I secoli altomedievali videro un crescente investimento economico nella commemorazione dei defunt... more I secoli altomedievali videro un crescente investimento economico nella commemorazione dei defunti, espresso dai ricchi corredi depositati nelle sepolture. Un fenomeno in genere spiegato con l’arrivo dei barbari, portatori di una cultura radicalmente diversa da quella del mondo romano, ma che in realtà, come dimostrato nel volume, riflette la competizione sociale presente nelle società post-romane, fortemente instabili. Lo studio dei resti funerari in questa prospettiva permette di comprendere le strategie di commemorazione adottate dai parenti in lutto: organizzare il funerale, scegliere la tomba, il luogo e gli oggetti da riporre significava anzitutto costruire la memoria degli antenati, definendo i propri legami affettivi e sociali. Le sepolture altomedievali, con i loro preziosi corredi, hanno sempre stimolato l’immaginario collettivo, che ne ha ricavato interpretazioni diverse, spesso contrastanti, a seconda delle epoche e dei contesti. Obiettivo del volume è dunque sezionare e analizzare, attraverso fonti scritte, archeologiche e antropologiche, le diverse patine interpretative: ossia spiegare come sono state lette le tombe nel recente passato, e perché sono state lette proprio così; capire che cosa volevano, invece, comunicare attraverso di esse le società altomedievali; quali informazioni sulla vita dei bambini, degli uomini e delle donne vissuti allora racchiudono i corpi dei defunti.
Given the lack of sources that historical demography typically uses to
describe populations’ dem... more Given the lack of sources that historical demography typically uses to
describe populations’ demographic behaviour, little is known about
the population structure of France during the Middle Ages. One
must therefore rely on—and decipher—other types of information
often collected for economic purposes. In this article, the authors
examine the inventory of peasant families working for the Abbey of
Saint Victor in Provence in the 9th century. The age structure of this
population can be used to deduce new information on family sizes
and types, where they were settled, and age-specifc mortality risks
We examine different aspects of nuptiality and fertility in the Länder of the Austrian Empire usi... more We examine different aspects of nuptiality and fertility in the Länder of the Austrian Empire using the Tafeln zur Statistik der Österreichischen Monarchie (Statistical Tables of the Austrian Monarchy). This source, published from 1829 to 1871, contains data on population and natural movement. After discussing its quality, we study marriage and birth rates, and also age at wedding, illegitimacy ratio, and marital fertility. We find meaningful differences between the regions of Empire: low and late nuptiality in some central Länder, which generally have consequences for birth rates. The frequency of illegitimacy and marital fertility rates are also examined for the 15 Länder.
Faute de sources classiques utilisées par la démographie historique
pour décrire les comportemen... more Faute de sources classiques utilisées par la démographie historique
pour décrire les comportements démographiques des populations, la
structure de la population de la France au Moyen Âge est mal connue.
Il faut donc miser sur –et déchiffrer– d’autres types d’informations
souvent collectées à des fns économiques. C’est ce que proposent
les auteur·es de cet article qui utilisent l’inventaire des familles de
paysans travaillant pour l’abbaye de Saint-Victor en Provence au
neuvième siècle. La structure par âge de cette population permet de
déduire des informations inédites sur la taille et le type des familles,
leur implantation, et les risques de mortalité par âge.
BACKGROUND
Due to the scarcity of written sources in ancient historical periods, and thanks to t... more BACKGROUND
Due to the scarcity of written sources in ancient historical periods, and thanks to the
development of increasingly sophisticated methods of excavation, recognition,
publication, and interpretation, archaeology has played an important role in the
understanding of demographic mechanisms. It is in this context that the last decade has
seen important developments in paleodemography, the use of skeletons to reconstruct
the demographic dynamics of the past.
OBJECTIVES
In this study we show how skeletal data can be used to determine mortality regimes,
enlarging the demographic meaning of the d index proposed by Bocquet-Appel in 2002.
We apply the d index to Italian cemeteries dating from the 1st to the 15th century AD.
CONTRIBUTION
Our study contributes to the development of paleodemography, a particularly valuable
method that uses large osteological samples to understand mortality trends in ancient
historical periods. In this study we extend and develop the d index, introduced by
Bocquet-Appel in 2002, and demonstrate its usefulness in a range of plausible
demographic scenarios. By applying this method to the study of mortality in Italy from
the 1st to the 15th centuries AD, we show its reliability in tracing mortality trends in
periods of both normal mortality and mortality crisis.
