Scientists have managed to find evidence that the recently found remains, about 2,000 years old, belonged to immigrants. The remains of the bodies were found in the then Roman cemetery.
According to estimates, the millionth population of Rome during the imperial period comprised 5% of immigrants and 40% of slaves. However, these are uncertain numbers that we cannot confirm due to unpreserved censuses.
Scientists Kristina Killgrove and Janet Montgomery, working at the University of Durham, wanting to prove that there was a migration of people in the Roman Empire, undertook to study the remains of skeletons buried in the 1st-3rd century CE. On the basis of strontium and oxygen isotopes, they were able to assess whether the examined tooth was formed during the person’s stay in Rome or not. 105 teeth were examined in this way.
It turned out that several men, a woman, and several children were born outside of Rome. At least eight people were from either North Africa or the Alps or the Apennines.
