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Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to identify the experience and well-being of children at the periphery of the Roman Empire by combining evidence of burial practices with an osteological assessment of skeletal stress markers, and isotopic evidence of childhood diet and weaning practices.

Paper long abstract:

While an increasing interest in the study of childhood in the Roman world has seen the focus of investigation begin to shift away from elite-centred sources to material evidence, the skeletal remains of the children themselves are still often neglected in multidisciplinary investigations of childhood in Antiquity. However, due to the greater sensitivity of the growing skeleton to physiological stress, the skeletal remains of children can provide direct evidence of both the lived social and physical environment, and offer a unique contribution to the understanding of the care they were afforded.

This paper presents an investigation of the health and care of the children of Roman London. While extensive excavation over the last two decades has uncovered substantial cemetery sites within and around the City, much of this evidence has yet to be subject to intensive analysis, and interpretations of living environments and population health are still rare. By combining evidence of burial practices with an osteological assessment of skeletal stress markers recognised for their ability to provide information on physiological stress (cribra orbitalia, enamel hypoplasia, periosteal new bone formation and dietary deficiency diseases), and isotopic evidence of childhood diet and weaning practices, this paper aims to identify the experience and well-being of children at the periphery of the Roman Empire.