Gratus Caesaris

DNA testing has come a long way and today it is being used to trace the ancestry of ancient bones discovered during an archeological dig in Vagnari, Italy. Researchers in Italy are all abuzz because they learned something quite surprising and intriguing when they tested the ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from one of the remains.     Mitochondrial DNA is passed from the mother to her offspring and from generation to generation there are few mutations. People who are related to each other will have similar mutations - allowing the researchers to put them into broad categories or  "haplogroups,".  Haplogroups tend to relate to geographical areas of the world- (see blog entry regarding the 18 Haplogroups) The bones, which date back 2,000 years, show a link to East Asian ancestry or the Haplogroup D.

Thanks to isotopic evidence, researchers have found that around 20% of the bones currently analyzed were not born in the vicinity of Vagnari. The mtDNA points to the assessment that at least this one male individual came from East Asian descent. It shows that the people who resided in the region thousands of years ago were not native and belonged to foreign locations. Researchers theorize they somehow found themselves in Vagnari, traveling across the borders of the Roman Empire. 

One theory regarding the presence of East Asians in the early Roman Empire is that they lived between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. They were most likely slaves or workers. The burial plot had a single pot, which helped archeologists date the approximate time of burial. They were also able to indicate that his burial was disrupted in some way (during the ancient past) and someone was actually buried on top of his body.

Questions left unanswered include how recently the subject or his ancestors departed East Asia and if more people followed his lead.  This one male body could have been the first member of his family in Vagnari or his great grandmother could have been the first to make the migration.  However, by analyzing the oxygen isotope evidence, it is known that he was not born in Italy and that he most likely originated outside of the Roman Empire.

At the time of the burial, Vagnari was an Imperial estate belonging to the emperor of Rome, but controlled by a local administrator. Workers were brought in to satisfy the industrial needs of Vagnari, which included generating tile and smelting iron. The tiles were used to create roofs for buildings and also served as grave covers for the people laid to rest in the cemetery. Researchers have come to this conclusion by finding fragments of tiles in and around Vagnari that bear the markings "Gratus Caesaris." When translated, it means, "slave of the emperor."

Archeologists also learned a lesson by excavating this site. A common practice is to assess grave goods to identify the origin of ancient remains. However, the goods found in the grave are not connected to the descent of the remains.

The research at the Vagnari site was made possible with funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.