Death Metal : characterising the effects of environmental lead pollution on mobility and childhood health within the Roman Empire
The use of lead was ubiquitous throughout the Roman Empire, including as material for water pipes, eating vessels and as a sweetener for wine. Children are particularly susceptible to the effects of lead and it is likely that the widespread use of this deadly metal amongst Roman populations led to a range of adverse health effects. Indeed, lead poisoning has even been implicated in the downfall of the Roman Empire. This research examines the direct effect of lead poisoning on the inhabitants of the Empire, and for the first time introduces a bioarchaeological perspective to how lead exposure affected health during the Roman period. The results provide strong evidence that Roman lead pollution contributed to the high prevalence of metabolic diseases during childhood and implicates elevated lead burdens in the high prevalence of infant remains in Roman skeletal assemblages. This study has also shown the effectiveness of lead isotope analysis as a tool in archaeological migration studies. The successful establishment of baseline lead isotope ranges in previously unstudied regions of the Roman Empire has greatly enhanced our ability to identify the potential origins of isotopic outliers. Although this study has
Moore, Joanna Faye
Death Metal : characterising the effects of environmental lead pollution on mobility and childhood health within the Roman Empire. The use of lead was ubiquitous throughout the Roman Empire, including as material for water pipes, eating vessels and as a sweetener for wine. Children are particularly susceptible to the effects of lead and it is likely that the widespread use of this deadly metal amongst Roman populations led to a range of adverse health effects. Indeed, lead poisoning has even been implicated in the downfall of the Roman Empire. This research examines the direct effect of lead poisoning on the inhabitants of the Empire, and for the first time introduces a bioarchaeological perspective to how lead exposure affected health during the Roman period. The results provide strong evidence that Roman lead pollution contributed to the high prevalence of metabolic diseases during childhood and implicates elevated lead burdens in the high prevalence of infant remains in Roman skeletal assemblages. This study has also shown the effectiveness of lead isotope analysis as a tool in archaeological migration studies. The successful establishment of baseline lead isotope ranges in previously unstudied regions of the Roman Empire has greatly enhanced our ability to identify the potential origins of isotopic outliers. Although this study has
death metal characterising effect environmental lead pollution mobility childhood health within roman_empire use lead ubiquitous throughout roman_empire include material water pipe eat vessel wine children particularly susceptible effect lead likely widespread use metal amongst roman population lead range adverse health effect indeed lead even implicate downfall roman_empire examine direct effect lead inhabitant empire first_time introduces bioarchaeological perspective lead exposure affect health roman_period provide strong evidence roman lead pollution contribute high_prevalence diseases childhood elevate lead burden high_prevalence infant remain roman skeletal assemblage study also_show effectiveness lead_isotope analysis tool archaeological migration study successful establishment baseline lead_isotope range previously_unstudied region roman_empire greatly enhance ability identify_potential origin isotopic outlier although study