This thesis investigates infant and childhood health in the Roman period (1st to 4th centuries A.D.) cemetery at Vagnari using data on the prevalence and timing of linear enamel hypoplasias (LEH‘s). These results are examined in the context of historical and archaeological evidence for childhood health in ancient Rome. Analysis of the prevalence of LEH‘s in 48 individuals reveals a low frequency (64.6 %) of enamel hypoplasias in comparison with other Roman period skeletal samples, suggesting that political–economic or geographical variables may have contributed to the generally healthy conditions for subadults at Vagnari. Intrasite analysis indicates no significant difference between sexes or burial types with respect to the average number of teeth affected with hypoplasias and the average total number of defects, but a significant difference does exist between age groups (divided into 15 year intervals). The hypoplastic data indicate that males and females were experiencing similar levels of stress during infancy and childhood. These results are not consistent with the historical evidence, which suggests that male children were preferentially treated in ancient Roman society. Measurement of each hypoplastic defect indicates a peak age at occurrence of 2.75 years of age, which is interpreted as evidence of the end of the weaning process. Enamel hypoplasias occurred until around 6.5 years of age, suggesting that these Roman children experienced stress throughout childhood, possibly the result of childhood illness or malnutrition. The hypoplastic data are consistent with the historical evidence from the Roman period with respect to the general timetable of weaning. This research integrates biological, archaeological, and historical information about the lives of children to help investigate the physical well–being of a rural working class population in the ancient Roman Empire.

Assessing population diversity in southern Italy has traditionally relied on archaeological and historic evidence. Although informative, these lines of evidence do not establish specific instances of within lifetime mobility, nor track population diversity over time. In order to investigate the population structure of ancient South Italy I sequenced the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 15 Iron Age (7th – 4th c. BCE) and 30 Roman period (1st – 4th c. BCE) individuals buried at Iron Age Botromagno and Roman period Vagnari, in southern Italy, and analyzed δ18O and 87Sr/86Sr values from a subset of the Vagnari skeletal assemblage. Phylogenetic analysis of 15 Iron Age mtDNAs together with 231 mtDNAs spanning European prehistory suggest that southern Italian Iapygians share close genetic affinities to Neolithic populations from eastern Europe and the Near East. Population pairwise analysis of Iron Age, Roman, and mtDNA datasets spanning the pan-Mediterranean region (n=357), indicate that Roman maternal genetic diversity is more similar to Neolithic and Bronze Age populations from central Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, respectively, than to Iron Age Italians. Genetic distance between population age categories imply moderate mtDNA turnover and constant population size during the Roman conquest of South Italy in the 3rd century BCE. In order to determine the local versus non-local demographic at Vagnari, I measured the 87Sr/86Sr and 18O/16O of composition of 43 molars, and the 87Sr/86Sr composition of an additional 13 molars, and constructed a preliminary 87Sr/86Sr variation map of the Italian peninsula using disparate 87Sr/86Sr datasets. The relationship between 87Sr/86Sr and previously published δ18O data suggest a relatively low proportion of migrants lived at Vagnari (7%). This research is the first to generate whole-mitochondrial DNA sequences from Iron Age and Roman period necropoleis, and demonstrates the ability to gain valuable information from the integration of aDNA, stable isotope, archaeological and historic evidence. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / With biochemical information obtained from teeth, this study examines the population structure and geographic origins in two archaeological communities located in southern Italy. Analysis of classical remains has traditionally been the subject of historical and archaeological inquiry. However, new applications evaluate these population changes with integrated stable isotope and ancient DNA techniques. Overall, the biochemical results suggest that the pre-Roman communities harbor deep maternal ancestry originating from eastern Europe and the eastern Mediterannean. These results, when compared to the genetic diversity of Roman and broader Mediterranean populations, indicate that the Romans share closer genetic similarity with ancient Stone and Bronze Age communites from Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, than with the pre-Roman community studied here. Furthermore, tooth chemistry results indicate a predominantly local population buried in the Roman period cemetery.