Water-related occupations and diet in two Roman coastal communities (Italy, first to third century...

Water-Related Occupations and Diet in Two RomanCoastal Communities (Italy, First to Third Century AD):Correlation Between Stable Carbon and NitrogenIsotope Values and Auricular Exostosis Prevalence

Fiona Crowe,1 Alessandra Sperduti,2 Tamsin C. O’Connell,3 Oliver E. Craig,4 Karola Kirsanow,5

Paola Germoni,6 Roberto Macchiarelli,7,8 Peter Garnsey,9 and Luca Bondioli2*

1St Catherine’s College, The University of Western Australia, Nedland, WA 6009, Australia2Soprintendenza al Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico ‘‘Luigi Pigorini’’, 00144 Rome, Italy3McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB23ER, UK4Department of Archaeology, University of York, York Y01 7EP, UK5Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 021386Soprintendenza Archeologica di Ostia, 00119 Roma, Italy7Departement de Prehistoire, UMR 7194, MNHN, F-75013 Paris, France8Departement Geosciences, Universite de Poitiers, 86000 Poitiers, France9Faculty of History, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB5 8BP, UK

KEY WORDS skeletal occupational markers; diet; Roman Italy; carbon; nitrogen

ABSTRACT The reconstruction of dietary patternsin the two Roman imperial age coastal communities ofPortus and Velia (I–III AD) by means of stable isotopeanalysis of bone remains has exposed a certain degreeof heterogeneity between and within the two samples.Results do not correlate with any discernible mortuarypractices at either site, which might have pointed todifferential social status. The present study tests thehypothesis of a possible connection between dietaryhabits and occupational activities in the two commun-ities. Among skeletal markers of occupation, externalauricular exostosis (EAE) has proved to be very inform-ative. Clinical and retrospective epidemiological surveyshave revealed a strong positive correlation betweenEAE development and habitual exposure to cold water.

In this study, we show that there is a high rate ofoccurrence of EAE among adult males in both skeletalsamples (21.1% in Portus and 35.3% in Velia). Further,there is a statistically significant higher prevalence ofEAE among those individuals at Velia with very highnitrogen isotopic values. This points to fishing (coastal,low-water fishing) as the sea-related occupation mostresponsible for the onset of the ear pathology. For Por-tus, where the consumption of foods from sea and riverseems to be more widespread through the population,and where the scenario of seaport and fluvial activitieswas much more complex than in Velia, a close correla-tion between EAE and fish consumption by fishermenis less easy to establish. Am J Phys Anthropol 142:355–366, 2010. VVC 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The dietary status of individuals from two ImperialRoman cities on the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy (PortusRomae and Velia) has recently been investigated usingstable isotope analysis of bone collagen (Prowse et al.,2004; Craig et al., 2009). The results of the stable nitro-gen isotope analysis indicated that within the popula-tions individuals derived differing amounts of dietaryprotein from foods of different trophic level. Such grossdietary variation was noticed between each site andwithin each burial ground. Both studies concluded thatdifferential consumption of high trophic marine protein(detectable especially at Velia) and lower trophic levelterrestrial plant and animal protein were probably re-sponsible for the isotopic differences, an interpretationsupported by the historical evidence that both city popu-lations had access to the products of both sea and land.In addition, although there was a weak correlation withage at death at Portus (Prowse et al., 2005) and with sexat Velia (Craig et al., 2009), the stable isotope data didnot correlate with any discernible mortuary practices(i.e., number of grave goods or tomb type) at either site,which might have reflected social status.

The OI-SST products used in this paper were jointly produced byENEA Department of Environment, Global Change and SustanableDevelopment and Gruppo Oceanografia da Satellite (GOS) of theCNR - ISAC (Istituto di Scienze dell’Atmosfera e del Clima) as partof the EU project MFSTEP (EVK3-CT-2002-00075).

Grant sponsors: Faculty of Classics, Cambridge University, Cam-bridge, UK; Orde Poynton Scholarship, Cambridge CommonwealthTrust, Overseas Research Student Award; Jesus College, Cam-bridge, UK; Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico Luigi Pigorini,Roma, Italy.

*Correspondence to: Luca Bondioli, Sezione di Antropologia,Soprintendenza al Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico ‘‘LuigiPigorini’’, P.le Marconi, 14 00144 Roma, Italy.E-mail: [email protected]

Received 7 July 2009; accepted 14 October 2009

DOI 10.1002/ajpa.21229Published online 14 December 2009 in Wiley InterScience

(www.interscience.wiley.com).

VVC 2009 WILEY-LISS, INC.

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 142:355–366 (2010)

One immediate further question was whether thenitrogen isotope values correlated with specific occupa-tional-related pathological conditions that could beobserved on the skeletal remains, taking into accountthe coastal nature of both sites and the high consump-tion of considerable quantities of marine food in the com-munities. In brief, was differential access to foods de-pendent on occupation or lifestyle during this period?The most obvious and consistent skeletal marker, andone commonly observed on individuals at both sites, wasexternal auricular exostosis (EAE): an abnormal bonygrowth within the external ear meatus. This conditionhas been clinically shown to preferentially develop inindividuals habitually exposed to cold water overextended periods of time, through activities such as fish-ing or diving, and is commonly observed on skeletalremains where cold water exposure was likely (Fowlerand Osmun, 1942; Filipo et al., 1982; Fabiani et al.,1984; Kennedy, 1986; Deleyiannis et al., 1996; Wong etal., 1999; Altuna Mariezkurrena et al., 2004; Okumuraet al., 2007; Sheard and Doherty, 2008). In fact, ‘‘contin-uous exposure to cold water can trigger a local reactionof the ear’s soft tissue, which leads to the stimulation ofosteogenic cell activity and finally to exostosis’’ (Oku-mura et al., 2007, p. 564).Thus, any regular maritime activity, such as those

associated with the procurement of marine foods, maywell lead to the development of this condition and corre-spond to a higher level of marine food consumption bycomparison with the rest of the population.Here, we evaluate the evidence for EAE in relation to

the stable isotope dataset and the historical record atboth sites to explore these issues. We also examine whythere may have been differences in diet and occupationbetween the two cities.

