Ancient human and pathogen genomics across the Roman Empire

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Cosimo Posth
• Subject Area: Evolution, Anthropology ; Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 497783672

The last decade’s revolution in genomics has immensely increased the amount of data retrieved from ancient human individuals, with more than 3,000 genomes currently available from Europe. Most of these ancient genomes derive from prehistoric periods and have been used to describe drastic transformations in the genetic landscape of the continent during the last 10,000 years. Despite early predictions of genetic stasis in Europe since the end of the Bronze Age, recent evidence from the ancient city of Rome showed that large-scale events of mobility and admixture contributed substantial non-local ancestries during the Roman Imperial period. Our latest archaeogenomic results from Tuscany and Latium (Italy), as well as data from Iberia, extend these observations, demonstrating that movements across the Roman Empire left a massive genetic legacy in multiple regions of southern Europe. However, the extent to which human mobility is detected in the genetic record of other regions of the Empire is currently not known. In this project, we aim to sequence over 500 ancient individuals from five countries with geographic areas that were once part of the Empire i.e. northern Italy, southern Germany, Croatia, Serbia and eastern Romania. The goals of our project are to 1) define the genetic origins of incoming groups, 2) discern the patterns of admixture with local ancestries and, 3) assess the dispersal and impact of infectious diseases in those regions. Our planned extensive sampling will allow for a detailed reconstruction of major mobility patterns that possibly influenced the genetic make-up of present-day European populations. Moreover, the proposed project’s geographic breadth will provide unprecedented insights into the demographic processes that accompanied the rise and fall of one of the largest empires in Antiquity.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants