Volume 38 - Article 65 | Pages 2053–2072  

A synthetic measure of mortality using skeletal data from ancient cemeteries: The d index

By Irene Barbiera, Maria Castiglioni, Gianpiero Dalla Zuanna

Abstract

Background: Due to the scarcity of written sources in ancient historical periods, and thanks to the development of increasingly sophisticated methods of excavation, recognition, publication, and interpretation, archaeology has played an important role in the understanding of demographic mechanisms. It is in this context that the last decade has seen important developments in paleodemography, the use of skeletons to reconstruct the demographic dynamics of the past.

Objective: In this study we show how skeletal data can be used to determine mortality regimes, enlarging the demographic meaning of the d index proposed by Bocquet-Appel in 2002. We apply the d index to Italian cemeteries dating from the 1st to the 15th century AD.

Contribution: Our study contributes to the development of paleodemography, a particularly valuable method that uses large osteological samples to understand mortality trends in ancient historical periods. In this study we extend and develop the d index, introduced by Bocquet-Appel in 2002, and demonstrate its usefulness in a range of plausible demographic scenarios. By applying this method to the study of mortality in Italy from the 1st to the 15th centuries AD, we show its reliability in tracing mortality trends in periods of both normal mortality and mortality crisis.

Author's Affiliation

• Irene Barbiera - Università degli Studi di Padova (UNIPD), Italy EMAIL
• Maria Castiglioni - Università degli Studi di Padova (UNIPD), Italy EMAIL
• Gianpiero Dalla Zuanna - Università degli Studi di Padova (UNIPD), Italy EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

The growing number of given names as a clue to the beginning of the demographic transition in Europe
Volume 45 - Article 6

First signs of transition: The parallel decline of early baptism and early mortality in the province of Padua (northeast Italy), 1816‒1870
Volume 36 - Article 27

Mortality selection in the first three months of life and survival in the following thirty-three months in rural Veneto (North-East Italy) from 1816 to 1835
Volume 31 - Article 39

Siblings and human capital: A comparison between Italy and France
Volume 23 - Article 21

Comparisons of infant mortality in the Austrian Empire Länder using the Tafeln (1851-54)
Volume 22 - Article 26

Lowest-Low Fertility: Signs of a recovery in Italy?
Volume 21 - Article 23

Social mobility and fertility
Volume 17 - Article 15

Interdependence between sexual debut and church attendance in Italy
Volume 14 - Article 19

The banquet of Aeolus: A familistic interpretation of Italy's lowest low fertility
Volume 4 - Article 5

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

A Bayesian model for age at death with cohort effects
Volume 51 - Article 33    | Keywords: age at death, Bayesian approach, cohort effects, Italy, mortality

Climate change and fertility desires: An experimental study among university students in Belgium and Italy
Volume 51 - Article 2    | Keywords: Belgium, climate change, fertility desires, Italy, students, young adults

Uncovering disability-free grandparenthood in Italy between 1998 and 2016 using gender-specific decomposition
Volume 50 - Article 42    | Keywords: aging, decomposition, disability, grandparenthood, Italy

The effect of migration and time spent abroad on migrants’ health: A home/host country perspective
Volume 50 - Article 37    | Keywords: Albania, health, Italy, migrants, propensity score

Geographic proximity to siblings in older adulthood
Volume 49 - Article 7    | Keywords: geographical proximity, older adults, population, register data, Sweden