New research funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) at the University of Reading has shown, thanks to isotope analysis, that the 'Headless Romans' found in a cemetery in York came from as far away as Eastern Europe.
The group of 80 individuals, found at Driffield Terrace in York, were buried between the late 1st and early 4th centuries AD. They are unusual because they are all believed to be male and more than half had been decapitated.
A new approach to the chemical analysis of bone and teeth that combined information about the individuals' diet with the type of climate and geological setting they grew up in has enabled the team to narrow down their likely origin. At least two had a diet rich in plant – probably millet – that wasn't grown in Britain at that time.
The researchers, working as part of the AHRC funded project ‘A Long Way From Home: Diaspora Communities in Roman Britain’, wanted to find out whether these were native Yorkshire-men or incomers, and see whether their origins might be linked to the way they were buried.
To do this, a group of archaeological scientists from the University of Reading and the NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory in Nottingham took samples of teeth and bone and analysed isotopes – atoms of the same element with different atomic weights – of strontium, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen.
Scientists normally just look at strontium and oxygen isotopic systems to work out someone's origins. But this time the archaeologists looked at the four isotopes together.
'This approach was very important in this case, because it has given us information about these unusual burials that would have been missed if only strontium and oxygen had been analysed,' said Dr Gundula Müldner of the University of Reading.
Isotopes are absorbed by our teeth and bones from our food, drinking water and the air. Their proportions vary around the world due either to differences in regional geology or climate, so they provide important clues about where individuals grew up or spent most of their lives.
'It's the first time that consumers of C4 plant products have been reported for any archaeological period in Britain.' Dr Müldner. ‘Oxygen (O) and strontium (Sr) are fixed in dental enamel as our teeth form. The enamel doesn't change much subsequently, so O and Sr levels can be matched fairly closely to the geology and climate of the place we grew up.
Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) isotopes are absorbed from our food and can be measured from dentine or bone collagen samples. They tell scientists about terrestrial and marine foods in an individual's diet as well as the balance of plant and animal protein. They also distinguish plants that photosynthesis in different ways to produce different proportions of the isotopes C3 and C4.
However, as most diets look similar, isotopically speaking, over large parts of temperate Europe, C and N isotopes are not usually thought particularly useful for understanding how people have moved around.
18 individuals were tested for O and Sr. The Sr analysis showed that 11 of them grew up on food that wasn't grown locally while two O results were well outside the estimated range for Britain. One of these spent his childhood in a cooler climate and the other in a warmer one.
'Where possible we tested all four isotopes in the same individual,' explains Müldner.
In combination, the O and Sr isotopes indicated that just five of the men tested grew up in York. The others either came from elsewhere in the north of England, or as far as France, Germany or central southern Europe or the Mediterranean.
In total 68 individuals were tested for C and N. Five of them were markedly different from local populations. Two in particular had eaten diets with distinctly high carbon isotope ratios, indicating the consumption of C4 plants – or the products of animals raised on them.
The only 'C4 plant' cultivated in Europe at that time was millet, but it was almost certainly not grown in Britain at the time, possibly because the climate was too wet. To have eaten enough of their distinctive diets to produce these unusual isotope results, these two individuals must have come from abroad.
'This was one of the most exciting results for me,' says Müldner. 'It's the first time that consumers of C4 plant products have been reported for any archaeological period in Britain.'
Crucially, a number of the individuals identified as incomers from the C and N results would not have been picked though Sr and O analysis alone.
Compared to what we know so far from cemeteries across York, the 'Headless Romans' do seem to have much more exotic origins than groups with less unusual burial rites. But the study didn't find any consistent link between their geographical origins and whether they were decapitated.
'If anything,' says Müldner, 'it's the diversity of their backgrounds rather than any common origin that was the defining feature for this group of burials.'
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Media Contact: Jake Gilmore, AHRC Communications Manager; T: 0797 099 4586,
E: j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk
Notes to Editors:
Müldner, G, Chenery, C, Eckardt, H. The 'Headless Romans': multi-isotope investigations of an unusual burial ground from Roman Britain. Journal of Archaeological Science (2010) doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.09.003
A Long Way from Home: Diaspora Communities in Roman Britain -
This was a major research project in the Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, that examined Romano-British skeletons to explore how diverse urban populations were, using a combination of techniques. The Roman Empire saw considerable migration through military recruitment, administration, trade and slavery but previous research on foreigners has relied heavily on inscriptions, which are rare and unevenly distributed. This multi-disciplinary project (2007-2009) explored the cultural and biological experience of immigrant communities in Roman Britain. It was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and directed by Dr Hella Eckardt, Dr Mary Lewis and Dr Gundula Müldner. We worked with two post-doctoral research assistants (Stephany Leach specialising in osteology and Carolyn Chenery in isotope analysis).
Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC): Each year the AHRC provides approximately £112 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.