a population of 127 subadults from the Imperial Roman necropolis of Isola Sacra (2nd-3rd century ACE). Health status was determined by analyzing 274 deciduous teeth from these children for Wilson bands (also known as accentuated striae), microscopic defects caused by a disruption to normal enamel development arising from some generalized external stressor. While macroscopic enamel defects, or hypoplasias, have long been used as proxies of general population health, we believe that this is the first population-wide study of microscopic defects in deciduous teeth. We used microstructural markers of enamel to attach very precise chronologies to Wilson band formation that allowed us to calculate maximum prevalence (MAP) and smoothed maximum prevalence (SMAP) distributions to portray what we believe to be a realistic risk profile for a past population of children. There appear to be two periods of high prevalence, the first beginning around age 2 months and continuing through month 5, and the second higher period beginning around month 6 and continuing through month 9. These results are discussed in light of historical records of Roman childhood rearing practices., ((c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Historical documents indicate that breastfeeding and weaning practices have fluctuated in England through history. In order to obtain evidence for general breastfeeding patterns in Late/Sub-Roman Britain, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values were measured in juvenile and adult skeletons (n = 87) from the cemetery of Queenford Farm, Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. As the site contained few individuals between 0-1.5 years of age, it was not possible to determine the initial timing for the introduction of weaning foods. Between ages 2-4 years, the mean +/- SD delta(13)C results (-20.2 +/- 0.3 per thousand) are significantly more negative (t = -4.03, P < 0.001) compared to adult females (-19.7 +/- 0.3 per thousand). This is interpreted as evidence of a different diet being fed to children during weaning. After age 2, the delta(15)N values gradually decline, indicating complete cessation of breastfeeding by 3-4 years. Among adults, stature (males = 1.68 +/- 0.06 m; females = 1.58 +/- 0.07 m) and sexual dimorphism (106) were low, suggesting that the population was possibly under environmental stress. The delta(13)C results for adults are similar, but females show a small but statistically significantly (t = -2.86, P < 0.01) lower mean delta(15)N value (9.9 +/- 0.9 per thousand) compared to males (10.6 +/- 0.5 per thousand). These lower female delta(15)N values possibly reflect the different physiology of the sexes (pregnancy and/or lactation) or the reduced consumption of animal/fish protein by women, and this may have been influenced by individual preference, family needs, or societal values of the era.