Strontium and oxygen isotopes as indicators of Longobards mobility in Italy: an investigation at Povegliano Veronese

Abstract

The arrival of the Longobards in Northern Italy in 568 CE marked a period of renewed political stability in the peninsula after the collapse of the Western Roman empire. the trajectory of the spread of Longobards in Italy across the Alps and into the South is known from many literary sources. However, their mobility and residence patterns at a population level remain to be fully understood. Here we present a multi-isotopic analysis (87 Sr/ 86 Sr and 18 o/ 16 O) of 39 humans and 14 animals buried at the Longobard necropolis of Povegliano Veronese (VR, Italy; 6th-8th century CE), to address mode and tempo of the spread of this population in the peninsula. the geographical location of povegliano Veronese plays a key role: the site lies along the Via Postumia, which was one of the main ancient Roman roads of Northern Italy, representing an important route in post-classical Italy. The integration of isotopic data with the archaeological evidence allowed us to determine the presence of individuals from at least three different regions of origin, building a diachronic map of the dynamics of mobility of this group in northern italy. The fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE was (at least in part) a consequence of the political and military instability that Rome had suffered for decades. The difficult balance between the eastern and western halves of the Empire had generated a void that was easily filled by the Germanic peoples that were familiar with the Roman system if only by virtue of their role as mercenary army (i.e. during the Gothic War (535-554) Huns, Gepids, Eruli, Longobards and Persians were hired by the Byzantines to re-conquest Italy) 1. After the collapse, the Empire became hunting ground for hordes of German tribes: Visigoths, Vandals, Ostrogoths and Longobards to name a few. The Longobards, unlike most Germanic peoples that raided the Peninsula after the fall, settled in Italy for several decades 2 , interacting with the locals. Between the sixth and eighth centuries CE they gave life to an independent kingdom, subdivided into numerous small dukedoms. After their arrival in 568 CE under King Alboin's leadership, they left many traces of their settlement in Northern Italy and their subsequent diffusion towards the south. With historical sources and archaeological data providing a background to our understanding of the Barbarian invasions across Europe, we are confronted with a multitude of information on general cultural phenomena but little evidence on single aspects at a population level. Here we attempt to integrate archaeological, skeletal, and biomolecular data at the Longobard necropolis of Povegliano Veronese to understand how and to what extent did the Longobard ingression in Italy changed the socio-cultural scenario of the Peninsula.

Diversity aboard a Tudor warship: investigating the origins of theMary Rosecrew using multi-isotope analysis

“…FCS-70 and FCS-81 have 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values consistent with various Mesozoic lithologies around the Mediterranean [ 110 , 127 ]. They have higher δ 18 O p values than would generally be expected of residents of southern Europe (FCS-70 = 21.2‰, FCS-81 = 19.8‰), especially FCS-70 [ 128 – 130 ] (but see [ 131 ]). They also have very low δ 34 S values (0.6‰ and −3.3‰, respectively), which excludes origins within coastal zones and raises the possibility of areas of wetland/impervious geology [ 58 , 60 , 61 ].…”

“…Although an δ 18 O p value of 21.2‰ is rather high for residence in Europe [ 128 – 130 ] (but see [ 131 ]), warmer southern regions of Europe certainly cannot be ruled out. Interestingly FCS-70 (the ‘Royal Archer’) had a leather wristguard bearing the symbol of a pomegranate, associated with the Moors in the medieval and early modern periods, as a fruit that they had brought to Europe from Africa, and was also a symbol used for Catherine of Aragon's branch of the English royal family [ 20 ].…”

A Part Per Trillion Isotope Ratio Analysis of 90Sr/88Sr using Energy-Filtered Thermal ionization mass spectrometry

“…Understanding the isotope ratio stem from radioactive isotope can realize an aspect of past condition and transition. Among the isotope ratio, that of strontium (Sr) re ects past aspect and/or a fact basing on radioactive decay or mass discrimination effect, and it widely serves indictors as age determination in geological sciences, 1 environmental dynamics 2,3 , forensic sciences, 4 authenticity judgment, 5 and determination of geographic origin. 6 In particular, the arti cial nuclide, radioactive strontium ( 90 Sr) records as the memory of nuclear disaster in materials such as Chernobyl or Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants Accidents.…”

“…ICP-MS's major source of noise signals is 90 Zr. 2,24,25 In environmental samples, the ratio between minor 90 Sr and more abundant stable isotopes of Sr or isobaric isotope 90 Zr is extremely high (i.e., at least nine orders of magnitude 15 ). ICP ion source e ciently ionizes 90 Zr, which remains in the sample solution in trace amounts even after Sr extraction chemistry.…”

“…The reaction of the ions with O 2 gas is used in a dynamic reaction cell (DRC) technique to reduce the 90 Zr ion transmission. 2,24,25 Typically, this technique achieves abundance sensitivities, de ned as the intensity ratio between 88 Sr peak tail on m/z = 89.908 and 88 Sr, on the order of 10 -9 . 2,19 Furthermore, the introduction of a new technique, triple quadrupole ICP-MS (ICP-MS/MS), combined with the O 2 gas reaction, effectively reduced the 90 Zr ion transmission in the mass spectrometer and lowered the noise signal to 0.1 cps, which correspond to a 90 Sr detection limit of 0.11 fg (0.6 mBq).…”