Going South of the River: A Multidisciplinary Analysis of Ancestry, Mobility and Diet in a Population from Roman Southwark, London

• NCJ Number: 310127
• Journal: Journal of Archaeological Science Volume: 74 Dated: October 2016 Pages: 11-22
• Author(s): Rebecca C. Redfern; Darren R. Gröcke; Andrew R. Millard; Victoria Ridgeway; Joseph T. Hefner
• Date Published: October 2016
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2015-DN-BX-K012
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Award: A Macromorphoscopic Databank: Establishing the Statistical Analysis of Macromorphoscopic Data in Forensic Anthropology

Annotation

This study is a multidisciplinary analysis of ancestry, mobility and diet in a population from Roman Southwark, London.

Abstract

This study investigated the ancestry, childhood residency, and diet of 22 individuals buried at an A.D. 2nd and 4th century cemetery at Lant Street, in the southern burial area of Roman London. Data suggests that the population of the southern suburb had an ongoing connection with immigrants, especially those from the southern Mediterranean. Diets were found to be primarily C₃-based with limited input of aquatic resources, in contrast to some other populations in Roman Britain and proximity to the River Thames. The skeletal morphology showed the likely African ancestry of four individuals, and Asian ancestry of two individuals, with oxygen isotopes indicating a circum-Mediterranean origin for five individuals. The possible presence of migrants was investigated using macromorphoscopics to assess ancestry, carbon, and nitrogen isotopes to study diet, and oxygen isotopes to examine migration. (Published Abstract Provided)