Urban vs rural lifestyle in Roman Italy: a bioarchaeological and paleopathological investigation

• Differences are assessed between urban and rural contexts during Imperial era, Italy. • Qualitative differences were found in infectious conditions and stress markers. • Women died later in the rural setting but earlier in the urban context. • This work investigates how environmental dynamics shaped health in the past. To examine differences in lifestyle between urban and rural settings during the Imperial period in Italy, a comparative study was undertaken between the rural necropolis of Contrada Nevola (1st-3rd century CE) in Corinaldo (Ancona) and the urban necropolis of Università Cattolica in Milan (1st-5th century CE). Anthropological and radiographic investigations were conducted on 60 individuals from Corinaldo and 50 from Milan, focusing on stress markers (cribriotic lesions, Harris lines, enamel hypoplasia, Schmorl’s nodes, entheseal changes, and antemortem trauma). Individuals from Corinaldo appear to have experienced better living conditions compared to their counterparts in Milan. Furthermore, based on stress markers distribution, disparities in resource access and possibly different work-related tasks between sexes were more pronounced in rural settings than in urban ones. The synergistic approach combining anthropological and radiological methods for analyzing lifestyle provided comprehensive insights into the individuals buried in these necropolises. Through this comparative analysis, we aim to contribute to the understanding of the social and environmental dynamics that shaped the lives of past populations, thus offering new perspectives for comprehending the evolution of human societies and their interactions with the environment.