IN SEARCH OF A COMPLEX PAST – LOMBARDS IN ITALY  A POPULATION ON THE MOVE IN LATE ANTIQUITY
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 12/10/2020

In facing the investigation of a migrant population as the Lombards, it is never simple nor intuitive to collect all available sources. The Lombards started their departure from Scoringa, a small island close to the coast of Germany. European burial contexts testify their path across the North of Europe to Hungary, the ancient Roman region of Pannonia. As reported in Historia Langobardorum by Paul the Deacon, in 568 AD this population crossed the Italian boundary to occupy its territories. From this moment, the interaction with the inhabitants and land-use began. Our analysis focuses on two Lombard necropolises: Povegliano Veronese and La Selvicciola, respectively from northeastern and central Italy and dated to a crucial period of post-classical era, namely between the 6th and the 8th AD. The contextualization of these two funerary areas is supported by an interdisciplinary approach. On the one side we consider the comparison between the archaeology of production and material culture with the anthropological data. On the other we define each skeletal sample as a biological archive that registers the biological and cultural biography of an individual and a population. In this perspective, the bioarchaeological investigation could examine levels of considerable complexity within our understanding of past societies. The isotopic analysis of human and animal samples investigates migration in relation to a population on the move from borders beyond Italy and along the peninsula. Non-metric traits of the skull provide useful information on possible family relations intra- and inter-necropolises. Finally, dental pathologies can help in interpreting the biocultural implications of dietary changes in a population facing complex cultural transformations.


Author(s): Micarelli, Ileana - Francisci, Guendalina - Trosini, Mariasole - Di Giannantonio, Stefania - Di Matteo, Martina (Sapienza, Università di Roma) - Giostra, Caterina (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano) - Manzi, Giorgio - Tafuri, Maryanne (Sapienza, Università
di Roma)