Rebecca C. Redfern

A new approach to the study of Romanization in Britain: A regional perspective of cultural change in late Iron Age and Roman Dorset using the Siler and Gompertz–Makeham models of mortality

This is the first study of health in the Roman Empire to use the Siler and Gompertz-Makeham models of mortality to investigate the health consequences of the 43 AD conquest of Britain. The study examined late Iron Age and Romano-British populations (N = 518) from Dorset, England, which is the only region of Britain to display continuity in inhumation burial practice and cemetery use throughout the two periods. Skeletal evidence for frailty was assessed using cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, periosteal lesions, enamel hypoplasia, dental caries, tuberculosis, and rickets. These health variables were chosen for analysis because they are reliable indicators of general health for diachronic comparison (Steckel and Rose: The backbone of history: health and nutrition in the western hemisphere (2002)) and are associated with the introduction of urbanism in Britain during the Roman period (Redfern: J Rom Archaeol Supp Series 64 (2007) 171-194; Redfern: Britannia 39 (2008a) 161-191; Roberts and Cox: Health and disease in Britain: from prehistory to the present day (2003)). The results show that levels of frailty and mortality were lower in the late Iron Age period, and no sex differences in mortality was present. However, post-conquest, mortality risk increased for children and the elderly, and particularly for men. The latter finding challenges received wisdom concerning the benefits of incorporation into the Empire and the higher status of the male body in the Roman world. Therefore, we conclude that the consequences of urbanism, changes in diet, and increased population heterogeneity negatively impacted health, to the extent that the enhanced cultural buffering of men did not outweigh underlying sex differences in biology that advantage women.

Childhood Health in the Roman World: Perspectives from the Centre and Margin of the Empire

Abstract Very few studies to date have presented contextualised interpretations of bioarchaeological evidence from Roman urban environments. This paper compares and contrasts the osteological data for childhood health from two urban centres, one at the centre and the other at the margins of the Roman Empire – Rome and London. We synthesise recently published and newly recorded data on childhood indicators of physiological stress (e.g. cribra orbitalia and enamel hypoplasias) from both sites. Contrary to expectations, we find that the prevalence of these stress indicators is comparable between sites. In order to contextualise these findings we compare the results to published data from other sites of the same period (from both rural and urban locales) within the respective countries. We find that the data from London is anomalous for Roman Britain, while that from Rome is similar to findings from contemporaneous Italian sites. We interpret these findings in terms of child-rearing practices, the local living environment and high levels of migration into Roman London from Mediterranean regions.

A Bioarchaeological Investigation of Cultural Change in Dorset, England (Mid-to-Late Fourth Century B.C. to the End of the Fourth Century A.D.

This paper discusses the results of the first regional and bioarchaeological analysis of health in late Iron Age and Roman Britain. This tested the hypothesis that cultural and environmental changes in Dorset would result in changes to demography, stature, dental health and infectious disease. The study observed change to all health variables, supporting environmental and archaeological evidence for the introduction of urban centres, changes in living conditions, greater population movement, and development of the agricultural economy. Importantly, the study demonstrated that these responses did not reflect changes observed in other areas of Britain or Gaul.

Frailty and famine: Patterns of mortality and physiological stress among victims of famine in medieval London.

OBJECTIVES Famine can be defined as a shortage of foodstuffs that instigates widespread excess mortality due to starvation, infectious disease, and social disruption. Like other causes of catastrophic mortality, famine has the potential to be selective. This study examines how famines in medieval London were selective with respect to previous stress, age, and sex. METHODS This study compares famine burials to nonfamine (attritional) burials from the St Mary Spital cemetery, London (c. 1120-1540 AD). We evaluate the associations between age, sex, and skeletal stress indicators [cribra orbitalia, linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH), and periosteal lesions] using hierarchical log-linear analysis. Additionally, sex is modeled as a covariate affecting the Gompertz hazard of mortality. RESULTS Significant associations exist between famine burials and LEH and between attritional burials and periosteal lesions, independent of age or sex. Sex did not significantly affect risk of mortality in the 12th-13th centuries. However, males interred in attritional burials c. 1400-1539 AD faced a lower risk of mortality compared to females. DISCUSSION The LEH results suggest that early exposure to stressors increased frailty in the context of famine. The periosteal lesion results suggest that individuals were more likely to survive stressors and thus form these lesions under nonfamine conditions. Hazard analysis suggests that a cultural or biological transformation during this period affected sex differences in mortality. Possible causes include the selective mortality during the Black Death, which might have influenced risks of mortality among survivors, or unequal distribution of improvements in standards of living after the epidemic. Am J Phys Anthropol 160:272-283, 2016.

The Prevalence of Dislocation in Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip in Britain Over the Past Thousand Years

Background: The aim of this study is to determine whether dislocation in developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is changing in prevalence over time. This would allow us to see if modern improvements in diet, health, and obstetric care had any effect upon the likelihood of developing DDH. Methods: The material used was a large medieval skeletal collection excavated from Britain (6580 hips). The cemetery was in use from approximately ad 1100 to 1530. Results: The prevalence in the medieval series was found to be 2.7 per 1000. Discussion: This prevalence was comparable with published clinical series from 20th century Britain, with no statistical difference found on χ2 test. Conclusions: It is concluded that hip dislocation secondary to DDH does not seem to be changing significantly in prevalence over the centuries, despite improvements in many other aspects of health over this time. Level of Evidence: Level 2.

Status and Health in Roman Dorset: The Effect of Status on Risk of Mortality in Post-Conquest Populations

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.

Urban–rural differences in Roman Dorset, England: A bioarchaeological perspective on Roman settlements

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.

Brief communication: Developmental dysplasia of the hip in medieval London

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is a spectrum of disease starting in childhood and in many cases persisting into adulthood. The spectrum ranges from acetabular dysplasia, through hip subluxation to dislocation. The aim of this research was to determine the prevalence and pathoanatomy of acetabular dysplasia and subluxation in excavated human skeletal remains, to complement past research on dislocation in DDH. The material under study was the medieval cemetery of St. Mary Spital in London, in use from c.1100 to 1539 AD. A series of 572 adults with both hips preserved were analyzed. Acetabular dysplasia was indicated by a shallow acetabulum with upward sloping roof. Subluxation was suggested by degenerative change along the margin of the acetabulum suggestive of labral tears, and degenerative change in the outer part of the acetabular roof suggestive of osteoarthritis. The prevalence of DDH (acetabular dysplasia, subluxation, or dislocation) was 1.7%. Because this a congenital musculoskeletal disorder of relatively high frequency, with significant variation in prevalence between populations around the world, it is a topic that warrants targeted research from physical anthropologists studying past populations.

Urban-rural differences in Roman Dorset, England

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.

A demographic analysis of Maiden Castle hillfort: Evidence for conflict in the late Iron Age and early Roman period

The late Iron Age human remains from the British hillfort of Maiden Castle are frequently cited within the archaeological and bioarchaeological literature as providing evidence for conflict. This interpretation is based on osteological work undertaken in the late 1930s. In order to test the validity of using this sample in conflict research, the authors undertook a detailed analysis of the sites demography in comparison with contemporary late Iron Age attritional cemeteries from Dorset (England) and additional conflict mortality data. These results showed that the 1st century BC to 1st century AD samples conformed to a catastrophic profile, as greater numbers of young adult males had been buried during this phase of occupation. In combination with new bioarchaeological findings and the identification of an embedded Roman projectile weapon, we conclude that individuals had died during an episode of warfare, one of which probably included the Roman conquest of 43AD.