Navigare Necesse Est. Possible Reconstruction of a Maritime
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Reconstruction of maritime activities in Roman Iader Mario Novak, Timka Alihodžić, Mario Šlaus ANTHROPOLOGICAL REVIEW • Vol. 76 (1), 83–94 (2013) Navigare necesse est. Possible reconstruction of a maritime-activities related occupation based on the presence of auditory exostoses in an individual from the Roman period city of Iader Mario Novak1, Timka Alihodžić2, Mario Šlaus1 1Anthropological Centre, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia 2Archaeological Museum Zadar, 23 000 Zadar, Croatia ABSTRACT: Large bilateral auditory exostoses were recorded in the skeleton of an adult male buried in the Roman period necropolis of Zadar-Relja (the Roman colony of Iader) in southern Croatia. As the occur- rence of auditory exostoses in both past and modern populations has been correlated with prolonged exposure to cold water, the authors propose that during his lifetime this individual performed activities requiring frequent contact with cold water for an extended period of time. Apart from auditory exostoses, this individual also exhibits other pathological changes including pronounced skeletal robustness, benign cortical defects at the insertion of the pectoralis major muscles on both humeri and at the attachment sites of the costo-clavicular ligaments on both clavicles, and vertebral osteoarthritis in the cervical and thoracic vertebrae. The most plausible explanation for all these changes is that this person spent most of his life working aboard a sea vessel as a sailor, boat builder or fisherman, and whose duties included frequent and intensive use of oars. This observation is based on the geographic and climatic location of Zadar, the described skeletal changes, the archaeological context of the site, recovered material artifacts and written historic sources and comparisons with similar studies. KEY WORDS: auditory exostoses, musculoskeletal stress markers, maritime activities, Roman period, Zadar Introduction They can be spheroid or oval, appearing Exostoses of the external auditory canal like a pea or a small bean, and they can (alternatively; auditory torus, auditory grow to completely block the auditory exostosis, torus acusticus or torus tympani- canal (Kennedy 1986). cus) are benign bone anomalies generally Until recently, the cause of auditory ex- located on the floor of the external audi- ostoses was thought to be genetic (Blake tory canal that typically occur bilaterally. 1880; Berry 1975), but most authors Original Article: Received December 13, 2012; Accepted for publication March 6, 2013 DOI: 10.2478/anre-2013-0001 © 2013 Polish Anthropological Society 84 Mario Novak, Timka Alihodžić, Mario Šlaus currently believe that the occurrence of freshwater resources through diving and auditory exostoses is primarily caused by other aquatic activities (Kennedy 1986). environmental factors (Kennedy, 1986; Today, auditory exostoses are com- Standen et al. 1997; Chaplin and Stewart mon in individuals who practise aquatic 1998; Velasco-Vazquez et al. 2000; Kro- sports, and the frequency of this trait and on et al. 2002). Among these, activities the degree of canal obstruction are pos- associated with continuous exposure to itively correlated with the intensity and cold water below 19°C, such as diving, length of time involved in aquatic sports aquatic sports, and ocean navigation are activities (Kroon et al. 2002). Several ar- considered the most important factors in chaeological and clinical studies (Hrdlic- the development of this anomaly (DiBar- ka 1935; DiBartolomeo 1979; Manzi et tolomeo 1979; Filipo et al. 1982; Kenne- al. 1991) identified either an absence, dy 1986). In the past several decades the or only occasional occurrence, of audito- occurrence and frequency of auditory ex- ry exostoses in individuals less than 20 ostoses has been studied in numerous ar- years of age, thus strongly implying that chaeological skeletal samples from differ- this is an acquired condition (Aufderhei- ent chronological periods and geographic de and Rodríguez-Martín 1998). locations (Ascenzi and Balistreri 1975; In this paper, we report the presence Kennedy 1986; Frayer 1988; Manzi et al. of exostoses in the external auditory 1991; Sakalinskas and Jankauskas 1993; canal of an adult male recovered from Standen et al. 1997; Gerszten et al. 1998; grave 7 in the Roman period necropolis Velasco-Vazquez et al. 2000; Okumura et of Zadar-Relja in Dalmatia, Croatia. In al. 2007; Agelarakis and Serpanos 2010; addition, precise reconstruction of the Miladinović-Radmilović 2010).). habitual activities of this individual is at- The most important analysis of a pro- tempted, based on the results of a com- posed correlation between continuous prehensive bio-archaeological analysis of exposure to cold water and auditory ex- all recorded skeletal pathological chang- ostoses occurrence in populations from es, together with recovered material arti- different geographic regions was most facts and available historic sources. likely the one conducted by Kennedy (1986). She