A health assessment of an Etruscan skeletal series dating from the VIII century to the I century BC

Abstract

We examine the frequency of paleopathological lesions exhibited by 279 skeletons recovered from several Etruscan Necropolis located near the city of Tarquinia, Italy. The necropolis dates from the VIII century BC to the I century BC. The purpose of this thesis is to compare lesions frequencies by sex, chronology and by cultural affiliation. Skeletal lesions appear in 65% of the adults (64% of females and 66.4% of males). The following lesions were recorded: osteoarthritis, degenerative joint disease, trauma porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, caries, enamel hypoplasias and periodontal disease. The differences in rates between the sexes for this sample of Etruscan burials are not statistically significant. Twenty percent of the sub-adults presented skeletal or dental lesions. The presence of lesions caused by chronic health stressors in the sub-adult sample indicates that they were likely under the same health constraints as the adults. Additionally, it is likely that acute health problems lead to many of the sub-adult deaths. Finally, our findings are compared to Imperial Roman skeletal samples from across Italy. In general, the Etruscan sample falls below the frequency of cranial pitting and degenerative joint disease found among the Imperial Roman samples.