An unexpected demographic regime: The western necropolis of the Greek colony of Himera (Sicily, Italy) (550-409 BCE)

We present the results of a paleodemographic assessment of 2865 graves excavated in the western necropolis of the ancient Greek colony of Himera in Sicily. Himera provides an outstanding opportunity to understand the demographic dynamics of Ancient Sicily as it was abandoned and never repopulated, thus offering a completely intact record. Not only has a remarkably large sample been collected and is currently under study, but historical sources allow to precisely date the years in which the city’s necropolises were used. Children under the age of 5 were typically buried in pots, meaning that the number of children who died at ages 0 and 1–4 can be reliably estimated. Such data on child death is very rare in paleodemographic studies. Thanks to these exceptional characteristics, together with the application of demographic methods already employed in previous studies (Barbiera et al., 2021) and a comparison of our results with other contemporary Greek necropolises, we can discern a plausible mortality regime for Himera. Our analyses reveal that in the western necropolis of Himera (mid-6th to late 5th century BC) the mortality of children and young people was relatively low, and likely compensated by a more pronounced mortality of adults. Life expectancy at birth was plausibly between 25 and 30 years of age. These fndings are further supported by data from the Greek cities of Metaponto and Akraiphia, as well as preliminary results for the eastern necropolis of Himera (late-7th to late 6th century BC).