The role of emerging elites in the formation of communities after the fall of the Roman Empire
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2317868121
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Elites played a pivotal role in the formation of post-Roman Europe on both macro- and microlevels during the Early Medieval period. Our approach combines history and archaeology with paleogenomic and isotopic data to explore the role of elite groups in the development of a 6 to 8th-century community at Collegno, Italy. Analyzing 28 new genomes with 24 previous ones revealed that the site was formed around biologically and socially connected high-ranking groups. The community also integrated newcomers and embraced individuals with diverse genetic ancestries. This study highlights how power shifts and migration after the fall of the Roman Empire influenced community formation in the rural areas in one of the core territories of the former Western Roman Empire.
The study discusses the analysis of a large, biologically related group (Pedigree I) that spans five generations and includes 24 out of 52 analyzed individuals. Despite differences in genetic ancestry and diet, members of Pedigree I share similar burial customs, with most adult males buried with weapons and elaborate belt sets, symbols of social and economic power in early medieval Europe. These items, absent in the burials of individuals outside Pedigree I, indicate the elite status of this group. The presence of specific burial customs and dietary patterns within certain branches of the pedigree suggests that these branches represented meaningful social units, likely families or households, which incorporated both related and unrelated individuals. Similar patterns in Pedigree II suggest a broader social structure in the community.
Despite genetic differences, the burial practices were used to maintain group cohesion and exclude outsiders. Paleodietary analysis supports this, showing that Pedigree I members had different diets from the rest of the community, indicating social separation. The presence of prestigious artifacts in their graves reflects the group's inherited high status, maintained across generations. The eventual decline in grave goods aligns with broader trends in 7th-century Europe, and the site's abandonment in the early 8th century may be due to the relocation or extinction of these elite families, or a shift to churchyard burials.
Members of Pedigree I are identified as an emerging elite group that founded a new community after the Langobard occupation of Northern Italy. These elites were socially connected through blood relations, though they were not genetically homogeneous. Genetic analysis shows that CL1 and CL2 members had central-northern European ancestry, likely due to migration, while CL3 members had local ancestry similar to nearby contemporary sites. The genetic diversity may have predated their arrival in Italy or resulted from the assimilation of local elites. These elite groups played a crucial role in maintaining political control in rural areas during the early Langobard Kingdom, occupying strategically important locations.
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