AURICULAR EXOSTOSIS

The recording of external auricular exostoses (EAE) inliving populations, as well as in skeletal material fromarcheological contexts, dates back to the late nineteenthto early twentieth century. Early papers described theepisodic presence of the pathology without attemptingany extensive and systematic survey. The condition wasexplained with reference to mechanical stress due tomastication (Burton, 1923), but more commonly, in termsof genetic background [Turner, 1879; Blake, 1880; Hart-mann, 1893; Stewart, 1933; see Aufderheide and Rodri-guez-Martin (1998) for a complete review of the litera-ture]. It has also been considered to be an epigenetictrait of the skull (Berry and Berry, 1967; Berry, 1975)and has often been used for assessing the genetic dis-tance between populations.Now it is generally agreed that EAE is a response to

environmental factors. Clinical and retrospective epide-miological surveys have revealed a strong positive corre-lation between EAE development and habitual exposureto cold water, through study of individuals regularly pur-suing aquatic sports such as sailing, diving, surfing,swimming (Adams, 1951; Harrison, 1951, 1962; Scriv-ener, 1981; Filipo et al., 1982; Fabiani et al., 1984;Umeda et al., 1989; Eike and Pedersen, 1994; Deleyian-nis et al., 1996; Wong et al., 1999; Kroon et al., 2002;Sheard, 2002; Altuna Mariezkurrena et al., 2004; Skou-lakis et al., 2007; Cooper et al., 2008; Mlynski et al.,2008; Sheard and Doherty, 2008), and those whose workbrings them into regular contact with water, including

professional divers and lifeguards (Ohgaki et al., 1992;Karegeannes, 1995; Chaplin and Stewart, 1998; Ito andIkeda, 1998; Corrales, 1999). In particular, it has beenshown experimentally that prolonged irrigation of theear with cold water (below 198C) will promote osteoblas-tic activity, leading to new bone formation (Van Gilse,1938; Fowler and Osmun, 1942). In warmer waters,wind-chill may act as an additional environmental factor(Filipo et al., 1982; Okumura et al., 2007). Hurst et al.(2004) recognized this factor as responsible for a higherprevalence of EAE in the right meatus, compared withthe left, in a group of cold water Australian surfers.The presence of EAE in past populations dates from

prehistory (Hrdlicka, 1935; Trinkaus, 1983; Gregg andGregg, 1987; Aufderheide et al., 1993; Sakalinskas andJankauskas, 1993; Perez et al., 1997; Standen et al.,1997; Katayama, 1998; Velasco-Vazquez, 2000; Agelera-kis and Serpanos, 2002; Okumura et al., 2005–2006,2007). In the anthropological literature its high fre-quency has been reported for several coastal or riverinepopulations from different epochs (Frayer, 1988; Manziet al., 1991; Sakalinskas and Jankauskas, 1993; Tomma-seo Ponzetta et al., 1997; Gregg, 2000; Okumura et al.,2005–2006, 2007). A few authors have presented cases ofvery low frequencies, from inland communities, adducingvarious etiological factors such as chronic or acute irrita-tion of the dermis (Hutchinson, 1997), systemic condi-tions, trauma, and genetic predisposition (Godde, 2009).Kennedy (1986) tested the so-called aquatic theory in asurvey, which included several coastal communities fromall over the world. She found that EAE is common incommunities lying between 308 and 458 latitude northand south of the equator, where the water temperatureis normally below 198C. Subsequent studies have under-lined the possibility of exostosis development at evenlower and higher latitudes (subtropical), where thewater is warmer but wind-chill operates (Standen et al.,1997; Okumura et al., 2007).For imperial Rome a quite different explanation was

formerly entertained. Van Gilse (1938), followed byAscenzi and Balistreri (1975) and Manzi et al. (1991),postulated a connection between the prevalence of EAEand bathing in thermae. This last study described a highincidence of EAE in a sample of crania from the IsolaSacra necropolis (Portus, first to third century AD).However, the results of the present paper strongly sug-gest a link between EAE and aquatic activities lockedinto the economies of the cities in question, rather thaninto the leisure pursuits of their citizens.

Auricular exostoses, diet, and activity

In this article, we compare the skeletal evidence ofEAE with dietary indicators for the two cemetery popu-lations of Isola Sacra and Velia. We use carbon (d13C)and nitrogen (d15N) stable isotope ratios of bone collagenas an indication of an individual’s long-term diet, whichmay be strongly conditioned by status or occupation. Inparticular, stable isotopic analysis has proved particu-larly useful for determining consumption of marinefoods, as marine fish are relatively enriched in both 13Cand 15N compared to terrestrial herbivores and plants(e.g., Schoeninger and DeNiro, 1984). However, for arange of lower trophic level species, including some Med-iterranean pelagic fish, and various species of mollusks,the isotopic difference may be less distinct, as suggestedby studies on modern Mediterranean fish (Jennings

356 F. CROWE ET AL.

American Journal of Physical Anthropology

et al., 1997). Stable isotope analysis also broadly distin-guishes between consumption of lower trophic level plantfoods and higher trophic level animal products, as thelatter are relatively enriched in 15N.