hypothesized that lower fre- Material and methods quencies of auditory exostoses could be expected in polar and sub-polar regions due to the avoidance of cold water be- Archaeological context cause of the risk of hypothermia, and in tropical regions where people were ac- The modern city of Zadar is situated on customed to warmer water, rarely below the eastern Adriatic coast in Croatia (Fig. 21°C (Kennedy 1986). She also found 1). Large-scale rescue archaeological ex- that populations living between 30° and cavations at the location of the central 45° north and south latitudes, where wa- necropolis of the Roman period colony ter temperatures are usually below 19°C, of Iader were carried out between 1989 exhibited higher frequencies of auditory and 2009 in the Relja district of the city exostoses. These elevated frequencies of of Zadar, uncovering over 2,000 graves. auditory exostoses also correlated with Most of these excavations were led by intensive exploitation of marine and/or the Archaeological Museum Zadar. 543 Reconstruction of maritime activities in Roman Iader 85 Fig. 1. Map of Croatia with the geographical loca- tion of Zadar graves, including both inhumations and incinerations, were excavated at the loca- tion of the Relja Shopping centre, during phase 2 between 2005 and 2009. Based on recovered artifacts, the burials in this location are dated between the 1st and the 4th centuries AD. Grave 7, excavated in 2005, was an in- humation burial in plain ground with no grave architecture. Fragments of Roman Fig. 2. Skeleton of the adult male, in flexed posi- tegulae and amorphous stones were de- tion, recovered from grave 7 in the Zadar-Relja posited above the skeleton, while natural necropolis bedrock was located on the north side of the individual’s lower extremities. The can be dated between the 7th and the 5th skeleton was in a flexed position, on its centuries BC (Gluščević 2005). right side, lying in a NE–SW direction Another inhumation grave excavated (Fig. 2), with bronze wire forming an an- during 2009 at the Relja site was almost kle bracelet around the right ankle. identical to grave 7 in the manner of its It is important to note here that in ad- burial. This individual was also interred dition to Roman period burials, the Relja in plain ground in a flexed position, but site also contained several flexed inhu- with no material artifacts (Alihodžić mation burials attributed to Liburnian 2009). Iron Age individuals who inhabited this Although these two graves are only region before the Romans. Analyses of approximately 100 metres apart, they are grave artifacts, particularly the very char- difficult to date more precisely because of acteristic fibulae, suggest these burials the lack of grave architecture and mate- 86 Mario Novak, Timka Alihodžić, Mario Šlaus rial artifacts. The only indicator of grave – small (blocking less than 1/3 of the date is the bronze wire ankle bracelet on canal), medium (blocking between 1/3 grave 7 skeleton. This bronze wire has and 2/3), and large (blocking more than interwoven endings resembling typical 2/3) and 3) unilateral or bilateral defect closed-type bracelets worn between the (Standen et al. 1997). 1st and 4th centuries AD. While the precise dating of these two Results graves remains undetermined, their lo- cation in the Roman period necropolis, The skeleton interred in grave 7 is that the complete absence of grave architec- of an adult male aged between 35 and 45 ture and the flexed positions of the skel- years. The skeleton is moderately well etons all suggest that these burials oc- preserved, with only several ribs and curred in the same chronological period. some of the small bones from the hands As already mentioned, the bronze ankle and feet missing. Irregularly shaped au- bracelet from grave 7 places this bur- ditory exostoses are present in both au- ial between the 1st and 4th century AD, ditory canals, with a somewhat higher during Roman rule in Zadar. It is there- degree of expression on the right side fore most likely that both grave 7 and (Fig. 3). Exostoses on the left side occur the second-mentioned grave contained postero-inferiorly and on the anterior remains of Liburnians who lived during wall, while on the right they are main- Roman domination, and who preserved ly present on the superior and posterior Liburnian heritage and ancient Liburnian walls. They are medium in size on the funeral customs. left side (blocking between 1/3 and 2/3 of the auditory canal) and large on the Methods used in the analysis right (blocking more than 2/3) (Fig. 4). Pathological changes unrelated to A comprehensive anthropological anal- auditory exostoses were observed in ysis of skeletal and dental remains of this individual. The entire appendicular the individual buried in grave 7 in the skeleton is remarkably robust. This is Zadar-Relja necropolis was conduct- particularly accentuated in the pectoral ed in the osteological laboratory of the girdle region and the upper extremities. Anthropological Centre of the Croatian Benign cortical defects are obvious at the Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb.