Bio

Kristina Killgrove is currently a PhD candidate in Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Lecturer in Sociology & Anthropology at the State University of New York in Cortland. Her dissertation, under the direction of Dale Hutchinson (UNC Anthropology) and Nicola Terrenato (UMich Classics), seeks to understand the urbanization of Rome during the Imperial period by investigating diet, disease, and migration from human skeletal remains. She is particularly interested in issues of migration and the composition of multiethnic communities in the Roman world. Prior to PhD work, Kristina received graduate degrees from East Carolina University (MA Anthropology) and UNC (MA Classical Archaeology), and did undergraduate research at the University of Virginia (BA Latin and Classical Archaeology).

Paper abstract

Transnationalism and Polyethnic Communities: Identifying Immigrants in Imperial Rome (1st-3rd c CE)

Migration into Rome and the suburbium during the Empire is underresearched because traditional indicators of immigrants, such as artifacts and historical records, are sparse among the lower classes of Roman society. These immigrants are often ignored by ancient authors, and their low socioeconomic status contributes to the rarity of material remains indicative of their culture or ethnicity. Recent approaches in bioarchaeology can contribute new information to the question of migration into Rome. Stable strontium isotope analysis of dental enamel can identify individual migrants and pinpoint their country of origin. The cost of this method is often too high for analysis of a large population, but exploratory data analysis methods can identify a sample of the population to test. Biological distance studies based on metric and nonmetric cranial data examine phenotypic variation in skeletons to investigate gene flow and genetic drift both within and between cemetery populations. Biodistance teases out genetic relationships on a small scale, identifying individuals and groups who were likely immigrants. The data required for biodistance are collected as a standard part of bioarchaeological skeletal analysis.

This paper presents results from 217 skeletons from two Imperial period cemeteries in Rome: Casal Bertone and Castellaccio Europarco. Both cemeteries were dominated by the lower-class cappuccina and simple pit burial styles, and there were few grave goods. In the absence of intracemetery differences in artifacts or burial style, biological variation becomes imperative for understanding the composition of these communities. Cranial metric and nonmetric data were obtained from all adult individuals, and dental enamel was taken from every individual with a first molar present. Biodistance methods are used to select a sample of 40 individuals to be subjected to strontium isotope analysis. This methodology represents a new approach to understanding migration and polyethnic communities in Rome.

Paper for advance circulation 

Killgrove.pdf