Portus and Velia: archeological–historical context

The city of Portus (see Fig. 1) grew up around the sub-stantial artificial harbor built by Roman emperors fromClaudius (41–54) to Trajan (97–114). It lay in the Tiberdelta 23 km south-west of Rome and 5 km from the riverport of Ostia (Keay et al., 2005). Its harbor system wasquite sufficient to handle the enormous quantity of goodsof all kinds that came by sea to Rome, a huge city of750,000 to a million inhabitants. The population of Por-tus was comparatively mobile. There was a pronouncedtransitory element made up of merchants, traders, andsundry travelers. In addition, migrants flowed continu-ously into Portus (as, on a much larger scale, into Romeitself). This is proven by the epigraphic evidence and hasnow been confirmed by oxygen isotopic analysis of asample of 61 skeletal individuals (Prowse et al., 2006).The social structure of Portus was complex and varie-gated. Inevitably, however, the majority of its inhabi-tants were involved in one way or another in the hugeendeavor of supplying the capital city. And a significantproportion of that majority would have been regularlyexposed to water-and-wind, as sailors, divers, porters,ship- and wharf-workers of diverse kinds—to whom wemust add a number involved in that primeval economicactivity, fishing. An inscription from the second centurylists no fewer than 353 members of the ‘‘shipbuilders"association of Portus, and this was only one of a numberof associations of artisans and traders who were caughtup in the enterprise of providing the capital city with its

material requirements (Rouge, 1966; Meiggs, 1973;Konen, 2001).The production, as opposed to the handling, of food

would have played some part in the lives of a section ofthe population—fishing apart, a few would have workedon the land. The archeological evidence for the hinter-land is patchy; there would have been only limited spacefor cultivation, given the scale of the urban complex andthe presence of the sea, lagoons and dunes, extensivecemeteries, and large maritime villas. If there were richlandowners in the region, their estates were closer toOstia, their place of residence and the seat of their polit-ical activity. Portus did not develop its own local institu-tions until it became a self-governing city, independentof Ostia, in the reign of Constantine in the early fourthcentury. The people of Portus will have needed to supple-ment supplies of local fish from river, harbor, lagoon andsea, and limited produce from a restricted territory, withfood coming in from elsewhere. They were in a positionto tap into Rome’s supply chain. One can easily imaginethat some workers at least were paid in kind; that otherimported food could be purchased in local markets; andin general that a wide variety of foodstuffs was in princi-ple available to the people of Portus, even if not perhapsquite as extensive a range as was accessible to the resi-dents of the capital itself.Velia (see Fig. 1) was a Greek colony founded in the

mid-sixth century BC by Phocaeans from Asia Minor,who had been forced out by the expanding Persianempire (Morel, 2006). Some of the refugees went West,settling first at Marseille, then at Hyele (or Elea), laternamed Velia. The city fell under Roman control in thelate third century BC. The settlement was located on asmall promontory overlooking the sea in Lucania, 295km south-east of Rome and 112 km south-east of Naples.Among ancient commentators such as Strabo of Pontus(Musti, 1966; Mele, 2006), the Phocaeans had a reputa-tion for good government, careful management of scarceresources, and commercial enterprise. The subsistencebase of their colonial foundations, however, lay in theirown hinterland (Greco and Schnapp, 1983, 1986). In thecase of the Velians, this consisted of the river valleys tothe north and south, and the hill country to the northand south-east, which rose as high as �1,700 m(Schmeidt, 1970; Bencivenga Trillmich, 1990). The Veli-ans grew cereals, olives, and vines; practiced animalhusbandry; and drew timber from the uplands. Theintramural area (of 80 ha) provided additional well-watered cultivable land (Greco, 1999). Velia was howeverbest known in antiquity for its maritime activities ratherthan its engagement with the soil—leaving aside itsfame in philosophy (as the birthplace of Parmenides andZeno) and medicine (Nutton, 1970; Fabbri and Trotta,1989), and its use as a spa-town by Roman aristocratssuch as Aemilius Paulus, the conqueror of the Macedo-nians (in 168 BC) and Cicero. The Velians had portfacilities and built and serviced boats (Greco, 1975;Morel, 1999). They fished the seas and almost certainlyran establishments for the preservation of fish (Marzano,2007). In addition, the traders and shippers among themwere busily engaged in supplying the population withvital needs, insofar as these were not sufficiently pro-vided for from home-territory. These activities were cen-tral to the life of the town in all phases of its history,including the early Roman empire, the period to whichour necropolis at ‘‘Porta Marina Sud’’ belongs (Fiam-menghi, 2003).

Fig. 1. Map showing the location of Isola Sacra and Velia onthe Tyrrhenian coast, Italy.

357DIET AND WATER-RELATED ACTIVITIES IN ROMAN ITALY


In sum, the two cities in question, however differenttheir histories, had sufficient in common in terms oftheir economies and the employment of their workforcesto make a comparative study of aspects of the health sta-tus of their populations an attractive proposition.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Skeletal material

Isola Sacra (first to third century AD) represents thenecropolis of the ancient city of Portus Romae, the seaport of Rome, during the imperial age. The necropolis atIsola Sacra (SCR) yielded in total around 2,000 skeletonsfrom single and collective inhumations (Sperduti, 1995).There are � 1,000 individual skeletons that have beencatalogued and extensively analyzed (Bondioli et al.,1995; Geusa et al., 1999; Macchiarelli and Bondioli,1999; Rossi et al., 1999; Saunders et al., 2000; Weaver etal., 2000; Prowse et al., 2004, 2005, 2006; Hoover et al.,2005).Numerous archeological excavations have been under-

taken at Velia since the last century. These have mainlyfocused on the acropolis, while a systematic explorationof the Roman period necropolis was carried out in themost recent field campaigns (2003–2006; Fiammenghi,2003). More than 330 burials were excavated, just out-side the south entrance to the city (Porta Marina Sud)and immediately adjacent to the ancient seaport. Thecontext of the burials and finds from the excavationsindicate that the cemetery was used between the firstand second centuries AD. The graves are scattered overa large area without an apparent preordained subdivi-sion of the funerary space. The necropolis contains inhu-mations and cremations with a variety of different tombtypes, ranging from simple earthen burials to monumen-tal tombs, and includes single and double inhumations,cremations, and busta (graves where the body was cre-mated in situ).In total, we examined all the available individuals

