RESEARCH ARTICLE Compromised health: Examining growth and health in a late antique Roman infant and child cemetery Sierra W. Malis 1 | Jordan A. Wilson 2 | Molly Kathleen Zuckerman 3 | Anna J. Osterholtz 3 | Julianne Paige 4 | Shane Miller 3 | Lujana Paraman 5 | David Soren 6 1 Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, USA 2 Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA 3 Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi, USA 4 Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Reno, Nevada, USA 5 Trogir City Museum, Trogir, Croatia 6 School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA Correspondence Sierra W. Malis, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th St. & Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20560, USA. Email: maliss@si.edu Funding information College of Arts and Sciences, Mississippi State University, Grant/Award Number: SRI#112; Villa Romana de Archaeological Project; Cobb Institute of Archaeology Abstract Objectives: Combining research from infant and child development, public health, anthropology, and history, this research examines the relationship between growth, growth disruption, and skeletal indicators of chronic and/or episodic physiological stress (stress) among juvenile individuals (n = 60) interred at the late antique infant and child cemetery at Poggio Gramignano (PG) (ca. 5th century CE), associated with a rural agricultural community. Materials and methods: Growth disruption—evidenced by decreased long bone length compared to dental age—and stress experience—evidenced by skeletal stress indicators—within these individuals are compared to those within juveniles from a comparative sample (n = 66) from two urban Roman-era cemeteries, Villa Rustica (VR) (0–250 CE) and Tragurium City Necropolis (TCN) (0–700 CE). Results: Results indicate that individuals from PG had significantly smaller femoral lengths-for-age than those from VR and TCN; however, the frequency of skeletal stress indicators was higher among juveniles from VR and TCN. Discussion: These differences in growth and stress experience are likely related to the different biosocial and ecological environments present in these two regions. For the community at PG, internal and external violent conflicts, as well as social, political, and economic turmoil, and subsistence shortages, endemic and epidemic infectious disease, nutritional deficiencies, and inherited or acquired anemia may have syner- gized to create chronically and/or episodically deleterious conditions for its juveniles. KEYWORDS disease, growth disruption, physiological stress, Roman Italy, rural, urban 1 | INTRODUCTION From conception to infancy, the first 1000 days of fetal, perinatal, and infant life are critical periods of growth and development wherein the human body is highly sensitive to environmental stim- uli, including adverse experiences or stressors (e.g., chronic and/or episodic undernutrition or infection) (Barker, 2012; Barker et al., 2002; McPherson, 2021; Said-Mohamed et al., 2018). These growth periods are therefore highly labile (Bogin, 2001; Bogin & Rios, 2003; Clukay et al., 2018; Dancause et al., 2012; Kuzawa & Quinn, 2009; Oestreich, 2008). Because of this high physiological plasticity and heightened sensitivity, the health, well-being, and growth of fetal, perinatal, and infant individuals are highly sensitive reflections of the biosocial conditions and environments they expe- rience (Benyshek, 2015; Kuzawa & Quinn, 2009; McPherson, 2021; Tanner, 1990). Received: 20 July 2023 Revised: 7 February 2024 Accepted: 18 February 2024 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24925 Am J Biol Anthropol. 2024;e24925. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ajpa © 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC. 1 of 16 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24925