Reconstructing health on the Danube limes: Evidence from eastern Austria

• Populations from Roman-period sites in eastern Austria revealed health differences. • Individuals from Vindobona (modern Vienna) demonstrated poorer levels of health generally. • Differences in population health may be due to increased urban density. The Danube Limes functioned as a crucial border for the Roman Empire, which saw the establishment of numerous settlements along its length. The present study examines skeletal populations from three such sites located in modern day eastern Austria. It aims to identify differences in levels of physiological stress between the samples through the statistical analysis of the demographic and epidemiological profile of each site. In doing so, it demonstrates that the Albertina sample, associated with the Roman legionary fort of Vindobona, evidenced lower levels of survivorship and increased skeletal lesion prevalence and severity compared to the other sites included in this analysis. By contextualising these results with available historical and archaeological sources, this study suggests that the decreased levels of health observed within the Albertina sample may be attributable to an increase in urban density at Vindobona. Ultimately, through the results it achieves, this study provides further evidence to support the hypothesis that increasing levels of urban or population density may have resulted in detrimental impacts to ancient human populations.