Metrics details the Empire became hunting ground for hordes of German tribes: Visigoths Between the sixth and eighth centuries CE they gave life to an independent kingdom After their arrival in 568 CE under King Alboin's leadership they left many traces of their settlement in Northern Italy and their subsequent diffusion towards the south With historical sources and archaeological data providing a background to our understanding of the Barbarian invasions across Europe we are confronted with a multitude of information on general cultural phenomena but little evidence on single aspects at a population level Here we attempt to integrate archaeological and biomolecular data at the Longobard necropolis of Povegliano Veronese to understand how and to what extent did the Longobard ingression in Italy changed the socio-cultural scenario of the Peninsula especially considering how central is the role of Italy in the transition between the Roman times and the following post-classical phases If the decline of the Western Roman Empire represents a strong political and cultural reset no place like Italy deserves to be investigated in the assessment of how this political shift had an impact on the local population in its interaction with the new “invading” peoples our understanding of the biological background of local and non-local populations with the transition to the Middle Ages is still lacking With the two excavation campaigns, an extended necropolis was brought to light, with 164 Longobards burials (Fig. 1). The location of the Longobard cemetery The red line represents the ancient Roman road known as Via Postumia Plan of the cemetery with areas of excavations; burials selected for this study come from highlighted areas The dashed line represents mean Sr ratio calculated on the faunal samples only Individuals linked by the dashed line provide both enamel (line) and bone (maker) data Filled dark shade = early phase; filled light shade = later phases; empty = no chronology which might have involved some of the animals investigated (see below) Two further outlying individuals show the highest Sr ratios (0.71073–0.71280) when compared to the other groups They were coming from localities with largely different 87Sr/86Sr ratio in the labile portion of soil and The δ18Ow calculated from the human teeth ranges from − 11.6 to 0.6‰ while human bones range from − 8.7‰ to − 4.8‰ with a mean of (− 6.4 ± 1.1)‰ (n = 16) Mean δ18Ow for the animal teeth is − 7.3‰ (n = 6) whereas for animal bones mean δ18Ow is − 6.4‰ (n = 8) with values ranging from − 8.6‰ to − 2.7‰ Mean δ18Ow values for both human and animal bones is − 6.4‰ whereas there is a greater gap between the average values of human and animal teeth (− 5.1‰ and − 7.3‰ respectively) Cluster analysis of human enamel δ18Ow (n = 13) shows three groups, which are presumed proxies of local water sources (Fig. 2SI,a): the first one (9 samples) shows values that range from −7.9‰ to − 4.0‰; the second group (3 samples) ranges between −2.0‰ and + 0.6‰ Only the first group could match ingested water similar to the present-day precipitation Cluster analysis of human bone shows only two groups (Fig. 2 SI The first one ranges from − 8.7 to − 6.8‰ and the other from − 6.1 to − 4.8 ‰ Because each isotopic parameter serves as a proxy of distinct geological or environmental contexts strontium and oxygen data are first discussed separately and further in combination Wide variation in enamel strontium isotopic composition suggests marked differences in geological background, which probably characterize an area larger than the one investigated (Fig. 2) individuals either lived in areas with distinct strontium isotope imprinting or ate foods from distinct contexts during enamel formation Two humans bone signatures have 87Sr/86Sr values In order to assess a possible relation between origin of the individuals and time of use of the cemetery we compared strontium ratios with chronological attribution of the burials The group of “autochthones” includes individuals with both early and late grave goods The individuals with earlier grave goods (dated to the second half of the 6th century/early decades of the 7th) could represent the Longobards born in the Povegliano Veronese area (unsurprisingly some of them are subadults) or local non-Longobards who interacted and mingled with the colonizing group Sr signatures would be consistent with that of the local geology was the place of settlement of the Longobards during the sixth century CE hence might represent the place of origin of some of the individuals in the sample This interpretation is supported by the fact that the group of “allochthones” (with the only exception of T 364) is characterized by early grave goods dated to the first phase of occupation