with at least one complete auricular meatus from bothIsola Sacra (N 5 957) and Velia (N 5 348) for the pres-ence of EAE.Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis had been

carried out on a subset of these, including 105 individu-als from Isola Sacra (Prowse et al., 2004) and 119 indi-viduals from Velia (Craig et al., 2009). The Velia sampleincludes all the adult individuals from the necropoliswho were suitable for analysis. In this study, we carriedout a further 91 stable isotopic measurements on ran-domly selected adult individuals from Isola Sacra, toincrease the sample size.For both skeletal samples, sex of the adult individuals

was assigned by the dimorphic criteria described byAscadi and Nemeskeri (1970) and Ferenbach et al.(1977–1979). Age at death was determined using multi-ple age indicators that included, wherever possible, de-generative changes in the pubic symphysis (Brooks andSuchey, 1990), changes to the auricular surface of theinnominate (Lovejoy et al., 1985), ecto- and endo-cranialsuture closure (Angel, 1980), morphological variation atsternal end of ribs (_Is�can et al., 1984, 1985), and dentalwear (Lovejoy, 1985). For sub-adult, skeleton’s age wasattributed by observing epiphyseal union (Ferenbachet al., 1977–1979), bone size (Stloukal and Hanakova,1978), and dental calcification and eruption (Ubelaker,1989).

EAE scoring

Each individual was checked for the presence of EAE.Record was made of presence and type of exostosis, side,extent of occlusion, number, and position. Care wastaken in differentiating exostoses from the macroscopi-cally similar pathology, osteomata. The latter is usuallydescribed as a solitary and unilateral bone formation,arising from the typanosquamous or tymanomastoidsutures. By contrast, exostoses are sessile, broad-based,usually multiple, bilateral, and occur in the medial tractof the meatus. The histological distinction is even moreclear: the internal structure of osteomata reveals thepresence of a rather disorganized mass of cancellousbone, while exostoses exhibit layers of dense compactbone with no marrow spaces (Friedmann, 1974; Di Bar-tolomeo, 1979; Graham, 1979; Filipo et al., 1982; Keminkand Graham, 1982; Sheehy, 1982; Noordzij et al., 1995;Fenton et al., 1996; Hutchinson, 1997; Stenfors et al.,2000).In line with these morphological definitions, all the

formations detected in this study have been recognizedas exostoses. As a test, two bony formations were ran-domly selected for histological analysis, confirming thegross anatomical diagnosis.Many different criteria for grading EAE have been

proposed (Harrison, 1962; Hauser and De Stefano, 1989;Delyiannis et al., 1996; Standen et al., 1997; Chaplinand Stewart, 1998; Kroon et al., 2002; Altuna Mariez-kurrena et al., 2004; Hurst et al., 2004; Timofeev et al.,2004). We used the most common three-category gradingsystem: Grade 1 5 occlusion of the meatus by up to one-thirds; Grade 2 5 occlusion of the meatus by up to two-thirds; Grade 3 5 occlusion of the meatus by more thantwo-thirds. Samples of grade attribution are given inFigure 2.The EAE recording was performed independently by

two of the authors (FC and AS). Estimated mean inter-observer error between the two series of scoring is lessthan 2%.

Collagen extraction and stable isotopic analyses

Collagen was extracted from all sampled individualsusing a modified Longin method. For those individualsmeasured by Prowse et al. (2004) and Craig et al. (2009),details of the full methodologies and mass spectrometryare given in the relevant papers. For the additional 91individuals from Isola Sacra, the collagen was extractedand analyzed at the Research Laboratory for Archaeol-ogy, University of Oxford, according to Privat et al.(2002) and Kirsanow (2003). In brief, cleaned bone sam-ples of 1–2 g were crushed, demineralized in 0.5 M aq.HCl at 48C, then gelatinized in pH 3 water at 758C for48 h, then the solubilized collagen was filtered off andfreeze-dried. All collagen extracts were analyzed in trip-licate by continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometryusing a Carlo Erba elemental analyzer coupled to a PDZEuropa Geo 20-20 isotope ratio monitoring mass spec-trometer. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic values for allmeasurements are expressed on the delta scale, in com-parison to international standards, VPDB for carbon andAIR for nitrogen, in units of ‘‘permil" (Hoefs, 1997).Repeated measurements of international and in-housestandards showed that the analytical error was \0.2%for both carbon and nitrogen. Percentage elementalyields were used to calculate the atomic C/N ratio to

358 F. CROWE ET AL.


assess the quality of each collagen sample (DeNiro,1985).A total of 12 bone samples that had been published in

Prowse et al. (2004) were also reanalyzed for this article.In general, there was very close agreement between bothanalyses for carbon and nitrogen isotopic values. Ford13C, there was a mean difference of 0.1% 6 0.4 (1 s.d.),and for d15N, a mean difference of 0.6% 6 0.8 (1 s.d.); sofor these duplicate samples in this article, we have usedthe mean of the two analyses.

