Lead exposure in italy: 800 BC-700 AD

Certain social and industrial activities that were common among Imperial Age Romans have been suggested to have caused lead poisoning whose sociological consequences may have afflicted many members of the aristocratic social stratum. Evaluation of this suggestion has awaited quantitative data. This study reports the skeletal lead content of twenty Italian archaeological populations. Imperial Age populations demonstrated up to ten-fold more bone lead than their predecessors or successors.