of the cemetery (570–620 CE) individuals from T 23 and T 426 showed Sr isotopic values of dental enamel that are significantly more radiogenic than those of the rest of the population Although for only one of the two (T 426) we have a clear chronological attribution (i.e. we could argue that such individuals were probably coming from a further geological region which does not correspond either to that of the “autochthones” or to that of the “allochthones” buried with no grave goods; despite his alien origin the man must have mixed with the local group some time prior to his death so as to justify his presence in the cemetery T 426 is a male died in later adulthood (40–50 years) found with a funerary assemblage dated to the initial phase of the Longobard settlement in Italy (570–620 AD); like for the allochthones dated to the early phases of occupation this man suggests an alien provenience although from a more radiogenic geological background Taking into account the uncertainty on the evaluation of 18δw from 18δph (± 2.5‰) we can state that the variability around the mean of the 18δw values calculated from the 18δph of human bones (Table 3) is small (− 6.4 ± 1.1‰) the variability is also low for enamel (− 5.8 ± 1.4‰) the central values for enamels and bones have a high probability to be the same (t-test: psame mean = 0.24; Mann–Whitney: psame mediane = 0.38) we can state that (a) there is no evidence of variation of isotope features of water ingested by humans found at the site and that (b) most individuals resided in the same place at least for the final phase of their life (given these are bone values) if the data are compared with the present-day precipitation (about 7.7‰ ± 2‰ at Verona a town not far from Povegliano Veronese; Longinelli and Selmo we can also state that there is no evidence of a significant climatic difference in respect to today The results also suggest that humans and animals drank from the same water sources in fact the area is and was characterized by abundant springs Once again, cluster analysis performed for dental enamel oxygen values appear to differentiate three sub-groups of individuals (Fig. 2 SI These might be associated with at least three sources of water which may result from as many geographical areas: the largest group (n = 9; − 7.9 to − 4.0‰) might come from the Povegliano Veronese area given that it partially shares mean values associated with the region; a second group with lighter δ18O (− 1.9 to 0.5‰) could be referred to ingestion of abundant evaporated water is consistent with a provenance from a colder area; the individual (a non-local for Sr data) is interestingly associated with early Longobard evidence Whisker and box plot of δ18Oph in dental enamel and bone for Povegliano Veronese humans some individuals changed the water supply between the first and last phases of their life from higher to lower oxygen values or vice versa individual T489 has values ranging from − 11.6‰ in enamel to − 7.2‰ in the bone suggesting migration from a colder to a warmer region The δ18O values for bones do not exhibit variation between the sexes: male data range from − 5.4 to − 7.9‰ with an average of − 6.6‰ while female data range from − 5.3 to − 7.4‰ with an average of − 6.01‰ one Bos and two Sus share the same δ18w found both in human bones and enamel suggesting that some humans and animals drank from the same water sources Different values are the most negative δ18w of the Equus and a Bos drunk from more negative water sources located in a different area the most positive δ18w of one ovicaprid might be indicative of evaporated water source The animal bone δ18w are generally more homogeneous except for the Equus and Bos with the more negative values discussed earlier (respectively with − 8.6 and − 8.5‰) we could hypothesize an origin at different latitudes from Povegliano Veronese with later movement to the area The results of this study offer significant contribution Sr isotope ratios measured for 27 samples from Povegliano Veronese had values (0.70836–0.70906) which indicate that most of the individuals investigated—either of early or later phases—were likely to be local inhabitants We are keen to suggest such individuals were “autochthonous” to the region and were likely to drink water mostly from the area of Povegliano Veronese a region known to have been long occupied by the Longobard people Most of the individuals in this group are dated to the early phases of occupation of the cemetery oxygen values indicate that water ingested came from a source that is not in the area of Povegliano Veronese An extremely small percentage of Sr values (0.71073–0.71280) hint to a migration of “outliers” that includes movement from a broader European region This hypothesis appears to be confirmed – at least for one individual – by oxygen values Strontium and oxygen data measured in the skeletal tissues of both animal and humans from Povegliano Veronese unveil pattern of residential mobility of the Longobards in Italy Integration of isotopic data and archaeological evidence at the cemetery seems to suggest that the first generation of Longobard “colonizers” in Italy have likely merged at an early stage with local inhabitants the second and following generations of Longobards were native to the region and have acquired foods and water from local environments across the whole phase of occupation of the cemetery of alien people either from a wider “Italian” territory or from Central Europe The results obtained seem to provide evidence of the integration and further “Latinization” of the Longobards in the Mediterranean which eventually led to the formation of a new Longobard identity in Italy (Rotili and bone specimens of humans and animals were sampled for strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) whereas teeth and bones of humans and animals were sampled for stable oxygen isotopes analysis δ(18O/16O) preparation and analysis was performed in accordance with relevant regulations for the treatment of ancient human remains Permission to analyze the samples was granted by the local SABAP (Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le province di Verona and to observe the difference between tooth value and bone value in the same individual we run two bone analyses for strontium and sixteen analyses for oxygen In order to define the local range at Povegliano Veronese and to compare the data obtained from teeth and bones of humans and animals, we took soil samples from the burials of area H, namely: T 348, T 426, T 413, T 45 (Table 2) The burials were selected according to position within the cemetery, dating of grave goods and typology of tomb structure17 we tried to keep a balance in the composition of the sample in accordance to sex and age at death of the individuals In order to examine strontium and oxygen ratios in humans over time we chose 21 burials dated to phase 1 and 4 burials with undetermined chronology We further sampled individuals from 3 multiple burials which despite not providing a date were considered worthy of investigation After cleaning the surface of each tooth by abrasion with a diamond burr 20–30 mg of enamel powered were extracted and digested in 1 ml concentrated ultrapure HCl The samples were then evaporated to dryness and redissolved in 2 ml 2 M ultrapure HCl the samples were mechanically cleaned and authigenic carbonates removed with CH3COONH4 buffer at pH 5 in an ultrasonic bath Approximately 5 g of cortical bone were reduced to ashes in a furnace at 800 °C for 10 h and then the material was homogenized in an agate mortar and dissolved with 6 N ultrapure HCl The extracts were processed for Sr isotopic analysis following the procedure of bone analysis Isotopic analyses were carried out at IGAG-CNR c/o Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra University of Rome using a FINNIGAN MAT 262RPQ multicollector mass spectrometer with W single filaments in static mode Sr isotopic fractionations was corrected against 86Sr/88Sr = 0.1194 measured isotopic ratios of NBS 987 Sr standard resulted as 87Sr/86Sr = 0.710285 ± 10 (2σ; n = 27) Stable oxygen isotopes δ(18O/16O)ph analyses on the phosphate group of teeth and bones of human and animal bioapatite (ph) were carried out at the Stable Isotope Laboratory of the University of Parma The sample treatments were the following: samples reacted with 2.5% NaOCl for 24 h to oxidize organic substances; then the samples were reacted with 0.125 M of NaOH for 48 h to dissolve humic substances The solutions were then warmed at 70 °C for 3 h and filtered to collect the precipitated crystals of Ag3PO4 The crystals were analyzed by means of TC/EA thermal conversion-elemental unit on line with a mass spectrometer (IRMS) According to IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) the isotope ratio 18O/16O is expressed as: where δ18Osample and δ18OV-SMOV are the isotopic abundances in the sample in analysis and in the reference international standard V-SMOW (Vienna Standard Mean Oceanic Water) The estimated analytical prediction uncertainty for 18δ is ≤ 0.35‰ In order to relate the values δ18Oph of the \({\mathrm{P}\mathrm{O}}_{4}^{3-}\) anionic group of enamel and bone bioapatite to that δ18Ow = 1.847 δ18Oph − 0.0384 Iacumin and Venturelli 21 δ18Ow = 1.14 δ18Oph − 0.0274 Delgado Huertas et al.32 δ18Ow = 0.676 δ18Oph − 0.0184 Delgado Huertas et al.33 δ18Ow = 0.990 δ18Oph − 0.0247 Delgado Huertas et al.33 δ18Ow = 1.41 δ18Oph − 0.0318 Delgado Huertas et al.33 δ18Ow = 0.885 δ18Oph − 0.0227 D'Angela and Longinelli34 (It is noteworthy that the equations used for animals could not to be statistically different one from the other) Le molteplici identità etniche dei Longobardi in Italia Linguaggi politici e pratiche sociali Mitteilungen de Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts Lombards on the move–an integrative study of the migration period cemetery at Szólád Hungary Mapping European population movement through genomic research Amorim, C. E. G. et al. Understanding 6th-century barbarian social organization and migration through paleogenomics. Nat. Commun. 