Abstract

Increased mobility and human interactions in the Mediterranean region during the eighth through fifth centuries BCE resulted in heterogeneous communities held together by political and cultural affiliations, periodically engaged in military conflict. Ancient historians write of alliances that aided the Greek Sicilian colony Himera in victory against a Carthaginian army of hired foreign mercenaries in 480 BCE, and the demise of Himera when it fought Carthage again in 409 BCE, this time unaided. Archaeological human remains from the Battles of Himera provide unique opportunities to test early written history by geochemically assessing the geographic origins of ancient Greek fighting forces. We report strontium and oxygen isotope ratios of tooth enamel from 62 Greek soldiers to evaluate the historically-based hypothesis that a coalition of Greek allies saved Himera in 480 BCE, but not in 409 BCE. Among the burials of 480 BCE, approximately two-thirds of the individuals are non-local, whereas among the burials of 409 BCE, only one-quarter are non-local, in support of historical accounts. Although historical accounts specifically mention Sicilian Greek allies aiding Himera, isotopic values of many of the 480 BCE non-locals are consistent with geographic regions beyond Sicily, suggesting Greek tyrants hired foreign mercenaries from more distant places. We describe how the presence of mercenary soldiers confronts prevailing interpretations of traditional Greek values and society. Greek fighting forces reflect the interconnectedness and heterogeneity of communities of the time, rather than culturally similar groups of neighbors fighting for a common cause, unified by "Greekness," as promoted in ancient texts.

Highlights

  • Human mobility played a central role in colonization, ethnogenesis, and warfare in the ancient Mediterranean region [1,2,3,4]

  • To examine the role military activities played in bringing together diverse communities of people in the ancient world, we report the strontium and oxygen isotope ratios of skeletons from mass graves associated with two historically significant and violent conflicts–the Battles of Himera in 480 BCE and 409 BCE between Punic Carthage and Sicilian Greeks at the Greek colony, Himera

  • We analyzed 87Sr/86Sr and δ18O values of tooth enamel from 62 individuals interred in eight mass graves associated with the Battles of Himera, including 51 from 480 BCE and 11 from 409 BCE

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Summary

Introduction

Human mobility played a central role in colonization, ethnogenesis, and warfare in the ancient Mediterranean region [1,2,3,4]. Ongoing clashes in the 8th-5th centuries BCE between indigenous groups, Greeks, Persians, and Phoenicians created unprecedented instances of interpersonal. Research Experience for Undergraduates from the National Science Foundation awarded to LJR and BK Oxygen isotope analyses were funded by the University of Georgia Graduate School Innovative and Interdisciplinary Research Grant and Dean’s Award, the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts Graduate Research Award, and the UGA Center for Archaeological Science Norman Herz Grant for Student Research, awarded to KLR. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

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