Palaeobiology of the Medieval Population of Albano (Rome, Italy)

A Combined Morphological and Biomolecular Approach

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4635519
AutoresRomina Ciaffi (University of Rome Tor Vergata), Roberta Lelli (University of Rome Tor Vergata), Gundula Müldner (0000-0002-4513-9263, University of Reading), K Stantcheva (Centro di Antropologia molecolare per lo studio del DNA antico Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Roma ‘Tor Vergata’ Roma Italia), Agnese Livia Fischetti (0000-0002-1095-7733), Giuseppina Ghini (Regione Puglia), Oliver E Craig (0000-0002-4296-8402, University of York), Filippo Milano (0000-0001-8019-7293, University of Rome Tor Vergata), Olga Rickards (0000-0003-2880-7466, University of Rome Tor Vergata), O Rickard, Giovanni Arcudi (0000-0001-6335-4293, University of Rome Tor Vergata), Cristina Martinez‐labarga (0000-0003-0439-0379, University of Rome Tor Vergata, autor correspondente)
Ano2015
Volume25
Fascículo4
Páginas477-488
Data de publicação2015-07-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoInternational Journal of Osteoarchaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1047-482X • E-ISSN: 1099-1212
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/oa.2316
OpenAlexW2155591681
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas18
Referências citadas46

Recent years have seen increased interest in skeletal populations from the Imperial Roman Age in Italy, but much less is known about diet and standards of living in the subsequent medieval period. To fill this gap, we conducted a morphological analysis of human remains from Albano, an Italian town near Rome, as well as a stable isotope analysis of bone collagen to reconstruct diet. The sample was recovered from a Medieval cemetery (1040-1220 cal. yr. BP) located in the gardens of the historicalPalazzo Doria Pamphiliin Albano. A minimum number of 40 individuals (31 adults and 9 sub-adults) were examined using standard methods. Though the general health status of the population was good, signs ofcribra orbitaliaand diffuse enthesopathies were noted during the morphological examination.Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of the bone collagen from 24 adult humans and three faunal bones indicate that the diet of the population may be described as predominantly terrestrial and C3-plant based although the data for some of the individuals suggest a modest consumption of C4-(millet) based or aquatic proteins. No evidence of significant dietary differences between the sexes was found.The comparison of the isotope data from Albano with those from populations recovered in the same region is consistent with a shift from a terrestrial, possibly plant foods-dominated subsistence in the Early Middle Ages to a diet with a higher contribution from animal proteins, both terrestrial and aquatic, in the Later Middle Ages. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Agriculture · Archaeology · Bioarchaeology · Biology · Geography · Isotope analysis · Population · Stable isotope ratio · Subsistence agriculture · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Demography · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Paleopathology and ancient diseases · Ecology