Mississippi State University anthropologist Anna Osterholtz added to a research study in Cell, offering essential information from ancient Roman burial sites. The research, involving a multidisciplinary group, evaluated genomic information from the Balkan area, uncovering substantial demographic shifts and the influx of Slavic-speaking populations during the Migration Period.A brand-new research study reveals significant group modifications in the Balkan region during the first centuries, including the migration of Slavic-speaking populations after the fall of the Roman Empire.A Mississippi State University (MSU) anthropologists bioarchaeological analysis and bone samples from ancient Roman burial sites were vital in the advancement of new research study regarding Roman and Balkan migration included just recently in Cell, a prominent peer-reviewed journal.Collaborative Efforts in Archaeological ResearchAnna Osterholtz, an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, supplied her research on the “lived experiences” of the Romans in Croatia. She presently works carefully with museum staff at the Town Museum of Trogir and the Institute for Anthropological Research, both in Croatia.The historical site of the Viminacium amphitheater, an ancient Roman necropolis situated in contemporary Serbia, was utilized to rebuild the genomic history of the Balkan during the Roman migration of the first centuries. Credit: Carles Lalueza-FoxThe multidisciplinary reconstructed the genomic history of the Balkan Peninsula throughout the very first centuries of the typical age, a time and location of market, cultural, and linguistic change. It was led by the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Spain, a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council and Pompeu Fabra University, along with research study from the University of Belgrade in Serbia, the University of Western Ontario in Canada, Harvard University, and MSU.Anna Osterholtz. Credit: MSUInsights into Ancient Migration and Cultural ShiftsThe team recuperated and examined entire genome information from 146 ancient people excavated mostly from Serbia and Croatia– more than a 3rd of which originated from the Roman military frontier at the massive historical site of Viminacium in Serbia– which they co-analyzed with data from the remainder of the Balkans and neighboring regions. The research study highlights the cosmopolitanism of the Roman frontier and the long-lasting consequences of migrations that accompanied the breakdown of Roman control, including the arrival of individuals speaking Slavic languages.” Essentially, the research study showed that there was an increase of people who moved into the Balkan region that are genetically comparable to modern Slavic-speaking populations. It represents one of the biggest demographic changes in Europe during what is understood as the Migration Period. Its a timespan where local identity was forming in the vacuum created by the dissolution of the Roman empire,” Osterholtz stated.” This research study provides us an idea about how these neighborhoods were formed during the Migration Period. My own research analyzes how this is shown in funerary practices and in changes in health,” Osterholtz said.For more on this research study: Reference: “A genetic history of the Balkans from Roman frontier to Slavic migrations” by Iñigo Olalde, Pablo Carrión, Ilija Mikić, Nadin Rohland, Swapan Mallick, Iosif Lazaridis, Matthew Mah, Miomir Korać, Snežana Golubović, Sofija Petković, Nataša Miladinović-Radmilović, Dragana Vulović, Timka Alihodžić, Abigail Ash, Miriam Baeta, Juraj Bartík, Željka Bedić, Maja Bilić, Clive Bonsall, Maja Bunčić, Domagoj Bužanić, Mario Carić, Lea Čataj, Mirna Cvetko, Ivan Drnić, Anita Dugonjić, Ana Đukić, Ksenija Đukić, Zdeněk Farkaš, Pavol Jelínek, Marija Jovanovic, Iva Kaić, Hrvoje Kalafatić, Marijana Krmpotić, Siniša Krznar, Tino Leleković, Marian M. de Pancorbo, Vinka Matijević, Branka Milošević Zakić, Anna J. Osterholtz, Julianne M. Paige, Dinko Tresić Pavičić, Zrinka Premužić, Petra Rajić Šikanjić, Anita Rapan Papeša, Lujana Paraman, Mirjana Sanader, Ivana Radovanović, Mirjana Roksandic, Alena Šefčáková, Sofia Stefanović, Maria Teschler-Nicola, Domagoj Tončinić, Brina Zagorc, Kim Callan, Francesca Candilio, Olivia Cheronet, Daniel Fernandes, Aisling Kearns, Ann Marie Lawson, Kirsten Mandl, Anna Wagner, Fatma Zalzala, Anna Zettl, Željko Tomanović, Dušan Keckarević, Mario Novak, Kyle Harper, Michael McCormick, Ron Pinhasi, Miodrag Grbić, Carles Lalueza-Fox and David Reich, 7 December 2023, Cell.DOI: 10.1016/ j.cell.2023.10.018.
