This dissertation investigates the biological consequences of sociopolitical transformation in Byzantine Greece using a comparative analysis of two human skeletal samples (N=259) from the site of ancient Nemea. The skeletal samples from Nemea represent agricultural communities that lived at the site during the Early Christian (5th-6th centuries AD) and Middle to Late Byzantine (12th-13th centuries AD) periods. In the latter period, southern Greece was invaded by western Europeans and the Byzantine Empire experienced changes in political administration that had lasting, disruptive effects. Such events tend to dominate historical narratives and have influenced the interpretation of archaeological patterns, yet few studies have utilized human skeletal remains as an independent line of evidence to explore their impact on local Greek communities. The bioarchaeological approach employed in this research integrates osteological, archaeological, and historical datasets in the reconstruction of patterns of physiological stress and activity in order to test the following hypotheses related to the biological and social consequences of alterations to Byzantine Greek society: (1) political instability and invasions diminished the quality of life of the Middle to Late Byzantine community at Nemea; (2) different spheres of activity for men and women resulted in sex-based differences in health within the Early Christian and Byzantine communities; and (3) burial location at Nemea was influenced by the social hierarchy. The results of the skeletal analysis demonstrate that, despite living through a period of administrative problems and Frankish conquest, the individuals from the Middle to Late Byzantine period exhibit prevalence rates of paleopathological conditions and mortality patterns that are markedly similar to those of their Early Christian counterparts. While few skeletal health disparities were found between males and females, significant differences in the prevalence rates of cribra orbitalia and osteoarthritis in the Early Christian sample lend support to arguments concerning gendered expectations of behavior and a gendered division of labor in Byzantium. Finally, analyses of the spatial distribution of paleopathological conditions across the mortuary space of Nemea reveal limited evidence of patterns consistent with the organization of burials according to the social hierarchy. Instead, the organizing principles of the cemeteries of each period can be linked to changes in Byzantine socioreligious notions of the community and the family. With few exceptions, the results of this research demonstrate that the health and well-being of each community at Nemea was more dependent on local conditions than on the state-level sociopolitical changes that figure prominently in Byzantine historical narratives.
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