Changing People, Changing Settlements? A Perspective on Urbanism from Roman Britain

Redfern, Rebecca

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-53417-2_2

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 94 publications

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“…But increasing momentary pottery densities across sites suggest some combination of growth and agglomeration may have compensated for declining site numbers. This is consistent with bio-archaeological studies which suggest migration into towns and relative health and wealth in towns (Pitts & Griffin, 2012;Eckardt et al, 2014;Redfern, 2020), and with studies of botanical and faunal remains which suggest increases in farm productivity . These findings suggest overall economic development, which would have resulted in fewer farmers being required to feed the population, and in an increasing concentration of wealth in larger and denser settlements (see Pitts, 2016).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 87%

Transport Costs and Economic Change in Roman Britain

Ortman,

Bulik,

Wiseman

et al. 2023

Eur. j. archaeol

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Reductions in the cost of transporting manufactured goods have been an important element in economic development in the recent past, and previous research suggests that the Roman period in Britain also saw substantial reductions in such costs. The authors investigate how far it is possible to measure changes in transport costs by considering the spatial distributions of pottery from known Roman production locations over time. Their analysis of an extensive database of pottery assemblages is designed to evaluate a series of expectations concerning how reductions in transport costs may have affected such assemblages and their distribution. Results suggest that costs were reduced by a factor of about two, leading to related changes in pottery production, distribution, and consumption over time. The ability to quantify changes in transport costs opens new perspectives for investigating the general determinants of economic development using archaeological data.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 87%

Transport Costs and Economic Change in Roman Britain

Ortman,

Bulik,

Wiseman

et al. 2023

Eur. j. archaeol

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“…The comparison of urban and rural populations is also fraught with complicating factors that can be difficult to identify and thus control for in analyses. One issue, in particular, that impedes straightforward interpretations of skeletal data is migration: humans frequently move about their landscape, migrating from rural to urban settings or vice versa, and/or moving between rural settlements or between cities (Redfern, 2020). Further, there is variation by age, gender, culture, and other factors in levels and rates of migration and the length of residency following migration.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Once again, the patterns that emerge are not between the first and fifth centuries CE. They found urban adults had higher survivorship and lower risks of mortality than their rural counterparts, while urban subadults experienced a higher mortality risk than rural peers (see also Redfern, 2020).…”

Section: Multiple Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…For instance, Redfern et al (2015) examine indicators of stress, disease, and oral health in their study of rural and urban settlements in Dorset, England between the first and fifth centuries CE. They found urban adults had higher survivorship and lower risks of mortality than their rural counterparts, while urban subadults experienced a higher mortality risk than rural peers (see also Redfern, 2020).…”

Section: Bioarchaeological Studies Of Urbanizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Toward a bioarchaeology of urbanization: Demography, health, and behavior in cities in the past

Betsinger

DeWitte

2021

American J Phys Anthropol

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Urbanization is one of the most important settlement shifts in human history and has been the focus of research within bioarchaeology for decades. However, there have been limited attempts to synthesize the results of these studies in order to gain a broader perspective on whether or how urbanization affects the biology, demography, and behavior of humans, and how these potential effects are embodied in the human skeleton. This paper outlines how bioarchaeology is well-suited to examine urbanization in the past, and we provide an overview and examples of three main ways in which urbanization is studied in bioarchaeological research: comparison of (often contemporaneous) urban and rural sites, synchronic studies of the variation that exists within and between urban sites, and investigations of changes that occur within urban sites over time. Studies of urbanization, both within bioarchaeology and in other fields of study, face a number of limitations, including a lack of a consensus regarding what urban and urbanization mean, the assumed dichotomous nature of urban versus rural settlements, the supposition that urbanization is universally bad for people, and the assumption (at least in practice) of homogeneity within urban and rural populations. Bioarchaeologists can address these limitations by utilizing a wide array of data and methods, and the studies described here collectively demonstrate the complex, nuanced, and highly variable effects of urbanization.

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“…While studies of the Classic Maya provide foundational knowledge about these preindustrial state-level societies, as well as important lessons about the dire biological consequences of stresses placed on populations from environmental instability, political factionalization, and social inequality, equally fascinating is the story of the rise of large and complex Maya societies during the Preclassic (Ebert et al 2019;Scherer 2017;Somerville et al 2013;Wright and White 1996). Bioarchaeological studies in other areas of the world that have considered a deeper history have demonstrated that significant biocultural changes occurred as a result of growing social, economic, and technological complexity (e.g., Cohen and Armelagos 1984;Cohen and Crane-Kramer 2007;Larsen et al 2019;Pihasi and Stock 2011;Redfern 2020). It is widely accepted that a pan-Maya identity had arisen in eastern Mesoamerica by at least 1200/1000 b.c.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life and Death Among the Earliest Maya: A Review of Early and Middle Preclassic Burials From the Maya World

2021

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This article presents a review of the earliest Maya skeletal remains thus far found, including a list of 398 burials dating to the Early (1800–900 b.c.) and Middle Preclassic periods (900–300 b.c.) and adjacent regions. These sites are spread throughout the Maya region and the data allow basic descriptive syntheses about early mortuary behavior and aspects of health and diet. Poor preservation and differences in scoring and reporting severely limit the scope of interpretation possible at this point, but it is hoped that this review stimulates coordinated research into the biology of early groups.

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Changing People, Changing Settlements? A Perspective on Urbanism from Roman Britain

Cited by 4 publications

References 94 publications

Transport Costs and Economic Change in Roman Britain

Transport Costs and Economic Change in Roman Britain

Toward a bioarchaeology of urbanization: Demography, health, and behavior in cities in the past

Life and Death Among the Earliest Maya: A Review of Early and Middle Preclassic Burials From the Maya World

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