Table of Contents

List of Figures
List of Tables
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. The Archaeology of Childhood
2.1. Children in social archaeology
2.1.1. Childhood theory in social archaeology
2.1.2. Children as entities in the archaeological record
2.1.3. The archaeological visibility of socialisation and development
2.1.4. Children in the burial record
2.1.5. The archaeology of Romano-British child burials
2.2. Potentials of non-adult bioarchaeology
2.2.1. Theoretical considerations
2.2.2. Issues of preservation
2.2.3. Age and the concept of childhood
2.2.4. Sex determination
2.2.5. Growth
2.2.6. Non-adult palaeopathology
2.2.6.1. Enamel hypoplasia
2.2.6.2. Infectious disease
2.2.6.2.1. Endocranial lesions
2.2.6.2.2. Non-specific infection: periostitis, osteitis and osteomyelitis
2.2.6.2.3. Tuberculosis
2.2.6.3. Metabolic disease and nutritional stress
2.2.6.3.1. Cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis
2.2.6.3.2. Vitamin D deficiency (rickets/osteomalacia)
2.2.6.3.3. Vitamin C deficiency (scurvy)
2.2.6.3.4. Anaemia
2.2.6.5. Trauma
2.2.7. Weaning stress
2.3. Roman Britons or British Romans?
3. Childhood Health in Roman Britain
3.1. The palaeopathology of Romano-British children
3.2. The classical perspective: evidence for childhood health from rome
3.2.1. The family: a child's environment
3.2.2. Stages in the Roman life course
3.2.3. Childcare practices
3.2.4. Play
3.2.5. Dying young
3.4. Infanticide?
3.5. Enslavement and forced labour in Roman Britain
3.6. Summary
4. Materials and Methods
4.1. Materials
4.1.1. Introduction
4.1.2. Defining urban and rural settlement types
4.1.3. The major urban sites
4.1.3.1. Poundbury Camp, Dorchester, Dorset (3rd-5th century AD)
4.1.3.2. Butt Road, Colchester, Essex (4th-5th century AD)
4.1.3.3. Gloucester, Gloucestershire (2nd-4th century AD)
4.1.3.4. Bath Gate, Cirencester, Gloucestershire (4th century AD)
4.1.3.5. Trentholme Drive, York, North Yorkshire (3rd-4th century AD)
4.1.3.6. Roman Winchester, Hampshire (1st-4th century AD)
4.1.3.7. Roman London
4.1.3.8. Clarence Street, Leicester, Leicestershire (3rd-4th century AD)
4.1.4. The minor urban sites
4.1.4.1. Ancaster, Lincolnshire (3rd-4th century AD)
4.1.4.2. Ashton, Northamptonshire (4th century AD)
4.1.4.3. Baldock, Hertfordshire (2nd-4th century AD)
4.1.4.4. Queenford Farm and Queensford Mill, Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire (3rd-4th century AD)
4.1.4.5. Great Casterton, Rutland (3rd-4th century AD)
4.1.4.6. Dunstable, Bedfordshire (3rd-5th century AD)
4.1.4.7. Springhead, Kent (1st-4th century AD)
4.1.4.8. Chesterton, Cambridgeshire (3rd-5th century AD)
4.1.5. The rural sites
4.1.5.1. Cannington, Somerset (3rd-4th century AD)
4.1.5.2. Watersmeet, Cambridgeshire (4th-5th century AD)
4.1.5.3. Frocester, Gloucestershire (3rd-5th century AD)
4.1.5.4. Bradley Hill, Somerset (4th-5th century AD)
4.1.5.5. Owslebury, Hampshire (1st-4th century AD)
4.1.5.6. Babraham Institute, Cambridgeshire (2 nd-4th century AD)
4.1.5.7. Dorchester By-pass, Dorset (4th century AD)
4.1.5.8. Catsgore, Somerset (2nd-5th century AD)
4.1.5.9. Bantycock Gypsum Mine, Nottinghamshire (2nd-4th century AD)
4.1.5.10. Huntsman's Quarry, Gloucestershire (2nd-3rd century AD)
4.2.5.11. Dewlish Roman villa, Dorset (4th century AD)
4.2. Methods
4.2.1. Overview
4.2.2. Age-at-death
4.2.2.1. Perinatal ageing
4.2.2.2. Non-adult ageing
4.2.2.3. Growth estimation
4.2.3. Dental and skeletal pathology
4.2.3.1. Dental enamel hypoplasia
4.2.3.2. Non-specific infections: new bone formation, osteomyelitis and osteitis
4.2.3.3. Endocranial lesions
4.2.3.4. Specific infections: tuberculosis
4.2.3.5. Cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis
4.2.3.6. Metabolic disease
4.2.3.6.1. Vitamin D deficiency (rickets and osteomalacia)
4.2.3.6.2. Vitamin C deficiency (scurvy)
4.2.3.6.3. Thalassaemia
4.2.3.6.4. Malaria
4.2.4. The burial archaeology
4.2.5. Statistical analysis
5. Results I - The Palaeopathology
5.1. The study samples
5.2. The combined study sample
5.2.1. Age-at-death
5.2.2. Palaeopathology
5.3. The primary study sample
5.3.1. Age-at-death
5.3.2. The perinates
5.3.3. Growth profiles
5.3.4. Palaeopathology
5.3.4.1. Overview of total of skeletal lesions
5.3.4.2. Palaeopathology overview across the site types
5.3.4.3. Indicators of non-specific stress
5.3.4.4. Metabolic disease
5.3.4.5. Thalassaemia
5.3.4.6. Specific infectious diseases
5.3.4.7. Tuberculosis and non-specific respiratory disease
5.3.4.8. Trauma
5.3.4.9. Dislocation
5.3.4.10. Embryotomy
5.3.4.11. Congenital conditions
5.4. The primary study sample in comparison with iron age and Post-medieval data
5.4.1. Palaeopathology across Roman Britain and Late Iron Age Dorset
5.4.2. Comparative analysis with post-medival London
6. Palaeopathology And Burial Data
Were children with pathological conditions treated differently in death?
7. Discussion
7.1. Scope of the study
7.2. Perinatal and infant mortality -

