Abstract
The 4th century BC marks the main entrance of Celtic populations in northern Italy. Their arrival has been suggested based on the presence of Celtic customs in Etruscan mortuary contexts, yet up to now few bioarchaeological data have been examined to support or reject the arrival of these newcomers. Here we use strontium isotopes, non-metric dental traits and funerary patterns to unravel the biocultural structure of the necropolis of Monterenzio Vecchio (Bologna, Italy). Subsamples of our total sample of 38 individuals were analyzed based on different criteria characterizing the following analyses: 1) strontium isotope analysis to investigate migratory patterns and provenance; 2) non-metric dental traits to establish biological relationships between Monterenzio Vecchio, 13 Italian Iron age necropolises and three continental and non-continental Celtic necropolises; 3) grave goods which were statistically explored to detect possible patterns of cultural variability. The strontium isotopes results indicate the presence of local and non-local individuals, with some revealing patterns of mobility. The dental morphology reveals an affinity between Monterenzio Vecchio and Iron Age Italian samples. However, when the Monterenzio Vecchio sample is separated by isotopic results into locals and non-locals, the latter share affinity with the sample of non-continental Celts from Yorkshire (UK). Moreover, systematic analyses demonstrate that ethnic background does not retain measurable impact on the distribution of funerary elements. Our results confirm the migration of Celtic populations in Monterenzio as archaeologically hypothesized on the basis of the grave goods, followed by a high degree of cultural admixture between exogenous and endogenous traits. This contribution shows that combining different methods offers a more comprehensive perspective for the exploration of biocultural processes in past and present populations.
Highlights
The ethnic and genetic background of northern Italy has been radically impacted by repeated invasions of central European Celtic populations from the 4th century BC to the beginning of the 2nd century BC
Archaeological data are even more explicit than epigraphic sources in suggesting that processes of interaction between local Etruscan and Celtic population ranged from conflict–well exemplified by sites such as the necropolis "Zone A" at Casalecchio di Reno (Bologna) and Marzabotto (Bologna)–to cases of less problematic and more rapid integration documented at sites such as Felsina (Etruscan Bologna) and Monte Bibele on the Apennines to the south of Bologna [1,2,4,5,6,7]
Our goals are three-fold: 1) to assess potential local and non-local individuals and investigate mobility patterns among individuals of Monterenzio Vecchio by recording variations in strontium isotope ratios of human and animal bones and teeth; 2) to perform a regional analysis based on non-metric dental traits to verify the biological distance among Monterenzio Vecchio, Celts and other Iron Age Italian populations [31], to assess whether a potential contribution of Celtic newcomers may have affected the biological background at Monterenzio Vecchio; 3) to detect the possible cultural population structure by means of statistical modeling of funerary indicators
Summary
The ethnic and genetic background of northern Italy has been radically impacted by repeated invasions of central European Celtic populations from the 4th century BC to the beginning of the 2nd century BC. Over the last few decades, great attention has been focused on the complex mechanisms of interaction between Celts and local populations in northern Italy during the two centuries preceding the Roman conquest. Both the archaeological record and epigraphic documentation from this period attests several types of interactions, such as replacement and/or extermination, as suggested by ancient historians Archaeological data are even more explicit than epigraphic sources in suggesting that processes of interaction between local Etruscan and Celtic population ranged from conflict–well exemplified by sites such as the necropolis "Zone A" at Casalecchio di Reno (Bologna) and Marzabotto (Bologna)–to cases of less problematic and more rapid integration documented at sites such as Felsina (Etruscan Bologna) and Monte Bibele on the Apennines to the south of Bologna [1,2,4,5,6,7]
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