Life and death at the "The Land of Three Lakes": Revisiting the non-adults from Roman Aventicum, Switzerland (1st-3rd century CE).

The study of Roman childhood has been the focus of research primarily using documentary and archaeological evidence, while relatively few non-adult skeletal assemblages have been analyzed. This paper presents the study of 93 non-adult individuals from four cemeteries in the Roman (1st-3rd c. CE) civitas capital of Aventicum (Avenches), Switzerland. The results of the analysis offer a new bioarchaeological perspective on mortality and disease patterns during childhood in Roman Switzerland, adding to the discussion regarding living conditions in the urban centers at the periphery of the Roman Empire. This study also highlights the importance of studying perinates in archaeological populations, since the current research inform us about the experiences of mothers and their offspring in Aventicum. The mortality and disease patterns of the perinates, representing 71% of the total non-adult sample (66/93), suggest that pregnancy and the time around birth were extremely challenging at Aventicum. It is argued that environmental constraints, e.g. the risk of infectious diseases such as malaria and natural phenomena such as recurring floods resulting in resources scarcity, could have considerably affected the mother-fetus pair in this urban settlement.

Evidence of childhood scurvy in a Middle Byzantine Greek population from Crete, Greece (11th-12th centuries A.D.).

Archaeological evidence of scurvy in Greece has previously included only a few cases. Recently, during the study of a Middle Byzantine (11th-12th centuries A.D.) Greek population from Crete, Greece, four non-adult skeletons were found to exhibit abnormal porosity and reactive new bone formation, mainly on the cranial and post-cranial bones, which vary in extent and severity. These lesions are similar to those reported in previous studies of juvenile scurvy, suggesting that most likely the individuals suffered from this condition at the time of death. Further, a biocultural approach is applied here in order to contextualize these findings, as well as to explore the reasons for the sporadic appearance of the disease. It is proposed that these cases are indicative of undernutrition and that the development of scurvy in this Middle Byzantine Greek population might be associated with weaning and the type/quality of solid foods introduced after cessation of breastfeeding. The reported cases are important because archaeological evidence of scurvy in this geographical area is relatively rare, and they contribute to the broader global understandings of the cultural variables that mediate the expression of skeletal manifestations of juvenile scurvy.

Reconstructing the diets of Greek Byzantine populations (6th-15th centuries AD) using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios.

Documentary evidence and artistic representations have traditionally served as the primary sources of information about Byzantine diet. According to these sources, Byzantine diet was based on grain (primarily wheat and barley), oil, and wine, supplemented with legumes, dairy products, meat, and marine resources. Here, we synthesize and compare the results of stable isotope ratio analyses of eight Greek Byzantine populations (6th-15th centuries AD) from throughout Greece. The δ(13) C and δ(15) N values are tightly clustered, suggesting that all of these populations likely consumed a broadly similar diet. Both inland and coastal Byzantine populations consumed an essentially land-based C(3) diet, significant amounts of animal protein, and possibly some C(4) plants, while no evidence of a general dependence on low-δ(15) N legumes was observed. One interesting result observed in the isotopic data is the evidence for the consumption of marine protein at both coastal sites (a reasonable expectation given their location) and for some individuals from inland sites. This pattern contrasts with previous isotopic studies mainly on prehistoric Greek populations, which have suggested that marine species contributed little, or not at all, to the diet. The possibility that fasting practices contributed to marine protein consumption in the period is discussed, as are possible parallels with published isotope data from western European medieval sites.