Spazio pubblico e spazio privato tra storia e archeologia (secoli VI-XI), ed. by G. Bianchi, C. La Rocca e T. Lazzari, Turnhout, Brepols, pp. 326-341., 2018
GENRE ET COMPÉTITION DANS LES SOCIÉTÉS OCCIDENTALES DU HAUT MOYEN ÂGE IV e -XI e SIÈCLE, ed. by S. Joye and R. Le Jan, Turnhout, Brepols, pp. 43-63., 2018
Mediterranean families in Antiquity. Households, Extended Families and Domestic Space, ed. by S. Huebner and G. Nathan, Malden, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 283-309, 2017
This essay will investigate a puzzling problem, which emerged during a systematic research on ear... more This essay will investigate a puzzling problem, which emerged during a systematic research on early medieval demography in Italy based on skeletal data: adult females are routinely missing from early medieval Italian cemeteries. Curiously, the invisibility of women is not the case for either late Roman cemeteries in Italy or in a sample of early medieval cemeteries excavated in Central and Northern Europe. The problem of women’s under representation may be resolved in a number of different ways: it may be as much connected to the inaccuracy of the cemeteries in representing a living community as to the use of different funerary practices or unusual mortality trends among women. Because the sex of children cannot be correctly examined different hypothesis remain still unresolved. However, at a closer look, the data at our disposal indicate that the underrepresentation of women might have been connected to a higher mortality of young girls before reaching adulthood.
I secoli altomedievali videro un crescente investimento economico nella commemorazione dei defunt... more I secoli altomedievali videro un crescente investimento economico nella commemorazione dei defunti, espresso dai ricchi corredi depositati nelle sepolture. Un fenomeno in genere spiegato con l’arrivo dei barbari, portatori di una cultura radicalmente diversa da quella del mondo romano, ma che in realtà, come dimostrato nel volume, riflette la competizione sociale presente nelle società post-romane, fortemente instabili. Lo studio dei resti funerari in questa prospettiva permette di comprendere le strategie di commemorazione adottate dai parenti in lutto: organizzare il funerale, scegliere la tomba, il luogo e gli oggetti da riporre significava anzitutto costruire la memoria degli antenati, definendo i propri legami affettivi e sociali. Le sepolture altomedievali, con i loro preziosi corredi, hanno sempre stimolato l’immaginario collettivo, che ne ha ricavato interpretazioni diverse, spesso contrastanti, a seconda delle epoche e dei contesti. Obiettivo del volume è dunque sezionare e analizzare, attraverso fonti scritte, archeologiche e antropologiche, le diverse patine interpretative: ossia spiegare come sono state lette le tombe nel recente passato, e perché sono state lette proprio così; capire che cosa volevano, invece, comunicare attraverso di esse le società altomedievali; quali informazioni sulla vita dei bambini, degli uomini e delle donne vissuti allora racchiudono i corpi dei defunti.
Given the lack of sources that historical demography typically uses to
describe populations’ dem... more Given the lack of sources that historical demography typically uses to
describe populations’ demographic behaviour, little is known about
the population structure of France during the Middle Ages. One
must therefore rely on—and decipher—other types of information
often collected for economic purposes. In this article, the authors
examine the inventory of peasant families working for the Abbey of
Saint Victor in Provence in the 9th century. The age structure of this
population can be used to deduce new information on family sizes
and types, where they were settled, and age-specifc mortality risks
We examine different aspects of nuptiality and fertility in the Länder of the Austrian Empire usi... more We examine different aspects of nuptiality and fertility in the Länder of the Austrian Empire using the Tafeln zur Statistik der Österreichischen Monarchie (Statistical Tables of the Austrian Monarchy). This source, published from 1829 to 1871, contains data on population and natural movement. After discussing its quality, we study marriage and birth rates, and also age at wedding, illegitimacy ratio, and marital fertility. We find meaningful differences between the regions of Empire: low and late nuptiality in some central Länder, which generally have consequences for birth rates. The frequency of illegitimacy and marital fertility rates are also examined for the 15 Länder.
Faute de sources classiques utilisées par la démographie historique
pour décrire les comportemen... more Faute de sources classiques utilisées par la démographie historique
pour décrire les comportements démographiques des populations, la
structure de la population de la France au Moyen Âge est mal connue.
