Resurrecting Pompeii (32 page)
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Authors: Estelle Lazer
comparable to those obtained by Bisel for the Herculaneum skeletal sample as they fall within the same range when the margin of error is considered. Similarly, the results based on the ‘American Black’ formulae are more comparable to those recorded by Capasso.
The reconstruction of height from long bones in the Pompeian sample enables comparison with modern Neapolitan average stature for both sexes, based on a study of living people that was published in 1964.
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If the mean statures were observed to be comparable with those of the modern population, an argument could be constructed for regional continuity. Smaller average heights than those of the modern Neapolitans could imply that the ancient population had a lower standard of health and nutrition or constituted a different population. Higher means in the ancient sample could be interpreted as either a higher standard of health and diet or as a population that was not related to that of modern Naples.
It is noteworthy that when the ‘American White’ formulae are applied, both the Pompeian and Bisel’s Herculaneum samples have comparable but slightly higher mean stature than a modern Neapolitan sample (see Tables 8.1 and 8.2).
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The height estimates obtained from the Pompeian sample using the ‘American Negro’ formulae are closer to those of the modern Neapolitans. Regardless of the formulae that are applied, the heights mostly do not diverge by more than a few centimetres and the range of errors show considerable overlap. It is therefore possible to mount an argument for regional continuity, which may reflect a relationship between the ancient populations in the region and the modern Campanians.
While it is clear that stature is a useful health indicator, some scholars push the evidence to relate stature to social class and have incorporated data from height studies into social and economic histories.
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There needs to be a word of caution about the extent to which stature reconstruction data can be interpreted. It has been claimed that as taller populations or tall subsets of a population are apparently the result of better health and nutrition, they reflect individuals or groups of higher status or social classes. It should be recognized that higher status is no guarantee of a more nourishing diet during the growing years, as can be demonstrated by the consumption of more processed food by wealthier English people between the Industrial Revolution and World War II (see Chapter 1).
As a result of the disarticulation of the sample, it was only possible to roughly estimate the mean Pompeian male and female stature. The results are consistent with the potentially more reliable mean heights that have been obtained from the recently excavated Herculaneum sample. There is a need, however, to apply the formulae for stature estimation that have been found to be most appropriate for Central and South Italian archaeological skeletal remains to all the
AD
79 victims. The lack of clear documentation of techniques employed impedes comparison between skeletal samples and makes it difficult to draw conclusions. Despite these problems, the data that have been collected suggest regional continuity for height and that the ancient Campanians had adequate diets and were in relatively good health during the period of bone growth.
Flattening of the proximal end of the shaft of the femur is known as platymeria and platycnemia when it occurs in the tibia. Like stature, the presence of platymeria and platycnemia have been interpreted as indicators of general health as they are considered to be stress related, either biomechanical, or as a result of nutritional deficiencies. Platymeria and platycnemia are expressed as an index using the antero-posterior and transverse diameters of the proximal part of the shaft.
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A sample of 156 left femora from the Forum Bath collection were examined for platymeria. The mean index was 80.9 ± 0.65, which is well within the platymeric range. The Pompeian sample is apparently slightly more platymeric than that of the Herculaneum sample, which according to Bisel had a platymeric index of 83.1 for females and 81.9 for males. Capasso calculated combined indices for left and right femora of 84.2 for males and 85.1 for females. Bisel calculated an average Herculanean platymeric index of 82.4 as compared to Capasso’s combined left and right index of 84.6. There is no apparent reason for the differences in the results of Bisel and Capasso, though they may just be a reflection of the larger sample available for the latter study. It was not possible to sex segregate the Pompeian sample for platymeria but it should be noted that the greater degree of platymeria in the Herculaneans was observed in femora of individuals interpreted as male which is not consistent with the view that this trait is more commonly observed in females.
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Fifty left and 51 right tibiae were examined for the presence of platycnemia. The mean index for the sample of left and right bones was 70.3 ± 0.61 which is beyond the range for platycnemia and is described as eurycnemia. Only 2.3 per cent of the left and 12.8 per cent of the right tibiae were platycnemic. No bimodality was observed, which implies that there is no sex separation for these measurements. There was no appreciable difference between the left and right samples. This means that both the left and right tibiae probably reflect the same population and can reasonably be compared.
The averaged Herculanean sample, like the Pompeian sample, is eurycnemic. This implies no significant flattening and suggests a sample more consistent with a modern population, such as that of the modern French, which has a cnemic index range of 71 to 74.
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It should be noted that there is no universal agreement as to the cause of proximal shaft flattening of the lower limbs. This is partly because of the difficulty in obtaining information on the causes of bony changes for human bones due to the ethical problems involved in human experimentation. It has been suggested that certain pathologies, such as osteoarthritis and osteoperiostosis may be associated with platymeria. Another possible cause for platymeria could be excessive strain on femora during childhood. The causes of platycnemia are also debated. Pathological factors have been cited. It has also been suggested that it is caused by constant squatting. Various pathological factors, including treponemal diseases and rickets, have been implicated for the production of long bone bowing.
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It is reasonable to assume that no single factor is fully responsible for these changes and that interpretations must be based on an examination of whole skeletons in the context of their population, rather than of individual bones.
There is no signi ficant difference between the Pompeian and Herculanean samples for these features. As it is difficult to isolate the cause or causes for the flattening of the proximal shafts of long bones, it is not really possible to interpret these results beyond stating that both the Pompeian and Herculanean populations may have had lifestyles that involved the application of greater stresses to the femora than the tibiae.