9, 3547. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06024-4 (2018) indirizzi della ricerca e nuovi dati (ed E Possenti) 118–134 (Castello del Buonconsiglio in Presenze Longobarde a Collegno nell’altomedioevo (ed L Pejrani Baricco) 241–247 (Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Piemonte Archeologia della Iudiciaria Torrensis 167–175 (LineLab Iacumin, P., Galli, E., Cavalli, F. & Cecere, L. C4-consumers in southern europe: the case of friuli V.G. (NE-Italy) during early and central middle ages. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 154, 561–574. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22553 (2014) salute e mobilità della popolazione in Italia settentrionale tra IV e VIII secolo tradizione romana nell’Italia longobarda e franca Strontium Isotopes from the Earth to the archaeological skeleton: a review Longinelli, A. Oxygen isotopes in mammal bone phosphate: A new tool for paleohydrological and paleoclimatological research?. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 48, 385–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(84)90259-x (1984) Fractionation of oxygen isotopes between mammalian bone-phosphate and environmental drinking water Passports from the past: Investigating human dispersals using strontium isotope analysis of tooth enamel in VI Congresso Nazionale di Archeologia Medievale (L’Aquila Possenti) 259–275 (Castello del Buonconsiglio All’origine dei mestieri: attività professionali e strutture sociali in comunità alto-medievali in Italia Un’indagine bioarcheologica applicata a due necropoli di cultura longobarda PhD thesis PAST: Paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis Mobile elites at Frattesina: flows of people in a Late Bronze Age “port of trade” in Northern Italy investigated through strontium isotope analysis The δ18O of phosphate of ancient human biogenic apatite can really be used for quantitative paleoclimate reconstruction? Infant feeding and weaning practices in Roman Egypt Application de la biogéochimie isotopique (13C 18O) à la détermination du régime alimentaire des populations humaines et animales durant les périodes antique et Médiévale Mobility of Bell Beaker people revealed by strontium isotope ratios of tooth and bone: a study of southern Bavarian skeletal remains Lead and strontium isotope compositions of human dental tissues as an indicator of ancient exposure and population dynamics (The University of Bradford Pollard, A. M., Pellegrini, M. & Lee-Thorp, J. A. Technical note: Some observations on the conversion of dental enamel δ18Op values to δ18Ow to determine human mobility. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 145, 499–504. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.21524 (2011) Spatial variations in biosphere 87Sr/86Sr in Britain Strontium isotope composition as a tracer of calcium sources in two forest ecosystems in Belgium Single-step separation scheme and high-precision isotopic ratios analysis of Sr-Nd-Hf in silicate materials Oxygen isotope analysis of animal bone phosphate: method refinement and reconstruction of palaeotemperatures for Holocene sites Oxygen isotope variations of phosphate in mammalian bone and tooth enamel Oxygen isotopes in living mammal’s bone phosphate: further results Download references We are grateful to Stefano Grimaldi at the Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana (IsIPU) for supporting GF during her traineeship and Irene Dori of the SABAP of Veneto for help in gathering archaeological and anthropological information We thank the anonymous reviewer for useful comments and suggestions This research was funded by Sapienza University of Rome (Progetti di Ateneo and Regione Lazio (progetto Torno Subito) granted to GF FC acquired data and wrote part of the manuscript These authors contributed equally: Guendalina Francisci and Ileana Micarelli Guendalina Francisci & Fabio Di Vincenzo della Vita e della Sostenibilità Ambientale Istituto di Geologia Ambientale E Geoingegneria acquired data and wrote part of the manuscript coordinated the osteological investigation provided samples and archaeological information The authors declare no competing