Isotopic evidence for human mobility in late antique Bulla Regia (Tunisia)

Efthymia Nikita; Michelle Alexander; Samantha Cox; Anita Radini; Petrus Le Roux; Moheddine Chaouali; Corisande Fenwick

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103816

Isotopic evidence for human mobility in late antique Bulla Regia (Tunisia)

J Archaeol Sci Rep. 2023 Feb:47:103816. doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103816.

Authors

Efthymia Nikita¹, Michelle Alexander², Samantha Cox^{3

4}, Anita Radini², Petrus Le Roux⁵, Moheddine Chaouali⁶, Corisande Fenwick⁷

Affiliations

¹ Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Centre, The Cyprus Institute, 2121 Nicosia, Cyprus.
² BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, YO1 5DD York, UK.
³ Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
⁴ Physical Anthropology Section, Penn Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
⁵ Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa.
⁶ Institut National du Patrimoine, 1008 Tunis, Tunisia.
⁷ Institute of Archaeology, University College London, WC1H 0PY London, UK.

Abstract

This paper represents the first isotopic study on late antique human mobility in North Africa, using the urban site of Bulla Regia in Tunisia as a case study. We also present the first values for bioavailable ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr in northern Tunisia, analysing 63 plant and snail samples, as well as a simple method for the pre-processing of plants in the field to facilitate their export. Bulla Regia was a prominent Roman and late antique town situated on an important axis of transport and communication in North Africa and is therefore an ideal site to explore mobility in the region during this time period. Strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O_Carb) isotopic analysis of 22 late antique individuals from a Christian church and cemetery identified at least seven or eight non-locals, while comparative analysis of five Roman individuals from a funerary enclosure on the same site classified all but one of them as potential locals. Most non-local individuals exhibit ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values that match various areas of northern Tunisia, which supports regional mobility rather than long-distance migration, although when combined with the oxygen results, inter-regional mobility from an area with a warmer climate may be hypothesised for some individuals. Examination of the spatial distribution of non-local individuals in their cemetery setting reveals that they were privileged individuals, thus they may reflect the mobility of wealthier town-dwellers in late antiquity, particularly perhaps along the Carthage-Hippo route.

Keywords: Isotopes; Late antiquity; Palaeomobility; Roman; Tunisia.