First-century burial grounds near Rome's main
airport are yielding a rare look into how ancient
longshoremen and other manual workers did backbreaking
jobs, archaeologists said Monday.

The necropolis near the town of Ponte Galeria came to
light last year when customs police noticed a
clandestine dig by grave robbers seeking valuable
ancient artifacts, Rome's archaeology office said.

Most of the 300 skeletons unearthed were male, and
many of them showed signs of years of heavy work:
joint and tendon inflammation, compressed vertebrae,
hernias and spinal problems, archaeologists said.
Sandy sediment helped preserve the remains well.