The biological impact of colonial expansion and culture contact has emerged as an important focus in bioarchaeological research. This study contributes to our understanding of this phenomenon by addressing the biological impact of Roman colonialism in Britain; namely, this research is interested in the sociocultural implications of urban development and its effect on population health and well-being. Bioarchaeological data are collected from pre- and postcontact populations from northeast England, represented by skeletal remains from the middle Iron Age (450 – 120 BC) and Romano-British period (AD 43 - 457), respectively. These data are used to test the following four hypotheses: (1) a general increase in systemic stress will be observed among the postcontact population; (2) the Roman conquest will be associated with a marked decline in oral health; (3) the postcontact population will exhibit a greater variability and prevalence of degenerative joint disease; and (4) traumatic injury will decrease following the Roman conquest.
Results indicate a significant increase in the frequency of nonspecific indicators of physiological stress during the postcontact period, suggesting greater exposure to the synergistic effects of malnutrition and disease. A decrease in dietary breadth and a less nutritious and more cariogenic diet is indicated by a marked decrease in oral health following the Roman conquest. Changes in workload, activity, and behavior are suggested by the general increase in osteoarthritis and traumatic injury in the postcontact population. These findings suggest populations in Britain experienced a general decrease in health and well-being with the advent of Roman contact. This temporal trend is consistent with sociocultural transformations reported for the Romano-British period. The health impact of Roman colonialism is likely to have significantly affected the social, economic, and political components of Romano-British society; as such, biology is suggested to play an important role in the process of cultural hybridization and identity creation resulting from culture contact.