Mobility in North-Eastern Italy between the Late Roman and Byzantine Periods

Summary

The upheaval caused by the fall of the Roman Empire brought armies and new settlers in Italy in chaotic ways, producing significant changes to the socio-economic and political organization of the Empire. Material evidence has been irresolute in determining the actual significance of migratory movements due to the fast adoption of foreign customs to attain social power in the new political landscape. An interdisciplinary research using strontium isotope analyses on Late Roman and Byzantine individuals buried in southern Veneto and Emilia-Romagna in Italy is investigating mobility and migration directly. At a time when Italy seems a gateway to chaotic migratory fluxes, the research has the dual importance to investigate a past transition that is directly responsible for medieval and modern Europe, and understand mechanisms that might affect the perception of migratory movements. The preliminary results to be presented will attempt to quantify migration in a highly contested area and compare those values with the perception resulting from the study of material culture. This study compares isotopic data from bones against the perception detectable in historical sources and material culture, focusing on multiple funerary contexts within a small region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20157