interests Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67480-x Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (2023) Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Microbiology newsletter — what matters in microbiology research Fifteen-hundred years ago, a single mighty blow crashed down upon a man in Italy The wound should have killed him — if not from immediate blood loss then from an infection for which there were no antibiotics Maybe it should, said the anthropologists who documented the unusual skeleton's discovery in the newest issue of the Journal of Anthropological Sciences the blade-armed man lost his hand during a time when an amputation could be a death sentence His survival well into middle age represents not just a personal triumph "This [find] shows a remarkable survival after a forelimb amputation during pre-antibiotic era," the team led by researchers from the University of Rome "The survival of this [man] testifies to community care family compassion and a high value given to human life." The man's skeleton was exhumed about 20 years ago from the Longobard necropolis of Povegliano Veronese near Verona in northern Italy which dates roughly to between the sixth and eighth centuries A.D. has so far yielded 164 tombs holding 222 individuals (plus a burial pit containing two greyhound dogs and the aforementioned horse) their arms all hung straight down at their sides Further analysis revealed that the man's right hand was missing that it had been amputated from his forearm by a single blow and that the bones in his arm had ample time to heal before he died (which was likely sometime in his late 40s) Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox In the spot where the man's right hand should be researchers found a prosthetic limb fashioned from leather straps which the team dated to the end of the 6th century Dental analysis showed that one of the man's upper incisors was worn down significantly compared to surrounding teeth suggesting he had used that tooth for something other than chewing — perhaps for tightening the straps on his prosthetic How the man lost his hand is another mystery. One big clue: that he even survived a limb amputation before antibiotics existed "This highlights a community-level effort to provide an ideal setting for healing to take place," the researchers wrote "This suggests a clean environment and intensive care during the early stages of healing with the ability to prevent death from blood loss." Originally published on Live Science Brandon SpecktorSocial Links NavigationEditorBrandon is the space/physics editor at Live Science His writing has appeared in The Washington Post the Richard Dawkins Foundation website and other outlets He holds a bachelor's degree in creative writing from the University of Arizona geoscience and the mysteries of the universe Scientific consensus shows race is a human invention Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks The Boerica variety is the only one in the world that can be used for commercialization under the Jingold Bliss brand "rediscovered" in one of the historic companies controlled by Commercio Frutta: Azienda Agricola Bovo in Povegliano Veronese Feedback is great thanks to its organoleptic qualities so other producers can ask Commercio Frutta to join.  "It is a very interesting variety due to its agronomic characteristics and fruit quality Boerica is currently the only variety that constitutes an improvement of Hayward our group focused on varietal improvement using Boerica We are promoting our brand together with our partner (Jingold) so as to increase sales within the top-end green kiwifruit market This will lead to higher profits thanks to the premium product," explains owner Maurizio Filippi Commercio Frutta entrusted Consorzio Jingold with the management of the Jingold Bliss brand which envisages the promotion of a high-quality brand through the Boerica variety "Commercio Frutta is the facility on a domestic level that deals with the highest quality of Boerica green flesh kiwifruit and our objective is to further increase quantities so as to have even more top-level produce available" explains sales manager Andrea Bini.  "Reaching a considerable critical mass will enable us to tackle markets with a uniform product to provide our producers and whoever wants to join our project with considerable answers."  