Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:37:37.517Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Lady of York: migration, ethnicity and identity in Roman Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

S. Leach ,
H. Eckardt ,
C. Chenery ,
G. Müldner  and
M. Lewis
S. Leach
Affiliation:
1Department of Archaeology, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AB, UK
H. Eckardt
Affiliation:
1Department of Archaeology, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AB, UK
C. Chenery
Affiliation:
1Department of Archaeology, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AB, UK 2NERC Isotope Geoscience Laboratory, British Geological Survey, Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
G. Müldner
Affiliation:
1Department of Archaeology, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AB, UK
M. Lewis
Affiliation:
1Department of Archaeology, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AB, UK
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Modern methods of analysis applied to cemeteries have often been used in our pages to suggest generalities about mobility and diet. But these same techniques applied to a single individual, together with the grave goods and burial rite, can open a special kind of personal window on the past. Here, the authors of a multidisciplinary project use a combination of scientific techniques to illuminate Roman York, and later Roman history in general, with their image of a glamorous mixed-race woman, in touch with Africa, Christianity, Rome and Yorkshire.

Keywords

YorkRomanburialisotope analysisancestryrankivorymortuary theory
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 84 , Issue 323 , March 2010 , pp. 131 - 145
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2010

References

AAPA. 1996. American Association of Physical Anthropologists: statement on biological aspects of race. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 101: 569–570. Available at: http://physanth.org/positions/race.html, accessed February 2009.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allason-Jones, L. 1996. Roman jet in the Yorkshire Museum. York: The Yorkshire Museum.Google Scholar
Allason-Jones, L. 2002. The jet industry and allied trades in Roman Britain, in Wilson, P. & Price, J. (ed.) Aspects of industry in Roman Yorkshire and the North: 125–132. Oxford: Oxbow.Google Scholar
Arnold, B. 2006. ‘Arierdämmerung’: race and archaeology in Nazi Germany. World Archaeology 38(1): 8–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bass, W.M. 1995. Human osteology: a laboratory and field manual. Fourth edition (Special Publication of the Missouri Archaeological Society 2): Columbia (MO): Missouri Archaeological Society.Google Scholar
Bentley, R.A. 2006. Strontium isotopes from the Earth to the archaeological skeleton: a review. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 13: 135–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birley, A. 1979. The people of Roman Britain. London: Batsford.Google Scholar
Boynton, T. 1902. Archaeology: report of the Council of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, February 10th 1902. Yorkshire Philosophical Society Annual Reports 1894-1903 Volume 9.Google Scholar
Brace, C.L. 1995. Region does not mean ‘Race’— reality versus convention in forensic anthropology. Journal of Forensic Sciences 40: 171–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Budd, P., Millard, A., Chenery, C., Lucy, S. & Roberts, C.. 2004. Investigating population movement by stable isotope analysis: a report from Britain. Antiquity 78: 127–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buxton, L.H.D. 1935. The racial affinities of the Romano-Britons. Journal of Roman Studies 25: 35–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers, S.N. 2005. Introduction to forensic anthropology: a textbook. Second edition. London: Pearson.Google Scholar
Capo, R.C., Stewart, B.W. & Chadwick, O.A.. 1998. Strontium isotopes as tracers of ecosystems processes: theories and methods. Geoderma 82: 197–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chenery, C.A. 2005. The analysis of 180/160 ratios in biogenic phosphates (NIGL Technical Report No. 195). Nottingham/Keyworth: NERC Isotope Geoscience Laboratories.Google Scholar
Chenery, C. 2009. Strontium and oxygen isotope analysis of human tooth enamel from Roman Catterick (NIGL Report No. 200). Nottingham/Keyworth: NERC Isotope Geoscience Laboratories.Google Scholar
Chenery, C.A., Müldner, G., Evans, J., Eckardt, H., Leach, S. & Lewis, M.. 2009. Strontium and stable isotope evidence for diet and mobility in Roman Gloucester, UK. Journal of Archaeological Science 37: 150–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, R. 2008. Global diasporas: an introduction. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cool, H. 2002. An overview of the small finds from Catterick, in Wilson, P. (ed.) Roman Catterick and its hinterland. Excavations and research 1958–1997: 24–43. York: Council for British Archaeology.Google Scholar