RESULTS

Presence and patterns of distribution of EAE inthe two skeletal series

In both Isola Sacra and Velia skeletal series, EAE wasnot observed in individuals younger than 15 years of age(\15 years; SCR N 5 369, Velia N 5 180). In the adultsexed subsamples ([15 years; SCR N 5 552, Velia N 597), EAE is only present among males, with the excep-tion of one possible female from SCR (Table 1). There-fore, all the subsequent analyses will take into accountonly adult males ([15 years) from both skeletal popula-tions.EAE is present in 21.1% (N 5 322) of the adult males

in Isola Sacra and in 35.3% (N 5 51) of the Velia ones;this difference is statistically significant (Fisher’s exacttest P 5 0.02).The preservation status of specimens from the two

sites is not the same (Table 2): the Velia sample shows abetter preservation state (80% of both ear canals pres-ent) than Isola Sacra (49% of both ear canals present).Nevertheless, this fact should not affect results of theprevalence calculation because EAE tends to beexpressed bilaterally [Table 3: for both samples the prob-ability of no association is \0.01 (Fisher’s exact test)],and it is therefore relatively safe to use the presence ofat least one meatus as the criterion for inclusion in theprevalence calculation.EAE becomes more prevalent with increasing age (Ta-

ble 4). Isola Sacra shows an earlier age of onset (15–20);at Velia younger age classes are unaffected. The strongdiscrepancy between 15–30 and 30–40 age classes in thelatter skeletal series could be simply a random effectlinked with the small sample size. It is also possible thatindividuals employed in more intensive water-relatedactivities were at greater risk of early death. With

TABLE 1. EAE count for adult (age at death > 15 years)individuals with at least one observable meatus from

Isola Sacra and Velia divided by sex

Group

Males Females

EAEabsent

EAEpresent

EAEabsent

EAEpresent

Isola Sacra 254 68 229 1Velia 33 18 46 0

TABLE 2. Observable meatus, by side, in adult maleindividuals from Velia and Isola Sacra

Group

Leftmeatusonly

Rightmeatusonly

Left andright

meatus Total

Isola Sacra 76 89 157 322Velia 7 3 41 51

TABLE 3. Distribution of EAE by side among adult maleindividuals from Isola Sacra and Velia with both

meatus preserved

Isola Sacra Velia

Left meatusnot

affected

Leftmeatusaffected

Leftmeatus

not affected

Leftmeatusaffected

Right meatusnot affected

125 9 25 2

Rightmeatus affected

3 20 2 12

TABLE 4. Distribution by age at death of the EAE prevalenceamong adult males in Isola Sacra and Velia

Age at death

Isola Sacra Velia

N EAEa N EAEa

15–20 19 10.5 1 0.020–30 38 18.4 5 0.030–40 38 13.2 11 36.440–50 63 23.8 21 33.3501 38 26.3 13 53.8Adult 126 23.0 – –

a Prevalence (in percent) is calculated as the number of individ-uals affected in at least one meatus divided by the number ofindividuals with at least one meatus preserved.

Fig. 2. Examples of severity of EAE expression. (a) Grade 1 exostosis; (b) Grade 2 exostosis; (c) Grade 3 exostosis. Scale bars5 mm. Drawings by Mieke Kholer.



regard to the severity of the pathological condition(expressed in a three-grade scale; see Materials andMethods), Isola Sacra shows a clear positive correlationbetween aging and mean grade of development (seeFig. 3).Finally, and interestingly, the bilateral versus unilat-

eral expression of the lesions does not vary with age forboth samples.

Isotopic analyses

The results of the new stable isotope analyses, to-gether with quality control indicators, are presented inTable 5. Data for the previously published Velia andIsola Sacra samples are available in Craig et al. (2009)and Prowse et al. (2004). Collagen of good quality wasextracted from all samples, as determined by atomic C/Nratios within the acceptable range for good collagen (2.9–3.4: DeNiro, 1985), and collagen yields of greater than1% (Ambrose, 1990). The Pearson correlation coefficientsbetween the N and C delta values and the collagenyields are not significantly different from zero (d13C–col-lagen yield: r 5 0.006, P 5 0.93; d15N–collagen yield: r 50.005, P 5 0.94). Of these stable isotopic analyses, atotal of 70 from Isola Sacra and 54 from Velia were usedin the comparison with the EAE data (Table 6).

Demographic and dietary differences betweenEAE-affected and -unaffected individuals

The mortality distributions of the two groups (EAE vs.unaffected: Fig. 4) are not significantly different eitherin Velia and Isola Sacra (Kolmogorov–Smirnov test:Velia: D 5 0.21, P 5 0.7; Isola Sacra: D 5 0.16, P 50.42). Therefore, even if in both samples the EAE-bear-ing individuals tend to show a slightly better rate of sur-vival, we can exclude a better lifestyle and/or lower mor-tality rates for the affected individuals in comparisonwith the remaining population.

Fig. 3. Mean grade of severity of EAE by age classes in IsolaSacra (SCR N 5 68) and Velia (N 5 18); for only adult malesamples.

TABLE 5. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic values andcollagen quality indicators for individuals from Isola Sacra

