ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines some of the issues with the premature use of bioarchaeological data for extrapolation to larger research questions. Combining osteological and biochemical data with archaeological information, historical context, and social theory holds outstanding potential in the Roman Empire. Analysis of human skeletal remains is becoming increasingly common in classical bioarchaeology, particularly because of the way historians and demographers have begun to pair osteological and biochemical data with evidence from archaeology, epigraphy, and historical records. Three primary lines of evidence inform our basic understanding of Roman health from an osteological standpoint: palaeopathology; biochemistry; and postcranial morphology. The ancient Roman diet came from a variety of sources, mainly foodstuffs containing protein and carbohydrates. Stable isotope analyses of carbon and nitrogen have been used for decades to characterize human diets in the past because they provide a way to generalize the types and amounts of proteins and plant matter in an individual’s diet.