Cool, H. 2006. Sycamore Terrace, York, in Hartley, E., Hawkes, J., Henig, M. & Mee, F. (ed.) Constantine the Great: York's Roman Emperor: 155–157. York: Yorkshire Museums and Gallery Trust.Google Scholar
Cutler, A. 1993. Five lessons in late Roman ivory. Journal of Roman Archaeology 6: 167–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dark, P. 2000. The environment in Britain in the first millennium AD. London: Duckworth.Google Scholar
Darling, W.G. 2004. Hydrological factors in the interpretation of stable isotopic proxy data present and past: a European perspective. Quaternary Science Reviews 23: 743–770.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darling, W.G., Bath, A.H., Talbot, J.C.. 2003. The O & H stable isotopic composition of fresh waters in the British Isles: 2, Surface waters and groundwater. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 7(2): 183–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daux, V., Lécuyer, C., Adam, F., Martineau, F. & Vimeus, F.. 2005. Oxygen isotope composition of human teeth and the record of climate changes in France (Lorraine) during the last 1700 years. Climatic Change 70: 445–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daux, V., Lécuyer, C., Héran, M.-A., Amiot, R., Simon, L., Fourel, F., Martineau, F., Lynnerup, N., Reychler, H. & Escarguel, G.. 2008. Oxygen isotope fractionation between human phosphate and water revisited. Journal of Human Evolution doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.1006.1006.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eckardt, H., Booth, P., Chenery, C., Müldner, G., Evans, J.A. & Lamb, A.. 2009. Isotope evidence for mobility at the late Roman cemetery at Lankhills, Winchester. Journal of Archaeological Science 36: 2816–2825.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, J., Stoodley, N. & Chenery, C.. 2006. A strontium and oxygen isotope assessment of a possible fourth century immigrant population in a Hampshire cemetery, southern England. Journal of Archaeological Science 33: 265–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gosden, C. 2006. Race and racism in archaeology: introduction. World Archaeology 38(1): 1–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gould, S.J. 1992. The mismeasure of man. New edition. London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Hartley, E., Hawkes, J., Henig, M. & Mee, F. (ed.). 2006. Constantine the Great: York's Roman Emperor. York: Yorkshire Museums and Gallery Trust.Google Scholar
Hawkey, D.E. & Merbs, C.F.. 1995. Activity-induced musculoskeletal stress markers and subsistence strategy changes among ancient Hudson Bay Eskimos. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 5: 324–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howells, W.W. 1973. Cranial variation in man: a study by multivariate analysis of patterns of difference among recent human populations (Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University 67). Cambridge (MA): Peabody Museum.Google Scholar
Howells, W.W. 1995. Who's who in skulls: ethnic identification of crania from measurements populations (Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University 82). Cambridge (MA): Peabody Museum.Google Scholar
IAEA/WISER. 2008. Water Isotope System for Data Analysis and Electronic Retrieval, IAEA Water Resources Programme. Available at: http://nds121.iaea.org/wiser/, accessed 15 February 2009.Google Scholar
Isaac, B. 2004. The invention of racism in classical antiquity. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Isaac, B. 2006. Proto-racism in Graeco-Roman antiquity. World Archaeology 38.1: 32–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, S. 2001. Soldiers and civilians: identity and interaction in Roman Britain, in James, S. & Millett, M. (ed.) Britons and Roman: advancing an archaeological agenda: 77–89. York: Council for British Archaeology.Google Scholar
Jantz, R.L. & Owsley, S.D.. 2005. FORDISC 3: Computerized Forensic Discriminant Functions. Version 3.0. Knoxville (TN): The University of Tennessee.Google Scholar
Leach, S., Lewis, M., Chenery, C., Eckardt, H. & Müldner, G.. 2009. Migration and diversity in Roman Britain: a multidisciplinary approach to the identification of immigrants in Roman York, England. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 140: 546–561.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levinson, A.A., Luz, B. & Kolodny, Y.. 1987. Variations in oxygen isotope compositions of human teeth and urinary stones. Applied Geochemistry 2: 367–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lilley, I. 2004. Diaspora and identity in archaeology: moving beyond the black Atlantic, in Meskell, L. & Preucel, R.W. (ed.) A companion to social archaeology: 287–312. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Longinelli, A. 1984. Oxygen isotopes in mammal bone phosphate: a new tool for palaeohydrological and palaeoclimatological research. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 48: 385–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Longinelli, A. & Selmo, E.. 2003. Isotopic composition of precipitation in Italy: a first overall map. Journal of Hydrology 270: 75–88.Google Scholar
