Moreover, some cemeteries have significantly more than 1 person from Africa or of African ancestry, see further:https://twitter.com/caitlinrgreen/status/657981747154522112 …
You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more
Moreover, some cemeteries have significantly more than 1 person from Africa or of African ancestry, see further:https://twitter.com/caitlinrgreen/status/657981747154522112 …
For example, a study of Roman York's cems suggests at least 11% of ppl were of African ancestry, w/ 51% as poss max…https://twitter.com/caitlinrgreen/status/744286383771127808 …
Similar figures from other urban sites too eg. Roman London, where 24% of ppl studied were of prob African ancestry:https://twitter.com/caitlinrgreen/status/781944932550512642 …
See also recent large study of Roman Leicester, where 6% of those interred in cemetery are poss of African descent: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/38172433 …
Worth noting, incidentally, that men, women and children all feature, and examples not just from urban burials, e.g.https://twitter.com/caitlinrgreen/status/735761635806060544 …
Likewise, evidence indicates not just 1st gen migrants but also 2nd gen who grew up in Britain etc & presence of people of 'mixed' ancestry…
People also of varying status+roles, incl v high status eg. https://twitter.com/caitlinrgreen/status/736890264728539136 … Indeed, higher-status cem at York has higher proportion!
Of course, this all largely separate/additional to evidence from inscriptions/military units &c—see, for example, https://twitter.com/caitlinrgreen/status/744866290846818305 … :)
And, of course, worth noting that is some potential evidence for ppl of East Asian ancestry in Roman London too…https://twitter.com/caitlinrgreen/status/778304115638202368 …
In sum, seems clear that there is, in fact, notable evidence for diversity in Roman Britain, & that we can start to put figures on this :)
Great thread, but should I be astonished by the recent fuss about Roman Britains multiracial makeup. It was emphasised when I was at school
Indeed. Been known for a long time, yet still apparently has power to anger some folk, alas :-/
Happily, that self-aggrandising manufactured anger has ensured that many more people (including me) are now aware of this.
:) Unintended consequences etc!
any evidence of social status? (Romans had slaves from all over empire)
Some v high, others not - varies! Higher-status cem at York has greater proportion of ppl of 'black' or 'mixed' origins, fwiw...
47% of how many? Need all info if it's to be meaningful.
The ones they've looked at? Just a guess...
Indeed! (& is in text…) Fwiw, several new sites, incl London, published since I surveyed corpus last year, all confirm+strengthen pattern :)
What people who think in terms of "pure" races totally miss: Europe has always been a huge meltingpot. In the 1870s the German ...
... anthropologist Rudolf Virchow initiated a countrywide study for hair & eye colors of German schoolchildren. The result was that ...
... there is a smooth gradient from North to South from a fairer to a darker population. Fun fact: most Germans are not blond & blue-eyed.
Eg. I've black hair. When I was in Rome, Italians found it natural to ask me for directions. And even funnier: people have addressed me ...
... spontaneously in Farsi, Arabic, and Hebrew (a woman in a discotheque was 200% sure she knew me from Israel).
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.