Mechanical stress in the urbanized Roman Phoenician coast

Abstract

Objective: Skeletal populations from Byblos, Beirut, and Tyre were studied to assess mechanical stress along the Roman Phoenician coast.

Materials: The sample included 153 adult skeletons.

Methods: Skeletal remains were macroscopically assessed for osteoarthritis, intervertebral disc disease (IDD), and Schmorl's nodes.

Results: The Byblos population experienced higher levels of mechanical stress than the Beirut and Tyre ones. Sex-based differences were also found in all skeletal assemblages with males likely engaging in physically more demanding tasks.

Conclusions: The variation in mechanical stress, and associated physically demanding tasks, between these populations can be attributed to their differing political and economic status during the Roman period; textual sources highlight the economic and political dominance of Beirut and Tyre, emanating from their status as coloniae.

Significance: This study represents one of the first attempts to investigate mechanical stress in coastal Phoenicia during the Roman period. It provides valuable insights into the biocultural structure of understudied communities at the periphery of the Roman world, and can serve as a basis for further future research into the occupational patterns of Phoenician communities.

Limitations: The contextual information for these skeletal populations is very limited and does not allow secure conclusions regarding their representativeness. The sample sizes are also rather small, especially when divided per sex and age.

Suggestions for further research: Further investigation employing complementary methods such as cross-sectional geometric properties and entheseal changes is needed to reconstruct the occupational patterns of these communities, taking into account cultural, environmental, and temporal factors.

Keywords: Eastern Mediterranean; Historical bioarchaeology; Intervertebral disc disease; Osteoarthritis; Phoenicia; Schmorl’s Nodes.