Conditions de vie et état de santé de deux communautés du latium à l’Âge du fer : le cas de Castiglione et d’Osteria dell’Osa (Rome, x^e-ix^e siècles av. J.-C.)

This paper presents a comparison between the archaeological and palaeo-biological data relative to two contemporary Iron Age complexes from the same district of ancient Lazio : the cemeteries of Osteria dell’Osa, thoroughly studied and published in 1992, and of Castiglione, a minor cemetery in the same district, presently under study.
The archaeological evidence from these two cemeteries shows that the community of Osteria dell’Osa was larger and more open to interregional contacts. Closely connected to the these features, the community was better organized, with a clear distribution of horizontal roles by age and gender ; vertical roles were attributed to single adult men, apparently the political and religious chiefs of the community, who also managed external relationships and exchange.
The Castiglione community was much less organized ; moreover, and the evidence of interregional contacts is extremely scanty.
The archaeological differences between the two cemeteries correspond to the results of the palaeo-biological analysis : the Osteria dell’Osa sample is characterized by marked sexual dimorphism, a low incidence of caries, which, moreover is exclusive to infants of weaning age, and a well-balanced diet including both proteins and carbohydrates. In the Castiglione sample the rather low degree of sexual dimorphism points to a general similarity between the activities of men and women, while the high incidence of caries for all age classes indicates an excess of carbohydrates in the diet, which apparently was based almost entirely on agricultural products.