4. Portus Romae's Subadult Sample

The Isola Sacra subadult skeletal sample (<15 years) currently available for analysis consists of 247 individuals, most in good, or even excellent, condition of preservation and anatomical integrity (Sperduti, 1995; Sperduti et al., 1995, 1997). The majority of these individuals come from undisturbed graves; more commonly, infants were buried in broken amphorae, a funerary practice which guaranteed the unusually good preservation of their odontoskeletal remains (Angelucci et al., 1990; Baldassarre et al., 1996).

Depending on the degree of completeness of the odontoskeletal remains, age at death assessment of subadults was performed by using, jointly or alternatively, the following criteria: dental calcification and eruption, also evaluated radiographically (Schour and Massler, 1940; Wheeler, 1940; Moorrees et al., 1963; El-Nofely and Iscan, 1989; Schroeder, 1991); stages of development of the temporal (in Weaver, 1986) and occipital (Redfield, 1970) bones; long bone length (Fazekas and Kosa, 1978; Ferembach et al., 1979; Hoffman, 1979; Angel et al., 1986); and union of epiphyses (in Krogman and Iscan, 1986).

Out of the 247 individuals, 9 (3.6%) are late fetal/newborns; 50 (20.2%, including the perinatal ones) died within the first year; 41 (16.6%) died before reaching the age of two years; 53 (21.5%) between 2 and 5 years; 63 (25.5%) between 5 and 10 years; and 40 (16.2%) died between 10 and 15 years.

Cited References

Angel J.L., Suchey J.M., Iscan M.Y., Zimmerman M.R. (1986) Age at death estimated from the skeleton and viscera. In (M.R. Zimmerman & J.L. Angel, eds.) Dating and Age Determination in Biological Materials. London: Croom Helm, pp. 179-200.

Angelucci S., Baldassarre I., Bragantini I., Lauro M.G., Mannucci V., Mazzoleni A., Morselli C., Taglietti F. (1990) Sepolture e riti nella necropoli dell'Isola Sacra. Bollettino di Archeologia, 5-6: 50-113.

Baldassarre I., Bragantini I., Morselli C., Taglietti F. (1996) Necropoli di Porto. Roma: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato.

El-Nofely A.A., Iscan M.Y. (1989) Assessment of age from the dentition in children. In (M.Y. Iscan) Age Markers in the Human Skeleton. Springfield: C.C. Thomas, pp. 237-254.

Fazekas I.G., Kosa F. (1978) Forensic Fetal Osteology. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadò.

Ferembach D., Schwidetzky I., Stloukal M. (1979) Raccomandazioni per la determinazione dell'età e del sesso sullo scheletro. Rivista di Antropologia, 60: 5-51.

Hoffman J.M. (1979) Age estimations from diaphyseal lengths: two months to twelve years. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 24: 462-469.

Krogman W.M., Iscan Y.M. (1986) The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine. Springfield: C.C. Thomas.

Moorrees C.F.A., Fanning E.A., Hunt E.E. jr. (1963) Formation and resorption of three deciduous teeth in children. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 21: 205-213.

Redfield A. (1970) A new aid to aging immature skeletons: development of the occipital bone. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 33: 207-220.

Schour I., Massler M. (1940) Studies in tooth development: the growth pattern of human teeth, part II. Journal of the American Dental Association, 27: 1918-1931.

Schroeder H.E. (1991) Oral Structural Biology. New York: Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.

Sperduti A. (1995) I Resti Scheletrici Umani della Necropoli di Età Romano-Imperiale di Isola Sacra (I-III sec. d.C.): Analisi Paleodemografica. PhD Thesis in Anthropology. Roma: Università di Roma 'La Sapienza'.

Sperduti A., Bondioli L., Macchiarelli R., Passarello P., Salvadei L. (1995) Mortalità e fecondità in età romana imperiale. In (C. Peretto & S. Milliken, eds.) XI Congresso degli Antropologi Italiani. L'Adattamento Umano all'Ambiente. Passato e Presente. Isernia: C. Iannone Ed., pp. 84-85 (abstract).

Sperduti A., Bondioli L., Hoppa R., Prowse T.L., Salomone F., Saunders S.R., Yang D., Macchiarelli R. (1997) Il segmento infanto-giovanile della comunità romana imperiale del Portus Romae. XII Congresso degli Antropologi Italiani. Storia del Popolamento del Mediterraneo: Aspetti Antropologici, Archeologici e Demografici, Palermo (abstract). Antropologia Contemporanea (in press).

Weaver D.S. (1986) Forensic aspects of fetal and neonatal skeletons. In (K.J. Reichs, ed.) Forensic Osteology. Springfield: C.C. Thomas, pp. 90-98.

Wheeler R.C. (1940) Textbook of Dental Anatomy and Physiology. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders.

Enamel Microstructure and Developmental Defect of the Primary Dentition