Lab identifiera Sex Age d 13C (%) d15N (%) C:N % Coll

219 M 15–20 218.7 11.60 3.20 3.70319 M 15–20 218.0 11.50 3.20 1.20562 ?c 15–20 218.4 11.00 3.20 4.3018 F 20–30 218.7 11.10 3.20 5.10180b M 20–30 218.5 11.40 3.20 9.60207b M 20–30 219.5 11.10 3.30 1.90454b M 20–30 218.5 11.50 3.20 1.70558 F 20–30 218.6 11.70 3.20 4.8075 M 20–30 218.6 12.40 3.20 4.00106 F 20–30 218.4 12.30 3.20 10.80144 M 20–30 218.3 11.90 3.20 3.00224 M 20–30 217.3 12.20 3.20 4.30411 F 20–30 218.7 12.00 3.20 10.00416 F 20–30 218.9 11.70 3.40 1.30504 M 20–30 218.9 12.90 3.30 1.305046 M 20–30 218.5 11.20 3.20 1.101078/D M 20–30 219.2 9.60 3.20 4.101470/A M 20–30 219.3 9.90 3.20 3.00E32 US 5319 M 20–30 218.6 12.30 3.40 1.70331b M 30–40 218.6 10.50 3.20 1.8069 F 30–40 218.2 12.50 3.20 4.2078 M 30–40 218.1 11.40 3.20 2.30215 M 30–40 218.4 11.20 3.20 7.90217 M 30–40 218.8 11.50 3.30 1.50282 M 30–40 218.3 11.60 3.20 1.20434 F 30–40 218.6 11.70 3.10 1.90467 F 30–40 218.7 11.50 3.20 8.005065 M 30–40 218.6 11.40 3.20 1.301149/B M 30–40 218.9 11.00 3.20 3.10E40 US 5571 M 30–40 219.9 10.40 3.20 3.80158b M 40–50 218.8 11.20 3.20 2.40341 M 40–50 218.5 11.10 3.20 2.40466 F 40–50 218.9 11.30 3.20 4.5034 F 40–50 218.7 9.20 3.20 4.90122b M 40–50 219.5 10.40 3.40 1.7076 M 40–50 219.0 12.10 3.20 4.3084 F 40–50 218.6 11.80 3.20 2.90185 F 40–50 218.9 10.50 3.20 1.10191 M 40–50 218.6 11.20 3.20 2.20339 M 40–50 218.9 11.90 3.30 1.40430 M 40–50 218.3 11.50 3.20 2.30447 M 40–50 218.7 10.30 3.20 5.60603 M 40–50 219.4 9.00 3.30 4.105036 M 40–50 218.7 11.70 3.30 2.705081 M 40–50 218.4 11.50 3.20 5.001098/A M 40–50 218.6 11.60 3.20 3.401149/A M 40–50 219.1 10.00 3.20 2.001341/1/A M 40–50 219.0 9.90 3.20 1.90E37 US 5302 M 40–50 218.6 12.00 3.30 2.80525 M 40–50 218.5 11.60 3.30 2.40177 F 501 218.7 12.90 3.40 1.1037 M 501 218.3 10.50 3.20 8.00134 M 501 218.5 11.60 3.20 4.70186 M 501 218.4 11.60 3.20 2.30233 F 501 218.5 11.50 3.20 4.10285 F 501 218.2 12.20 3.20 8.10297 M 501 218.9 11.60 3.30 1.50302 M 501 218.6 11.70 3.20 3.60308 M 501 218.7 12.50 3.20 4.30407 F 501 218.4 11.80 3.20 5.40437 F 501 218.9 11.90 3.20 3.50440 M 501 218.6 12.10 3.20 3.50457 M 501 218.1 11.50 3.20 1.90730 M 501 218.7 12.00 3.20 1.305040 M 501 218.0 11.50 3.20 1.601212/A M 501 218.2 11.90 3.20 3.601334/A M 501 219.0 11.60 3.30 2.10814 M Adult 219.0 11.00 3.30 1.501278/A ? Adult 218.7 9.30 3.20 2.90

360 F. CROWE ET AL.


To compare the isotopic concentration means amongthe groups, we used the Tukey honest significant differ-ence (HSD) test because when comparing the means forthe levels of a factor in an analysis of variance, a simplecomparison using t-tests will inflate the probability ofdeclaring a significant difference when it is not in factpresent (Yandell, 1997).When we consider the carbon isotopic values for all

samples, divided by EAE presence (Table 6), the TukeyHSD (Table 7) shows that there is no difference in thecarbon isotope means between EAE-affected and EAE-unaffected individuals. Conversely, the nitrogen isotopemeans are comparable at Isola Sacra (difference is 0.1%,Tables 6 and 7), while for Velia the difference is largeand significant (1.2%, Tables 6 and 7). Moreover, theEAE-bearing individuals from Velia tend to have highernitrogen isotopic values than the rest of the population(see Fig. 5).Craig et al. (2009) observed that the Velian sample

could be divided into two groups, one with higher nitro-gen isotopic values (mean 111.2 6 1.3%) and the otherwith lower nitrogen isotopic values (mean of 18.2 60.7%), and proposed that this division, which is statisti-

cally significant, reflected differential access to marinefood resources (see Fig. 6). In this connection, it is worthnoting that the prevalence of EAE is 66% among themales in the group with higher d15N values (potentiallygreater access to marine food), while the prevalence ofEAE among the Velians with lower d15N values is only30% (Fisher’s exact test, P 5 0.058).

DISCUSSION

EAE is known as an acquired progressive pathologicalcondition, linked to prolonged cold-water contact, affect-ing particular categories of individuals. The results ofour survey indicate that 21.1% of the adult males inIsola Sacra and 35.3% in Velia developed EAE, whilefemales of both samples are not affected (we recordedonly a single female in Isola Sacra, i.e., 1/230). Even ifan underlying sex predisposition cannot be completelyruled out, it is much more probable that gender-relatedbehavioral differences explain the absence of exostoticdevelopment in the females from the two necropolises.Case studies have shown that women can be mildlyaffected or may escape the condition altogether(Hrdlicka, 1935; Dettman and Reuer, 1964; Roche, 1964;Gregg and Bass, 1970; Di Bartolomeo, 1979; Gregg andGregg, 1987; Sakalinskas and Jankaukas, 1993; Costa-Juqueira et al., 2000; Velasco-Vazquez et al., 2000). How-ever, where they are equally involved in cold-waterworking activities as males, they are affected at a com-parable frequency (Kennedy, 1986; Frayer, 1988;Standen et al., 1997; Hurst et al., 2004), if not a higherone (Pietrusewsky, 1984).In our two populations, the development of EAE is

strongly correlated with age (Table 4). The affliction iscompletely lacking in the juvenile segment of both sam-ples (\15 years), a common finding in the archeologicalliterature [but see Costa-Juqueira et al. (2000)—one caseof a juvenile aged 6]. Furthermore, it increases in bothfrequency and severity with age, presumably reflectingthe fact that younger individuals exposed to cold water

TABLE 5. (Continued)

