Neonatal and postnatal mortality in Roccapelago through the study of human skeletal remains and parish records

During the restoration of the Conversion of San Paul’s church, in Roccapelago (Italy), a hidden crypt was brought to light. Therein, a large amount of human skeletal remains was retrieved, including a considerable amount of disarticulated non-adult specimens, belonging to the inhabitants that lived there from the last decades of the 16th century to the end of the 18th century. Simultaneously, parish registers of birth and death were found and digitized. This is the first study focused on the juvenile post medieval community of Roccapelago, which aims to provide new data about infant mortality and paleopathology during the 16th and 18th centuries, through the comparison of anthropological data to information available in parish records. Standard anthropological protocols were used to assess the Minimum Number of Individuals, age-at-death and pathologies. Results showed that at least 161 non-adults were buried into the crypt. The mortality range was high among perinates, especially between the 36th and the 40th weeks (26%), and during the first postnatal year, particularly in the first six months (11%). Then, mortality rates fell within the 5th years (2.4%). Parish records confirmed the high mortality rates at birth and among the first postnatal year, linked to the risks associated to the birth and the peril of the weaning period. The pathological analysis highlighted the presence of metabolic diseases, such as scurvy. This study provides a unique opportunity to compare anthropological protocols for age estimation to the information registered in the parish records when dealing with commingled juvenile remains.