Bisel argued that bone softening due to poor nutrition would result in a certain degree of flattening of the pelvis as it bears a great deal of the weight of the body above it. This could be expressed as an index of the pelvic brim. The Herculaneum sample displayed a mean figure of 83.9, which she compared to a mean of 93.3 for modern Americans. She interpreted this as a reflection of the better level of nourishment in the latter population.
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This is not a commonly used skeletal marker and it is, therefore, difficult to assess its usefulness.
Trauma includes various bone injuries, caused by cutting or piercing of the bone by sharp implements or crushing by blunt objects. It includes fracture. Trauma also includes certain types of surgical intervention, such as amputation, trepanation or trephination. Trauma is the second most common cause of pathological change to bones after degenerative changes.
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Observations were made on all the bones stored in the Forum and Sarno Baths as well as the skeletal material in the
Casa del Fabbro
(I, x, 7) and the
Casa del Menandro
(I, x, 4). No obvious signs of trauma were discerned on bones other than skulls and long bones in the available sample. At least 350 skulls, 500 right and left femora, 400 right and left tibiae, 150 left and right fibulae, 400 right and left humeri, 200 right and left radii and 200 right and left ulnae were inspected for signs of trauma or surgical intervention.
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Only one case presented with an injury that was consistent with having occurred at or around the time of death. The fracture pattern suggested a perimortem blow to a skull, which may reflect a tephra-related injury (see Chapter 4).
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All the other cases of trauma that were observed in the sample were either healed or healing.
No evidence of trauma was apparent on the bones from the Houses of the Fabbro or the Menander. Gross inspection of the 1,800 or so bones that were stored in the Forum and Sarno Baths yielded a total of seven unequivocal fractures and one unequivocal case of surgical intervention. There was also one case of a healed injury on a skull. Six of these fractures involved long bones. Three of these had healed with no bone displacement and three had healed with malalignment. The seventh was a depressed fracture of a skull. All the bones were identified as adult and all of these fractures had healed some time prior to death.
Fractures naturally commence the healing process shortly after the trauma occurs. The fracture causes blood vessels in the bone to rupture. Blood then flows into the area of the fracture and forms a bloody mass or haematoma, which then stimulates new bone formation, ultimately leading to the development of a hard callus. The callus acts as a natural splint and will remodel as the fracture heals. If the fracture ends are in line and the bone is immobilized during the period of healing, it can be difficult to detect evidence of the fracture in the remodelled bone, except in radiographs.
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The three bones that had healed with no bone displacement were identifiable by callus formation around the fracture site. They were a right ulna, a left radius and a right tibia.
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The right ulna and the left radius exhibited callus formation on the proximal third of the shaft, whilst the right tibia displayed similar pathological alteration to the distal third of the shaft. No signs of secondary infection were apparent. There is no reason to assume that there had been any medical intervention in these three cases as these all occurred in paired bones. If only one bone had been broken the other could have acted as a splint.
The three bones, which displayed compound fractures with some malalignment were a right femur and a right tibia and fibula from the same individual.
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The fracture of the right femur involved the proximal third of the bone (Figure 8.4). This was a compound fracture with associated secondary infection. Compound fractures are open to the external environment and therefore at risk of bacterial infection, which is what appears to have occurred in this case. Bone infection is described as osteomyelitis, which involves bone destruction and the formation of pus. In this case there are osteomyelitic lesions in the form of sinuses or cloacae, which would have initially formed inside the bone interior as abscesses containing pus. These abscesses eventually penetrated the compact bone wall to enable the pus to drain from the bone to the surface of the leg.
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The broken sections of bone were malaligned, which meant that the femur healed with some angulation. This resulted in the shortening of the bone.
The right tibia and fibula
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(Figure 8.5) are among the few cases in the stored Pompeian skeletal collection in the Sarno Bath complex where an individual is clearly represented by more than one bone. The remains were stored in a basket. They are fragmentary, but include a mandible and a maxilla,
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a right and left tibia and two portions of the right fibula. The features of the maxilla are consistent with a male sex attribution.
Figure 8.4Healed fracture of a right femur (TdS R 11) with associated osteomyelitic lesions in the form of sinuses on the bone surface
Figure 8.5
Right tibia and fibula from one individual (TdS #28.1) with healed compound fractures exhibiting pronounced displacement and override at the midshaft of the bone
The tibia and fibula display healed compound fractures. The tibia exhibited an oblique fracture with pronounced displacement and override at the midshaft of the bone. This injury has resulted in considerable shortening of the leg. The maximum length of the right tibia is 264 mm as compared to the left tibia, which has a maximum length of 323 mm. There is no sign of secondary infection on the tibia or the remains of the fibula. It is difficult to assess the damage to the fibula as it is fragmentary but it is clear that it suffered a compound fracture with apparent displacement as a result of the same event that caused the fracture of the tibia.
A healed depressed fracture was observed on the remains of a skull in the Sarno Baths (Figures 8.6 and 8.7).
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The occipital bone and parietals are essentially all that has survived of this skull. As a result, it lacks most of the diagnostic features for sex determination. What remains appears rather robust. An age-at-death estimate based on an examination of the ectocranial suture closure on the remaining sutures suggested an age consistent with an individual in, at least, the fifth decade at the time of death. The injury is located on the left parietal bone superior to the anterior articulation for the squamous portion of the temporal bone and just posterior to the lateral portion of the coronal suture. It is roughly circular in shape and covers an area of 34 x 30 mm. Both the inner and outer tables are involved. The wound presents on the inner table as a hemisphere about 23 x 30 mm in area and protrudes about 10 mm from the normal surface of the bone. It was interpreted as a healed depressed fracture without comminution, or splintering of the bone, consistent with a wound made by a blunt implement. The fracture appeared to be fully healed, as evidenced by the rounded and remodelled edges of the site of injury. There was no sign of infection.
