A curse tablet unearthed at a Roman temple in south Wiltshire, carved with the unusual Greek name ‘Hegemon,’ is one small but telling piece of evidence in a new review of how people moved into and across Roman Britain.
The study, published in the journal Britannia and led by David Roberts of Cardiff University, argues that the curse tablet and its Greek name likely belonged to someone who was not born locally, adding to a small but growing pool of clues about migration into the province nearly two thousand years ago.
Greek name on a curse tablet adds to wider evidence trail
The tablet is far from the only evidence Roberts and his colleagues examined. Their review draws on centuries of writing, carved inscriptions, buried objects and, more recently, chemical and genetic testing of human remains to build a fuller picture of who traveled to Roman Britain, and from how far away.
The researchers point to the Vindolanda tablets, a famous set of wooden writing boards from a fort near Hadrian’s Wall, as some of the richest surviving records of soldiers and officials moving through the province.
Tombstones tell similar stories, including one for a woman named Regina, a freed slave from the Catuvellauni tribe who was buried at South Shields by her husband Barates, a trader from Palmyra in modern-day Syria.
Tooth enamel and DNA tests rewrite migrant identities
More recent scientific work has added new layers to the picture. Tests on tooth enamel, which can reveal where a person grew up based on the water and food they consumed as children, have identified likely newcomers at burial sites in York, Winchester and London.
One well-known case, dubbed the Ivory Bangle Lady, was long thought to have North African ancestry, though the researchers note that later testing made that origin less certain.
Genetic testing of ancient remains has also reshaped earlier conclusions, including for a skeleton called Beachy Head Woman, once believed to be from the eastern Mediterranean but now thought, based on newer DNA methods, to have local British roots.
New project targets rural sites left out of studies
Roberts and his co-authors caution that most research so far has focused on cities, forts and unusually wealthy graves, leaving rural and poorer communities largely unstudied.
They argue that future work should turn to those overlooked groups to better understand the full scale of movement during the Roman period.
To that end, the team has launched a new project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, that plans to test isotopes from as many as 400 skeletons and genetic material from 200 more, drawn from burial sites outside the usual military and urban settings across the province.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