About the Author

Anna Rohnbogner completed her PhD at the University of Reading in 2015 and worked as a post-doctoral researcher on the Roman Rural Settlement Project. She is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Archaeology at the University of Reading.

Reviews

'Dying Young, the seventh volume in BAR's series Archaeology of Roman Britain, showcases how bioarchaeology has matured in the past decade to take up social theory and interface with broader discussions such as the im-pacts of urbanization, the rise of social inequality, and, central to this book, the realities of migrant and child labor.' John J. Crandall, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol 128, January 2024
'This volume provides extensive osteological and paleopathological discussions of the current literature on the Romano-British period and contributes information on weaning, growth, diet, working-lives, and mortality in rural and urban living. The volume is recommended to all those who wish to learn about past societies sociocultural lifeways and the health and disease of non-adults.' Stephie R. Loncar, Childhood in the Past, Vol 16 (1), 2023

'Dying Young is an important addition to an ever-growing body of literature. Resoundingly unique in scope and extraordinarily detailed, this volume is the first to provide a thorough assessment of childhood health in Roman Britain.' Claire Hodson, Current Archaeology, November 2022
'This book is unique. No other researcher has collated data from across Roman Britain in this way. It provides many new insights into the lives of children in Roman Britain and is invaluable to Roman bioarchaeology.'
Dr Rebecca Redfern, Museum of London
'The primary data and re-analysis covers an extraordinary number of individual skeletons from Roman Britain, and has been able to identify new cases of rare diseases that are incredibly valuable to the subject area, as well as create a more general picture of health and development during the Roman period, which also benefits other researchers in this area.'
Dr Rebecca Watts, University College London