Il faut donc miser sur –et déchiffrer– d’autres types d’informations
souvent collectées à des fns économiques. C’est ce que proposent
les auteur·es de cet article qui utilisent l’inventaire des familles de
paysans travaillant pour l’abbaye de Saint-Victor en Provence au
neuvième siècle. La structure par âge de cette population permet de
déduire des informations inédites sur la taille et le type des familles,
leur implantation, et les risques de mortalité par âge.
BACKGROUND
Due to the scarcity of written sources in ancient historical periods, and thanks to t... more BACKGROUND
Due to the scarcity of written sources in ancient historical periods, and thanks to the
development of increasingly sophisticated methods of excavation, recognition,
publication, and interpretation, archaeology has played an important role in the
understanding of demographic mechanisms. It is in this context that the last decade has
seen important developments in paleodemography, the use of skeletons to reconstruct
the demographic dynamics of the past.
OBJECTIVES
In this study we show how skeletal data can be used to determine mortality regimes,
enlarging the demographic meaning of the d index proposed by Bocquet-Appel in 2002.
We apply the d index to Italian cemeteries dating from the 1st to the 15th century AD.
CONTRIBUTION
Our study contributes to the development of paleodemography, a particularly valuable
method that uses large osteological samples to understand mortality trends in ancient
historical periods. In this study we extend and develop the d index, introduced by
Bocquet-Appel in 2002, and demonstrate its usefulness in a range of plausible
demographic scenarios. By applying this method to the study of mortality in Italy from
the 1st to the 15th centuries AD, we show its reliability in tracing mortality trends in
periods of both normal mortality and mortality crisis.
Spazio pubblico e spazio privato tra storia e archeologia (secoli VI-XI), ed. by G. Bianchi, C. La Rocca e T. Lazzari, Turnhout, Brepols, pp. 326-341., 2018
GENRE ET COMPÉTITION DANS LES SOCIÉTÉS OCCIDENTALES DU HAUT MOYEN ÂGE IV e -XI e SIÈCLE, ed. by S. Joye and R. Le Jan, Turnhout, Brepols, pp. 43-63., 2018
Mediterranean families in Antiquity. Households, Extended Families and Domestic Space, ed. by S. Huebner and G. Nathan, Malden, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 283-309, 2017
This essay will investigate a puzzling problem, which emerged during a systematic research on ear... more This essay will investigate a puzzling problem, which emerged during a systematic research on early medieval demography in Italy based on skeletal data: adult females are routinely missing from early medieval Italian cemeteries. Curiously, the invisibility of women is not the case for either late Roman cemeteries in Italy or in a sample of early medieval cemeteries excavated in Central and Northern Europe. The problem of women’s under representation may be resolved in a number of different ways: it may be as much connected to the inaccuracy of the cemeteries in representing a living community as to the use of different funerary practices or unusual mortality trends among women. Because the sex of children cannot be correctly examined different hypothesis remain still unresolved. However, at a closer look, the data at our disposal indicate that the underrepresentation of women might have been connected to a higher mortality of young girls before reaching adulthood.
Studies of settlements in Italy indicate that during the Early Middle Ages (6th–9th centuries) th... more Studies of settlements in Italy indicate that during the Early Middle Ages (6th–9th centuries) the Italian population was stagnant, whereas a slow but persistent growth followed during the High Middle Ages (10th–13th). However, the components of the dynamics of the Italian population in the long period between the Justinian Plague (around 565 in Italy) and the Black Death (1348) are largely unknown. In this article, data from anthropometric analysis of the skeletons in 154 Italian cemeteries that date between the 1st century BCE and the 13th century are used to gain new insights on mortality of adults and nutrition. Adult mortality was higher during the Early Middle Ages than during the Roman Empire and the High Middle Ages, suggesting that the stagnation of population was determined by higher mortality. During the Early Middle Ages, however, nutritional levels were higher, as suggested by taller statures, more widespread meat consumption, and longer periods of breastfeeding. We discuss some possible research lines to resolve this apparent contradiction.
