Multidisciplinary approach for the population study from late antique to early medieval in Bergamo
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2018-08-20

The aim of this work is to investigate the characteristics of the population in northern Italy from the Late Antique to the Early Medieval period, focusing on the themes of nutrition and individuals’ migration. This research is based on a multidisciplinary methodology which comprehends archaeology (focused on topography of the cemeteries and gravegoods), bioarchaeology (taphonomy, physical anthropology and paleopathology) and stable isotopes analyses performed on enamel, dentine and bone collagen using Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen isotopes. The case of the province of Bergamo offers an excellent opportunity to investigate the Late Antique and Early Medieval population. In this area 3 cemeteries were selected: Covo loc. Bellinzana dated to the Late Antique period (4th-6th c.); Caravaggio loc. Masano and Fara Olivana dated to the Early Middle Ages (6th-8th c.). The anthropological data provided information about the composition of the groups, all subject to a particularly heavy workload (even if in the burials of the early medieval cemeteries some important features were not observable due to the poor conservation of the bones). The stable isotopes data shows a change in diet from the Late Antique to the Early Medieval period, probably a consequence of different economic systems. Furthermore, a case from Caravaggio demonstrates that integrating different sources of information (isotopic analyses, anthropology and archaeological data) can provide evidence of migration.

Author: Dr. Marinato, Maurizio - Università di Padova (Presenting author)
Co-Author: Dr. Hakenbeck, Susanne - University of Cambridge; Dr. Chavarria, Alexandra - Università di Padova; Dr. O'Connell, Tamsin - University of Cambridge