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Ancient DNA research in the past decade has revealed that European population structure changed dramatically in the prehistoric period (14,000-3,000 years before present, YBP), reflecting the widespread introduction of Neolithic farmer and Bronze Age Steppe ancestries. However, little is known about how population structure changed in the historical period onward (3,000 YBP - present). To address this, we collected whole genomes from 204 individuals from Europe and the Mediterranean, many of which are the first historical period genomes from their region (e.g. Armenia, France). We found that most regions show remarkable inter-individual heterogeneity. Around 8% of historical individuals carry ancestry uncommon in the region where they were sampled, some indicating cross-Mediterranean contacts. Despite this high level of mobility, overall population structure across western Eurasia is relatively stable through the historical period up to the present, mirroring the geographic map. We show that, under standard population genetics models with local panmixia, the observed level of dispersal would lead to a collapse of population structure. Persistent population structure thus suggests a lower effective migration rate than indicated by the observed dispersal. We hypothesize that this phenomenon can be explained by extensive transient dispersal arising from drastically improved transportation networks and the Roman Empire’s mobilization of people for trade, labor, and military. This work highlights the utility of ancient DNA in elucidating finer scale human population dynamics in recent history.

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This chapter assesses what ceramics can tell us about the interaction of Gaul with Mediterranean trade in the Merovingian period. Broken into three main chronological periods, the analysis suggests some of the possible developments that affected trade in African Red Slipware, amphorae, and associated artifacts. With precipitous drops in population and the abandonment circa 455 of the annona grain shipments, which also provided transport for ceramic goods, the fifth century saw a steady decline in the supply that reached Gaul from both the eastern and western Mediterranean. The decrease in imports led, in turn, to its replacement by local forms of tableware, including those most famously known as Dérivées-des-Sigillées Paléochrétiennes, (derivatives of early Christian sigillata). By the early sixth century, however, Gaul saw a revival of trade, and with the annexation of Provence in 536, the Merovingian kingdoms gained, for the first time, a Mediterranean port in the city of Marseille. The port made some of the goods of Mediterranean trade accessible not just to the south but also the northern parts of Gaul, where occasional amphorae are found. Gaul’s engagement with Mediterranean trade occurred until at least the 730s, but future research may push that date even later into the Merovingian period.

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