il Prof. Paolo Cammarosano, dell’Università degli Studi di Trieste presenta il libro: ... more il Prof. Paolo Cammarosano, dell’Università degli Studi di Trieste presenta il libro:
Memorie sepolte. Tombe e identità nell'alto medioevo (secoli V - VIII)
di Irene Barbiera
Carocci Editore
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Papers by Irene Barbiera
describe populations’ demographic behaviour, little is known about
the population structure of France during the Middle Ages. One
must therefore rely on—and decipher—other types of information
often collected for economic purposes. In this article, the authors
examine the inventory of peasant families working for the Abbey of
Saint Victor in Provence in the 9th century. The age structure of this
population can be used to deduce new information on family sizes
and types, where they were settled, and age-specifc mortality risks
pour décrire les comportements démographiques des populations, la
structure de la population de la France au Moyen Âge est mal connue.
Il faut donc miser sur –et déchiffrer– d’autres types d’informations
souvent collectées à des fns économiques. C’est ce que proposent
les auteur·es de cet article qui utilisent l’inventaire des familles de
paysans travaillant pour l’abbaye de Saint-Victor en Provence au
neuvième siècle. La structure par âge de cette population permet de
déduire des informations inédites sur la taille et le type des familles,
leur implantation, et les risques de mortalité par âge.
Due to the scarcity of written sources in ancient historical periods, and thanks to the
development of increasingly sophisticated methods of excavation, recognition,
publication, and interpretation, archaeology has played an important role in the
understanding of demographic mechanisms. It is in this context that the last decade has
seen important developments in paleodemography, the use of skeletons to reconstruct
the demographic dynamics of the past.
OBJECTIVES
In this study we show how skeletal data can be used to determine mortality regimes,
enlarging the demographic meaning of the d index proposed by Bocquet-Appel in 2002.
We apply the d index to Italian cemeteries dating from the 1st to the 15th century AD.
CONTRIBUTION
Our study contributes to the development of paleodemography, a particularly valuable
method that uses large osteological samples to understand mortality trends in ancient
historical periods. In this study we extend and develop the d index, introduced by
Bocquet-Appel in 2002, and demonstrate its usefulness in a range of plausible
demographic scenarios. By applying this method to the study of mortality in Italy from
the 1st to the 15th centuries AD, we show its reliability in tracing mortality trends in
periods of both normal mortality and mortality crisis.
describe populations’ demographic behaviour, little is known about
the population structure of France during the Middle Ages. One
must therefore rely on—and decipher—other types of information
often collected for economic purposes. In this article, the authors
examine the inventory of peasant families working for the Abbey of
Saint Victor in Provence in the 9th century. The age structure of this
population can be used to deduce new information on family sizes
and types, where they were settled, and age-specifc mortality risks
pour décrire les comportements démographiques des populations, la
structure de la population de la France au Moyen Âge est mal connue.
Il faut donc miser sur –et déchiffrer– d’autres types d’informations
souvent collectées à des fns économiques. C’est ce que proposent
les auteur·es de cet article qui utilisent l’inventaire des familles de
paysans travaillant pour l’abbaye de Saint-Victor en Provence au
neuvième siècle. La structure par âge de cette population permet de
déduire des informations inédites sur la taille et le type des familles,
leur implantation, et les risques de mortalité par âge.
Due to the scarcity of written sources in ancient historical periods, and thanks to the
development of increasingly sophisticated methods of excavation, recognition,
publication, and interpretation, archaeology has played an important role in the
understanding of demographic mechanisms. It is in this context that the last decade has
seen important developments in paleodemography, the use of skeletons to reconstruct
the demographic dynamics of the past.
OBJECTIVES
In this study we show how skeletal data can be used to determine mortality regimes,
enlarging the demographic meaning of the d index proposed by Bocquet-Appel in 2002.
We apply the d index to Italian cemeteries dating from the 1st to the 15th century AD.
CONTRIBUTION
Our study contributes to the development of paleodemography, a particularly valuable
method that uses large osteological samples to understand mortality trends in ancient
historical periods. In this study we extend and develop the d index, introduced by
Bocquet-Appel in 2002, and demonstrate its usefulness in a range of plausible
demographic scenarios. By applying this method to the study of mortality in Italy from
the 1st to the 15th centuries AD, we show its reliability in tracing mortality trends in
periods of both normal mortality and mortality crisis.
Memorie sepolte. Tombe e identità nell'alto medioevo (secoli V - VIII)
di Irene Barbiera
Carocci Editore