Mother City and Colony: Corinthian Colonization at Apollonia, Albania

Mother City and Colony: Bioarchaeological Evidence of Stress and Impacts of Corinthian Colonization at Apollonia, Albania:

Abstract

This study uses bioarchaeological methods and interpretive frameworks, in conjunction with archaeological and textual evidence, to document and interpret the record of Greek colonial interactions between Corinth and local populations at Apollonia, Albania, in the region known as Illyria (modern Albania). A series of Illyrian human remains (n = 304; Early Iron Age – Hellenistic periods) and Corinthian human remains (n = 72; Neolithic – Hellenistic periods) were examined for evidence of physiological stress in order to characterize the impact of colonization. Statistical comparisons of pre- and post-colonial skeletal remains indicate that stress increased at Apollonia following colonization. This change may have resulted from impoverishment following Corinth's extraction of local Illyrian resources and changes in sanitation and disease transmission associated with urbanism. Conversely, the record suggests a decrease in stress, although not to a significant extent, in Corinth. We speculate that decline in physiological stress in the Corinthian setting may reflect improved dietary quality and increased food availability. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.