Lykoudis, S.P. & Argiriou, A.A.. 2007. Gridded data set of the stable isotopic composition of precipitation over the eastern and central Mediterranean. Journal of Geophysical Research. 112(D18): CiteID D18107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, J. 1983. Legionary recruitment and veteran settlement during the Principate. London: Institute of Archaeology.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D. 2006. An imperial possession. Britain in the Roman Empire, 54 BC – AD 409. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. & Hitchner, R.B.. 1995. Roman Africa: an archaeological review. Journal of Roman Studies 85: 165–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mawer, C.F. 1995. Evidence for Christianity in Roman Britain: the small finds (British Archaeological Reports British Series 243). Oxford: Tempus Reparatum.Google Scholar
Mcgregor, A. 1985. Bone, antler, ivory and horn: the technology of skeletal remains since the Roman period. London: Croom Helm.Google Scholar
Montgomery, J. 2002. Lead and strontium isotope compositions of human dental tissues as an indicator of ancient exposure and population dynamics. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Bradford. Available at: http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/library/theses/montgomery 2005/, accessed February 2009.Google Scholar
Montgomery, J., Evans, J.A. & Neighbour, T.. 2003. Sr isotope evidence for population movement within the Hebridean Norse community of NW Scotland. Journal of Geological Research 160: 649–653.Google Scholar
Montgomery, J., Evans, J.A. & Cooper, R.E.. 2007. Resolving archaeological populations with Sr-isotope mixing models. Applied Geochemistry 22: 1502–1514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noy, D. 2000. Foreigners at Rome — citizens and strangers. London: Duckworth.Google Scholar
Ottaway, P. 2004. Roman York. Stroud: Tempus.Google Scholar
Prowse, T.,Schwarcz, H.P., Garnsey, P., Knyf, M., Macciarelli, R. & Bondioli, L.. 2007. Isotopic evidence for age-related immigration to Imperial Rome. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 132: 510–519.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ebvracvm, RCHM. 1962. An inventory of the historical monuments in the city of York. Volume 1, Ebvracvm: Roman York. London: Royal Commission on Historical Monuments.Google Scholar
Rib, II.3. 1991. The Roman inscriptions of Britain. Volume II, Fascicule 3 (Collingwood, R.G. & Wright, R.P., edited by Frere, S.S. & Tomlin, R.S.O... Stroud: Alan Sutton.Google Scholar
Richmond, I.A. 1946. The four coloniae of Roman Britain. The Archaeological Journal 103: 57–84.Google Scholar
Roberts, C.A. & Cox, M.. 2003. Health and disease in Britain from prehistory to the present day. Stroud: Sutton.Google Scholar
Schweissing, M.M. & Grupe, G.. 2003. Stable strontium isotopes in human teeth and bone: a key to migration events of the late Roman period in Bavaria. Journal of Archaeological Science 30: 1373–1383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, B.H. 1991. Standards of human tooth formation and dental age assessment, in Kelley, M.A. & Larsen, C.S. (ed.) Advances in dental anthropology: 143–168. New York/Chichester: Wiley-Liss.Google Scholar
Stallibrass, S. & Thomas, R.. 2008. Feeding the Roman army: the archaeology of production and supply in NW Europe. Oxford: Oxbow.Google Scholar
Swan, V.G. 1992. Legio VI and its men: African legionaries in Britain. Journal of Roman Pottery Studies 5: 1–33.Google Scholar
Thomas, C. 1999. Laid to rest on a pillow of bay leaves. British Archaeology 50: 8–11.Google Scholar
Thompson, L.A. 1972. Africans in northern Britain. Museum Africum: West African Journal of Classical and Related Studies 1: 28–38.Google Scholar
Toynbee, J. 1968. Pagan motifs and practices in Christian art and ritual in Roman Britain, in Barley, M.W. & Hanson, R.P.C..(ed.) Christianity in Britain, 300–700: 177–192. Leicester: Leicester University Press.Google Scholar
Toynbee, J. 1973. Animals in Roman life and art. London: Thames & Hudson.Google Scholar
Trotter, M. 1970. Estimation of stature from intact long bones, in Stewart, T.D. (ed.) Personal identification in mass disasters. Washington (DC): Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History.Google Scholar
Warwick, R. 1968. The skeletal remains, in Wenham, L.P.The Romano-British cemetery at Trentholme Drive, York: 113–176. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
White, C.D., Spence, M.W., Stuart-Williams, H.L.Q. & Schwarcz, H.P.. 1998. Oxygen isotopes and the identification of geographical origins: the Valley of Oaxaca versus the Valley of Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science 25: 643–655.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkie, L. 2003. The archaeology of mothering. An African-American midwife's tale. New York/London: Routledge.Google Scholar