The Langobards in Italy? A Look at Migration in Vicenza Using Oxygen Stable Isotope Analysis

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

At the end of the Great Germanic Migrations in AD 568, Langobards from Pannonia entered and occupied 2/3 of the Italian peninsula. It is unclear how large these migrations were, as historical documents exaggerate mass movements; however, conservative estimates suggest they made up 8% of the Italian population. This research identified migrants in two 7th century AD Italian cemeteries from Vicenza, Dueville and Sovizzo, which contain evidence of the Langobard occupation. Oxygen stable isotope analysis was performed on 60 individual tooth enamel samples, and converted to drinking water using well established equations. The results indicate that 33% of the individuals from Dueville and 40% from Sovizzo have oxygen values outside the local range, for a total of 37%. Interestingly, the oxygen values for those considered non-local are enriched, potentially indicating Byzantine migrants from the coast, or from North Africa, with one individual having values suggestive of the Pannonian region. This is not surprising given migration and mobility throughout Italy has been established for centuries. The lack of identifiable Langobards in this study could be due to the generation of Langobards in the cemeteries, or it is comprised of the local population under Langobard rule.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24572