Listen to this PodcastMore 60-Second Science
Some people of Italian ancestry, like me, might have a surprise in the family tree—a man of east Asian descent, who was living and working 2,000 years ago in the boondocks near the heel of the Italian boot. The discovery is the first good evidence of an Asian living in Italy during Roman times.
Researchers found his body on an imperial Roman estate and took dental samples. Why examine teeth? Well, the water you drink at birth leaves a distinct signature in your teeth. That water signature is in the form of oxygen isotopes, atoms of oxygen with different numbers of neutrons. Isotopes say something about the latitude and elevation of your birthplace—which in the case of our mystery man definitely wasn’t southern Italy.
Then the researchers tested his mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down through your maternal lineage. And this fellow had east Asian genes. The finding appears in the Journal of Roman Archaeology.
It's impossible to say if the man trekked to Italy himself or one of his ancestors did. But it’s clear that this first known Roman Asian wasn't some aristocratic diplomat. He was just a poor worker, buried with a single pot.
—Christopher Intagliata
[The above text is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
See what we're tweeting about
5 Comments
Add Commentreally gun information. Now tell me how my mitochodrial grnotype information which came from my maternal Great-Grandmother who was known to be born in Sweden comes to be X? I hear people talk about the surprises they find in their family trees all the time.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis actually doesn't surprise me at all. When I was in Pompeii I was struck by how many rooms were painted in dark red, green and black, a very Asian color scheme. Also I have a couple of photos of wall paintings with buildings and gnarled trees of very Asian style. If you showed me the paintings without telling me where they were from I'd have said China. I left with the very strong impression that there were people in Pompeii who knew what China looked like.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis actually doesn't surprise me at all. When I was in Pompeii I was struck by how many rooms were painted in dark red, green and black, a very Asian color scheme. Also I have a couple of photos of wall paintings with buildings and gnarled trees of very Asian style. If you showed me the paintings without telling me where they were from I'd have said China. I left with the very strong impression that there were people in Pompeii who knew what China looked like.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe article says that the fellow's teeth showed that he wasn't born in Southern Italy (presumably he was born in Asia). Then the last paragraph suggests that he was found in Italy possibly because one of his ancestors came to Italy. If that were so, wouldn't his teeth have shown an Italian birth?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAt first I thought the same thing, however the article did not say that the tooth data indicated an Asian birth area, just not Southern Italy. I think the implication here is that it might have taken a generation or two(or more) for this guy to get from Asia to Italy
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this