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Migration and diversity in Roman Britain: A multidisciplinary approach to the identification of immigrants in Roman York, England
Stephany Leach, Mary Lewis *, Carolyn Chenery, Gundula Müldner, Hella Eckardt
Abstract Previous anthropological investigations at Trentholme Drive, in Roman York identified an unusual amount of cranial variation amongst the inhabitants, with some individuals suggested as having originated from the Middle East or North Africa. The current study investigates the validity of this assessment using modern anthropological methods to assess cranial variation in two groups: The Railway and Trentholme Drive. Strontium and oxygen isotope evidence derived from the dentition of 43 of these individuals was combined with the craniometric data to provide information on possible levels of migration and the range of homelands that may be represented. The results of the craniometric analysis indicated that the majority of the York population had European origins, but that 11% of the Trentholme Drive and 12% of The Railway study samples were likely of African decent. Oxygen analysis identified four incomers, three from areas warmer than the UK and one from a cooler or more continental climate. Although based on a relatively small sample of the overall population at York, this multidisciplinary approach made it possible to identify incomers, both men and women, from across the Empire. Evidence for possible second generation migrants was also suggested. The results confirm the presence of a heterogeneous population resident in York and highlight the diversity, rather than the uniformity, of the population in Roman Britain.
Am J Phys Anthropol 2009.
Evergreen Member # 12192
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quote:Originally posted by Evergreen: Migration and diversity in Roman Britain: A multidisciplinary approach to the identification of immigrants in Roman York, England
Stephany Leach, Mary Lewis *, Carolyn Chenery, Gundula Müldner, Hella Eckardt
In 1968, Warwick noted a considerable diversity in the male crania excavated from the Romano-British cemetery of Trentholme Drive in York. He suggested that these crania indicated the presence of "non-locals", who may have entered from the eastern Mediterranean, considering the skulls to be indicative of a Middle Eastern or North African origin. Specifically, Warwick described one of the skulls as having "pronounced Negroid characteristics".
During the Roman period, York (known as "Eboracum") was the site of a legionary fortress and a major civilian settlement. It acted as a temporary home for two Roman emperors: the Libyan born Septimus Severus (AD 208-211) and Constantius I (AD 305-306).
Africans are attested in Roman Britian epigraphically and Swan (1992) has suggested that certain cooking vessels indicate an African presence at York. Contact with Sub-Saharan Africa was limited in antiquity, and African migrants would have mainly originated from northern Africa (modern Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya).
This analysis uses simplified terms such as "mixed race", "black", and "white", but it should be understood that few individuals ever fall within such defined categories.
...oxygen and strontium isotope analyses...exhibits...values which are consistent with origins in warmer, more coastal, or possibly more arid, regions, although they are not as high ...ratios reported for a characteristically hot and arid area like the Egyptian Nile Valley.
In the European groups, the crania showed the greatest affinity with the Northern European and American White reference samples. The diversity of the female crania from Trentholme Drive suggests a degree of heterogeneity, which contradicts Warwick’s (1962, p 110) assertion that the women from this site were indigenous. For the African groups, the crania demonstrated the greatest resemblance to the American Black reference samples of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, perhaps reflecting a similar degree of genetic admixture in these populations. Individuals with a close affinity to the Egyptian skulls were also identified at both sites, and this is perhaps not surprising considering the Roman Empire included these areas of North Africa. What is also clear is that both males and females with affinities to African groups appear in both the high status Railway site and at Trentholme Drive.
Compatible Sr/Sr from areas with consistent meteoric water values have, for example, been reported from geological formations in southern Spain or Northern Africa.....What is also curious is that individuals demonstrating the highest Sr/Sr are all males from Trentholme Drive and TD608 demonstrates strong African ancestral links. The reason why only Trentholme Drive individuals should exhibit such radiogenic strontium values is currently unknown, but it indicates that these men had a childhood diet sourced from an area different than the rest of the York sample.
Evergreen Member # 12192
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quote:Originally posted by Evergreen:
quote:Originally posted by Evergreen: Migration and diversity in Roman Britain: A multidisciplinary approach to the identification of immigrants in Roman York, England
Stephany Leach, Mary Lewis *, Carolyn Chenery, Gundula Müldner, Hella Eckardt
What is also clear is that both males and females with affinities to African groups appear in both the high status Railway site and at Trentholme Drive.
Evergreen Writes: I guess the old theory that Blacks were only slaves in the Roman Empire just went out the window.
Evergreen Member # 12192
posted
quote:Originally posted by Evergreen:
quote:Originally posted by Evergreen: Migration and diversity in Roman Britain: A multidisciplinary approach to the identification of immigrants in Roman York, England
Stephany Leach, Mary Lewis *, Carolyn Chenery, Gundula Müldner, Hella Eckardt
During the Roman period, York (known as "Eboracum") was the site of a legionary fortress and a major civilian settlement. It acted as a temporary home for two Roman emperors: the Libyan born Septimus Severus (AD 208-211) and Constantius I (AD 305-306).
Compatible Sr/Sr from areas with consistent meteoric water values have, for example, been reported from geological formations in southern Spain or Northern Africa.....What is also curious is that individuals demonstrating the highest Sr/Sr are all males from Trentholme Drive and TD608 demonstrates strong African ancestral links. The reason why only Trentholme Drive individuals should exhibit such radiogenic strontium values is currently unknown, but it indicates that these men had a childhood diet sourced from an area different than the rest of the York sample..
Evergreen Writes: An African becomes Emperor of Rome and all of a sudden Africans are showing up in Northern Europe.
akoben Member # 15244
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quote:Originally posted by Evergreen: Evergreen Writes: I guess the old theory that Blacks were only slaves in the Roman Empire just went out the window.
It went out the window long before this study. Don't sell our scholars short.
Sundjata Member # 13096
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Excellent citations Evergreen. I agree with Akoben's statement above and will add that this supplementary evidence merely vindicates them. Prof. Frank Snowden (despite his short comings in other areas) proved this a long time ago but more reinforcement from mainstream material is always important to historical perception.
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