Commercio Frutta is also investing a lot on a national level on yellow and red flesh varieties such as Jintao and Donghong which have been doing very well for the past few years Who is Commercio Frutta?Commercio Frutta was established in September 1993 by two founding partners the company evolved and widened its range of products with peaches in order to better support the production chain the facility merged with another local company and thus extended its production and commercial network The company has always focused on innovation and on varietal renewal and quality improvement in particular Contacts:Commercio FruttaVia Trentola, 7847122 Malmissole (Forlì) - ItalyTel.: (+39) 0543/723153Email: [email protected]Website: www.commerciofrutta.it FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com The great march of the Longobards in our peninsula began in 568 A.D. when the warriors with long beards began to press impressively at the gates of the Alps to conquer new lands the burial area of which was subjected to numerous investigations during archaeological excavations carried out between the 1980s and 1990s the result of a mission coordinated by Mary Anne Tafuri of the Laboratory of Paleoanthropology and Bioarchaeology of Sapienza has reconstructed the dynamics through which the Longobards arrived in our peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire and settled on the territory The study has been published on Scientific Reports Journal carried out in collaboration with the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) the University of Parma and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan is based on biomolecular analyses on remains of some of the individuals found in the Longobard necropolis of Povegliano Veronese Its aim was to investigate the mobility of Germanic populations and the socio-cultural aspects that followed Mary Anne Tafuri and her team examined the concentration of strontium and oxygen and their stable isotopes (atoms with a variable mass number) inside bones and teeth of a "sample" of 39 buried individuals and 14 animals selected among the finds that emerged from the necropolis.Oxygen and strontium have a precise isotopic distribution that can be altered by biochemical and environmental factors What is interesting is that values related to these alterations are specific of one geographical area rather than another."By detecting these biomolecular data,” says Mary Anne Tafuri “we were able to highlight the heterogeneity of values within the sample and make a statistical subdivision into three "sub-populations" distinguished by different geochemical signatures: the natives those who have spent their whole life in Povegliano Veronese; the allochthonous who arrived in the area during their life and the outliers individuals with values outside the variability observed in the first two groups."Subsequently the researchers investigated the origin and mobility dynamics of that part of the community who were not born in Povegliano but migrated there during their lifetime comparing the isotopic data of this group with those of individuals from other Longobard necropolises The isotopic values of the allochthons of Povegliano were compatible with those of the Longobards buried in the Hungarian necropolis of Szólád one of the last locations occupied by the Longobards before their arrival in Italy confirming the reconstruction carried out by the scholars.Moreover thanks to the data provided by the tomb structures where the individuals were found and the accompanying objects it has been possible to distinguish between burials attributable to the most ancient phase of the necropolis (late sixth - early seventh century A.D.) and more recent ones (first half of the seventh - first half of the eighth century A.D.) between individuals belonging to the first and subsequent generations of settlers."We have shown that all the allochthonous individuals found in the burial area of Povegliano Veronese belonged to the first generations,” adds Mary Anne Tafuri “as they were accompanied by items that can be dated back to the first phase of use of the necropolis are characterised by later items."The results of the study which combines archaeological and isotopic data constitute an important piece in the reconstruction of the dynamics of settlement and mobility of the Longobards as a whole They also help explain how these warriors integrated into the context of civilisation capable of combining the Germanic tradition with the classical and Roman-Christian one Strontium and oxygen isotopes as indicators of Longobards mobility in Italy: an investigation at Povegliano Veronese - Guendalina Francisci, Ileana Micarelli, Paola Iacumin, Francesca Castorina, Fabio Di Vincenzo, Martina Di Matteo, Caterina Giostra, Giorgio Manzi & Mary Anne Tafuri - Scientific Reports volume 10, Article number: 11678 (2020) DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67480-x Mary Anne TafuriDepartement of Environmental Biologymaryanne.tafuri@uniroma1.it   © Sapienza Università di Roma - Piazzale Aldo Moro 5 00185 Roma - (+39) 06 49911 - CF 80209930587 PI 02133771002 This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.