Migration and diversity in Roman Britain: A multidisciplinary approach to the identification of immigrants in Roman York, England

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.

Going south of the river: A multidisciplinary analysis of ancestry, mobility and diet in a population from Roman Southwark, London

“…The presence of individuals with African ancestry is not unexpected, as studies from other urban centres in Roman Britain have found people with this ancestry and/or mobility isotope result (Leach, et al, 2010a(Leach, et al, , 2009a and our results combined with the funerary evidence (Ridgeway, et al, 2014) for these individuals, supports the findings of Eckardt and colleagues who (2014) show that childhood origin and ancestry are not always reflected in a person's burial identity. The people with Asian ancestry are the first to be reported from Roman Britain however, this is cautiously asserted because the method we applied is based on more recent populations, and we recognise that morphology is subject to temporal and spatial variation.…”

“…The diversity of population and high proportion of migrants in this relatively small sample has identified individuals from the southern reaches of the Mediterranean, a new result for Londinium and provides further evidence for the presence of child-migrants in the settlement (Shaw, et al, 2016 Millard, 2015), throughout the Roman period (Montgomery, et al, 2010, Leach, et al, 2009b, Leach, et al, 2010b and into the Anglo-Saxon period (Groves, et al, 2013).…”

“…The assessment of an individual's ancestry, in both forensic and archaeological cases, is not always clear-cut, whether metrical, statistical or morphological techniques are applied singly or jointly to cranial and/or post-cranial bones (e.g., Leach, et al, 2009b, Kallenberger and Pilbrow, 2012, Kemkes, 2007. Ideally all three techniques should be applied, but human remains from Londinium have been subject to a high degree of truncation, fragmentation and incompleteness ( Fig.…”

“…5 [Gloucester , Winchester (Eckardt, et al, 2009, Budd, et al, 2001, Evans, et al, 2006, York (Leach, et al, 2009b, Müldner, et al, 2011b, Leach, et al, 2010b, Montgomery, et al, 2011, and Catterick (Chenery, et al, 2011), totalling 170 individuals]. The coloured back ground represents the predicted drinking water composition and the inset map of Europe and the Mediterranean shows the composition of precipitation on the same colour-scale.…”

The human bone oxygen isotope ratio changes with aging

“…By combining this fact with observations confirming a link between the isotopic composition of the oxygen in meteoric water with geographical and climatic conditions occurring in the area in question, it is possible to reconstruct the living area (or habitat) of both individuals and whole human groups (Dupras and Schwarcz, 2001;Hoogewerff et al, 2001;Kendall et al, 2013;Oelze et al, 2012;Szostek 2009;White et al, 2004aWhite et al, , 2004bWłodarczak et al, 2011). As a result, research of this type conducted on skeletal material has become extremely useful for tracking the seasonal wanderings of both animals and people (Britton et al, 2009;Henton et al, 2010;Rubenstein and Hobson, 2004;Shaw et al, 2010) and also the migration of individuals between groups and the origin of settlement(s) in diverse areas (Knudson and Price, 2007;Leach et al, 2009;Prowse et al, 2007;Szostek et al, 2013;White et al, 1998).…”