Health Status and Life Style in Castel Malnome (Rome, I -II Cent. A. D.)
Authors
Paola Catalano
Special Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Rome, I
Valerio Benassi
Special Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Rome, I
C Caldarini
Special Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Rome, I
L. Cianfriglia
Special Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Rome, I
R. Mosticone
Special Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Rome, I
A. Nava
Special Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Rome, I
W. Pantano
Special Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Rome, I
F. Porreca
Special Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Rome, I
Keywords:
Funerary archeology, Ancient roman population's life-style, Paleopathological studies
Abstract
The necropolis of Castel Malnome, chronologically framed between the I and II century AD, is located in the vicinity of Ponte Galeria (Rome), nearby the via Portuense. The excavation of the funerary site has allowed the collection of 292 inhumations, referred to the lower social classes and for the most part adult males. Regarding the funerary ritual, only the 42.8% of the graves had a tiles cover, while about one third provided grave goods.The field analysis shows that almost all the burials are primaries, and is not possible to highlight a main position of the inhumated individuals. The laboratory analysis, till today carried out on 100 individuals, shows a high degree of skeletal robustness and of occupational markers due to heavy work load (inflammation, muscle-skeletal trauma, fractures, osteoarthritis, enthesopathies). The recording of oral pathologies and aspecific stresses, in order to obtain information about the health status of the population, shows a very high frequency of caries mainly related to poor dental hygiene, and of enamel hypoplasia.
