Weaving a Complex Past – Longobards in Italy: A Population on the Move in the Early Medieval Times

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The migration of the Longobards to Italy represents one of the most significant events of the Early Middle Ages regarding the socio-political unity of the peninsula. As reported in Historia Langobardorum by Paul the Deacon, in 568 CE, Longobards crossed the Italian boundary to occupy its territories. From this moment, the interaction with the inhabitants and land use began. The necropolis of Povegliano Veronese (northeastern Italy) dates to the first phases of the migration and the following one, namely between the 6th and the 8th AD. The skeletal collection will be defined as a biological archive that registers the biological and cultural biography of a population. From this perspective, the bioarchaeological investigation examines levels of considerable complexity within our understanding of past societies. Following the methodologies present in the literature, the social environment of Povegliano Veronese will be discussed based on the health status (paleopathological analyses i.e., osteoarthritis, metabolic and oral diseases) and multi-isotopic analysis (diet and mobility). The results will point out the consequences of economic and social differences to the important role of economic inequality in defining disease and diet variability outcomes. The presentation will not contain images of human remains.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39586.0