Mapping the origins of Imperial Roman workers (1st–4th century CE) at Vagnari, Southern Italy, using ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ¹⁸O variability

Abstract

Results suggest that only 7% of individuals buried at Vagnari were born elsewhere and migrated to Vagnari, while the remaining individuals were either local to Vagnari (58%), or from the southern Italian peninsula (34%). Our results are consistent with the suggestion that Roman Imperial lower-class populations in southern Italy sustained their numbers through local reproduction measures, and not through large-scale immigration from outside the Italian peninsula.