Lab identifiera Sex Age d 13C (%) d15N (%) C:N % Coll

1004/C M Adult 218.6 11.00 3.20 4.601007/A M Adult 218.9 8.30 3.20 7.401008/N M Adult 218.9 10.60 3.30 3.201010/A M Adult 219.3 9.30 3.30 3.101010/B M Adult 219.3 11.20 3.30 3.001023/A M Adult 218.6 11.60 3.20 7.101143/A M Adult 218.3 11.40 3.20 9.001149/D M Adult 218.7 10.70 3.20 5.601250/E F Adult 219.1 10.20 3.20 4.901250F M Adult 218.9 10.50 3.20 3.701358/1/c M Adult 218.9 12.00 3.20 1.201422/F M Adult 218.9 9.70 3.20 7.701426/B M Adult 218.9 10.10 3.20 6.001445/A ? Adult 218.7 11.50 3.20 3.801454/A M Adult 218.8 11.20 3.20 3.701454/B M Adult 218.8 11.40 3.20 4.001454/C M Adult 218.9 10.90 3.20 1.90US 5032-5027a ? Adult 218.8 12.10 3.20 3.10E35 US 5190 ? Adult 218.9 10.70 3.20 8.00E35 US 5190a1c ? Adult 218.0 12.30 3.20 1.60US 5132 A ? Adult 218.1 11.40 3.20 5.70E27 US 5268a M Adult 218.9 11.70 3.30 1.70

a The full dataset of Isola Sacra, used in the statistical analysis,includes the males of the following list and all the availablemales reported in Prowse et al. (2004).b Individuals present in both datasets.c Question mark indicates sex indeterminable.

TABLE 6. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic analyses for all males>15 years from Velia and Isola Sacra, for whom there was at

least one complete meatus preserved

d13Ca d15Na

Mean SD N Mean SD N

Isola Sacra no EAE 218.7 0.2 35 11.0 1.1 36Isola Sacra EAE 218.7 0.4 44 11.1 0.9 44Velia no EAE 219.4 0.2 36 8.4 0.9 36Velia EAE 219.4 0.3 18 9.6 1.8 18

a Isotopic data from Table 5, Craig et al. (2009), and Prowseet al. (2004).

Fig. 4. Survivalship (lx) profiles of Isola Sacra and Veliaadult male samples, comparing those affected and unaffected byEAE.



have had less time to develop the condition before death.A time-lag of 5–10 years in the development of exostosisis to be expected, even with regular exposure to coldwater (Chaplin and Stewart, 1998; Kroon et al., 2002;Hurst et al., 2004; Timofeev et al., 2004). Timofeev et al.(2004) found that someone who indulged habitually inwater sports might require the surgical removal of exo-stosis (the condition having become critical) at 40 yearsof age, irrespective of when such activity began.It seems therefore reasonable to use the EAE pre-

valence as a water-related occupational marker in oursamples.The proportion of males engaged in water-related

activities in the Velia and Isola Sacra populations wouldhave been greater than is predicted based on the preva-lence of EAE, for two reasons. First, a portion of thoseregularly exposed to cold water contact are not suscepti-ble to the pathological condition and do not develop it, asshown by several clinical surveys: a prevalence of 86% isgiven by Altuna Mariezkurrena et al. (2004); 80% isgiven by Umeda and Nakajima (1989); 73% by Chaplinand Stewart (1998; increasing to 92% for those who havebeen surfing for more than 10 years); 73.5% by Wong etal. (1999; increasing to 90.9% for those with more than20 years exposure); 93.3% among Danish winter bathersby Eike and Pedersen (1994). Individual differential sus-ceptibility to cold water contact was also experimentallydetected (Harrison, 1962). Conversely, Corrales (1999)

found among a small sample of contemporary Aricamales a prevalence close to 100%. Second, EAE is a pro-gressive pathological condition: some younger individu-als can be assumed to have died before they were oldenough to develop it.While is not possible to quantify the first bias, we can

deal with the second one and reach a more realistic esti-mate of the incidence of the wind- and water-relatedactivities, using as a real prevalence estimator the per-centage of adult male individuals older than 40, bywhich age the pathological condition should have devel-oped, even in its milder forms (Grades 1 and 2). Follow-ing this line of reasoning, we can calculate that the per-centage of adult males practicing a cold-water-related ac-tivity was at least 24.7% for Portus and at least 41.2%for Velia.The high frequencies of EAE recorded in the two

Roman samples under study represent an exceptionalfinding, if compared with the few other available Italiansamples from roughly the same period, as reported byManzi et al. (1991). The seaport nature of the two settle-ments can be identified as the major causal factor of theobserved prevalence. Velia and Portus both are on theTyrrhenian sea coast and were busy seaports, providingharbor facilities for trading ships—Portus of coursevastly larger in scale than Velia.

TABLE 7. Tukey HSD multiple comparisons of means for carbon and nitrogen isotopic concentration for all males >15 years fromVelia and Isola Sacra (SCR)

d13C d 15N

Difference between means P adjusted Difference between means P adjusted

SCR EAE–SCR 0.0 0.9868 20.8 0.9876Velia–SCR 20.7 0.0000 22.3 0.0001Velia EAE–SCR 20.7 0.0000 23.3 0.0000Velia–SCR EAE 20.7 0.0000 22.2 0.0003Velia EAE–SCR EAE 20.7 0.0000 23.3 0.0000Velia EAE–Velia 0.0 0.9985 22.1 0.0018

Fig. 5. Carbon and nitrogen isotope scatterplot of adultmales from Isola Sacra and Velia, comparing those with andwithout EAE. Fig. 6. Comparison of carbon and nitrogen isotopic values of

adult males in Groups 1 and 2 from Velia [as defined in Craiget al. (2009)], with and without EAE.

