A short and sickly life. Multi-indicator analysis of an infant from a late antique Italian burial site (Piano della Civita, Artena, 3rd-5th cent CE)

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate pathological lesions and related growth impairment in an infant from a late antiquity context in central Italy.

Materials

The individual labeled as 04.AR.60004 comes from a small burial plot in Piano della Civita di Artena, Italy, dated to the 3rd-5th centuries.

Methods

Macroscopic examination, metric analysis, dental histomorphometry, amelogenin sequencing, and aDNA analyses were employed.

Results

Individual 04.AR.60004 is an infant male with an estimated age-at-death of 2 months showing two metabolic stress events, one occurring before birth and one a few days before death. The well-preserved skeleton shows diffuse abnormal cortical porosity and subperiosteal new bone formation.

Conclusions

The type and distribution of the skeletal lesions suggest a diagnosis of infantile scurvy, probably associated with a general status of malnutrition. Dimensions of cranial and postcranial bones show a wide discrepancy between the skeletal age (38–40 fetal weeks) and the dental histological age (2 months).

Significance

Including enamel histology age-at-death estimation may expand our knowledge of the influence of severe pathological cases on growth.

Limitations

Although scurvy remains the most obvious diagnosis, we cannot exclude other related micronutrient deficiencies which might have affected the individual.

Suggestions for further research

Including dental histometric and molecular sex estimation in infant pathological cases can help us to recognize impaired growth and enhance our understanding of sex-based susceptibility and potential biases in childcare within ancient communities.