Funerary reuse of a Roman amphitheatre: Palaeodietary and osteological study of Early Middle Ages burials (8th and 9th centuries AD) discovered in the Arena of Verona (Northeastern Italy)

Abstract

The economic and political disruption following the collapse of the Roman Empire is an important moment for the cultural and biological history of Western Europe. One of the trends associated this socioeconomic change is the reuse of Roman public monuments for different purposes including funerary ones. The cultural meaning of this practice, occasionally described throughout Europe, is however still unclear. Here, we present a study of a group of burials (N = 10) recently discovered in the Roman amphitheatre (Arena) of Verona (Northeastern Italy) and dating to Early Middle Ages (8th and 9th century AD). Specifically, we address the following research questions: (1) What depositional events are responsible for the observed stratigraphic sequence? 2) Which demographic composition and health condition characterize this sample? (3) What kind of diet characterized these individuals? In order to address these questions, we performed an osteological and isotopic (δ13C and δ15N) study of the skeletal evidence for the assessment of palaeopathological and dietary patterns and a histological analysis for the refinement of age at death and the calculation of the minimum number of individuals (MNI). A 14C study was also performed in order to better define the depositional sequence of these individuals. The results, besides being among the first palaeodietary data for Early Middle Ages in this region, highlight: (a) the funerary use of this location for at least one century; (b) an MNI of 10 individuals of both sexes and different age classes, featuring relatively high frequencies of unspecific stress markers (porotic hyperostosis and linear enamel hypoplasia) and trauma, and (c) a diet characterized by a consistent contribution of C4 plants and a good access to animal proteins. These results suggest a long‐spanning practice and the absence of any selectivity in the choice of these individuals. Finally, isotopic data align with previous studies on Bronze and Iron Age samples confirming a long tradition of alimentary exploitation of C4 plants in this area.

Mitogenomic diversity and stable isotopes provide insights into the maternal genetic history, mobility patterns, and diet of early medieval individuals from the Eastern Italian Alps

“…), and therefore a suitable habitat for C 4 crop cultivation (e.g., millet and sorghum), which require an abundant water supply and warmer temperatures to grow (Ehleringer et al 1991(Ehleringer et al , 2002. A C 4 plant consumption has already been described in early medieval northern Italy (e.g., Paladin 2021;Reitsema and Vercellotti 2012;Castiglioni and Rottoli 2013;Iacumin et al 2014;Laffranchi et al 2020;Marinato 2017), in Germany (Wahl et al 2014), and in Hungary (Amorim et al 2018). Differently, a subsistence strategy mainly based on crop cultivations of terrestrial C 3 plants (e.g., wheat) was found for the alpine individuals buried in the Merano Basin and Isarco and Venosta Valleys similarly to other European early medieval groups from northern Italy (Collegno; Amorim et al 2018), Hungary (Amorim et al 2018), and Austria (North Tyrol;McGlynn 2007).…”

“Celts” up and down the Alps. Insights on mobility patterns in the pre‐Roman/Celtic population from Verona (NE Italy, 3rd–1st c. BCE): A multi‐isotopic approach

“…In the case of SV, the cultivation of millet, although possible only during spring–summer, resulted in a strong C 4 signal in this population (Laffranchi, 2016; Laffranchi et al, 2016). The cultivation of millet in the Po plain is documented since the Bronze Age (Tafuri et al, 2009; Tafuri et al, 2018; Varalli et al, 2016) and continued to be practiced during Late Antiquity and early Middle Ages (Ganzarolli et al, 2018; Laffranchi, Mazzucchi, et al, 2020; Marinato, 2016, 2017, 2019; Maxwell, 2019). In contrast, the low minimum temperatures characterizing mountain areas make the latter incompatible with the cultivation of C 4 plants (Teeri & Stowe, 1976).…”