362 F. CROWE ET AL.


Long-term exposure to a water temperature below198C, as we have already seen, is the main environmen-tal condition that induces EAE in a susceptible individ-ual. The mean sea surface temperature (SST) for theTyrrhenian sea today is lower than 198C only from De-cember through May (see Fig. 7). Taking wind-chill intoaccount we might extend this period by at least a month,to include the month of November.However, this timetable of vulnerability to EAE-induc-

ing exposure might be considered problematic, in asmuch as through most of this period, roughly from No-vember to March, large-scale maritime traffic was con-sidered unsafe and its volume therefore would have beenmuch diminished. At Portus in particular there is likelyto have been a downturn in maritime commerce andassociated port services during the winter season.The extent of the reduction of harbor activity over the

winter months should not however be exaggerated. Ship-building and -repair would have continued at and nearthe harbor. Small-scale coastal traffic, or cabotage,though hindered by unsettled weather, never ceased.Further, at Portus, there was river traffic all the yearround, as small boats (naves caudicariae manned by cau-dicarii), loaded with commodities, were towed upstreamto Rome by men and animals. The seasonal variation ofTiber water temperature (measured in Rome) is compa-rable with the SST for the sea (see Fig. 7).At the same time, it is difficult to explain the high

prevalence of EAE at both sites solely with reference tothe sundry activities related to harbor services and

trade. The reconstruction of diet in both samples bymeans of stable isotopic analysis suggests that coastal,and in the case of Portus, harbor, lagoon, and riverinefishing must be included in the equation.The isotopic analysis reveals that fish and fish prod-

ucts contributed significantly to the diet of the majorityof the inhabitants of Portus and a minority of those ofVelia (Craig et al., 2009). One can imagine the followingsources of fish: local fish coming directly from local fish-ermen and perhaps consumed by them and their house-holds; local fish deriving from fish-processing plants inthe region; and imported (basically processed) fish or fishproducts. The contribution from each of these sources ofsupply might be expected to have varied according to theseason, in relation to both the catching of fish and thetransport of processed fish.The statistically significant higher prevalence of EAE

among those Velians with very high nitrogen isotopicvalues (Group 1 in Fig. 6) points to fishing (probablycoastal, low-water fishing) as the occupation most re-sponsible for the affliction. At Portus, the consumption offish, fish products, and other marine foods seems to havebeen more widespread, but this does not exclude the eat-ing of fresh fish by local fishermen and their households(as is detectable in the data from Velia). The people ofPortus exploited the resources of sea, river, and coastallagoons. The harbor itself was home to a fish named af-ter it, the ‘‘cefalo traiano’’ (a local variety of Mugil cepha-lus; Chevallier, 1986). In addition, it is known from thearcheological record to have served as a base for fish-well boats—a fine specimen was discovered in the 1940sby the Claudian harbor (Boetto, 2006). Such boats wereideal for transporting fresh fish to the markets of Portus,Ostia, and perhaps even Rome itself. The lower preva-lence of EAE at Portus, which is associated with earlieronset and an individual higher grading, might be expli-cable in terms of a more constant exposure to cold wateramong a smaller subset of active males, and by inferencea more specialized activity of fishing and harbor-and-riverine related working tasks among this subsection ofthe population.

CONCLUSION

There was a high incidence of external auricular exo-stosis among the cemetery populations of Portus and (inparticular) Velia. This was predictable, given that EAE,as is now accepted, is caused by long-term, habitual ex-posure to cold water or water-deriving wind-chill. Bothtowns were coastal towns. Velia was, and had been forcenturies, an active, if minor, port. Portus owed its veryexistence to massive harbor facilities constructed by theRoman government over half a century. This article hasestablished, with respect to the populations of both Por-tus and Velia, a connection between the development ofEAE, on the one hand, and occupational activities anddiet, on the other. The evidence points to fishing as theprime cause of EAE at Velia; this is particularly the caseamong the subsection of the population among whom thecondition is more prominent, and the consumption ofmarine foods more marked. Portus was a far more im-portant harbor than Velia; fish was more available(because of the presence of imported marine foods), anda significant proportion of the male adult population wasdrawn into port-related activities of all kinds. This, wesuggest, is the explanation of the lower (though still sig-nificant) incidence of EAE, and the fact that marine food

Fig. 7. Mean monthly sea surface temperature (SST) overthe period 1985–2007 (data obtained from the OI-SST mapsavailable at http://clima.casaccia.enea.it/sst/medie.php) andmean monthly Tiber water temperature measured at the PortaPortese station (Rome) in the year 2007 (data obtained from theonline publications of the Ufficio Idrografico e Mareografico ofthe Regione Lazio, http://www.idrografico.roma.it). Gray boxrepresents the range of months when temperatures are lowerthan 198C. Paleoclimatic reconstructions (Mann and Jones,2003) suggest slightly lower temperatures than today for thefirst centuries AD.



consumption is more widespread but at a lower level, incomparison with Velia.This study demonstrates the value of a multidiscipli-

nary approach, which brings together historical and ar-cheological evidence, paleopathology, and biochemistry inthe task of reconstructing aspects of the lifestyle of an-cient populations.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank David W. Frayer at Kansas University forrewarding discussions on the manuscript and LoretanaSalvadei at the Soprintendenza al Museo Nazionale Pre-istorico Etnografico ‘‘Luigi Pigorini’’ of Rome for her con-tinuous support and contribution to the Velia project.Giulia Boetto at the ‘‘Centre Camille Jullian, MaisonMediterraneenne des Sciences de l’Homme,’’ Aix-en-Pro-vence, France, provided important comments and infor-mation on fishing activities in Roman times. The addi-tional stable isotopic analyses were performed as part ofKOK’s Masters Thesis at the University of Oxford. Wethank Peter Ditchfield at the Research Laboratory forArchaeology and the History of Art, University ofOxford, for help with isotopic analysis.

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