Effect of Subadult Stress—Cribra Orbitalia and Linear Enamel Hypoplasia on Adult Mortality in Late Antique Southern Pannonia

Subadult stress is an important bioarchaeological indicator of the health status of archaeological populations, and its interpretation requires consideration of biological, environmental, and social factors. This paper examines the impact of cribra orbitalia (CO) and linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) on adult mortality in Late Antique Southern Pannonia. A sample of 400 adult individuals from the sites of Mursa (Osijek), Cibalae (Vinkovci), Certissa (Štrbinci), and Incerum (Tekić) was analyzed. The results show that CO has a statistically significant negative impact on age-at-death in both sexes, whereas LEH shows a non-significant to weak impact with a statistically non-significant trend. The cumulative effect of multiple indicators of subadult stress could particularly negatively affect females, which is associated with reproductive burden and socio-cultural factors. The results confirm the complex interaction between environment and humans—the importance of living conditions and health stressors on the health and mortality of individuals and the entire observed population—at the same time in the analyzed sample.