Health of infants in an Imperial Roman skeletal sample: perspective from dental microstructure.

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.

Isotopic evidence for age-related variation in diet from Isola Sacra, Italy.

This study examines collagen (N=105) and apatite (N=65) data from an Imperial Roman skeletal sample from the necropolis of Isola Sacra (Rome, Italy). This paper explores correlations between the isotopic composition of bone samples and the inferred age and sex of these individuals (aged 5--45+ years). The collagen of males, and older individuals in general, was significantly enriched in (15)N but not (13)C. Bone carbonate was somewhat depleted in (13)C in some older individuals, suggesting increased consumption of olive oil and possibly wine. Subadults (>5 years) in the sample appear to have consumed an almost exclusively terrestrial diet. This study demonstrates a clear trend in dietary patterns between adult age groups, as well as between adults and children within a population.