Improving public understanding of social diversity in Roman Britain
Submitting Institution
University of ReadingUnit of Assessment
Geography, Environmental Studies and ArchaeologySummary Impact Type
CulturalResearch Subject Area(s)
History and Archaeology: Archaeology, Historical Studies
Summary of the impact
Research at the University of Reading has challenged popular perceptions
of an essentially homogenous population in Roman Britain, changing
understanding and improving awareness of ethnic diversity in particular.
The research demonstrated that later Romano-British populations were much
more diverse than previously thought, with up to a third of individuals
classified as non-local. Migrant populations were also shown to include
women and children, in contrast to the popular perception that it was
mainly adult males who moved across the Roman Empire. Case studies
highlighted mixed-race individuals, second-generation migrants and the
diverse origins of the migrants and these cases had a very significant
impact on reshaping museum displays (notably the Yorkshire Museum, with
94,000 visitors p.a.). The research also impacted on the Key Stage 2
school curriculum through a website and teachers' resource pack (funded
through an AHRC Follow-on-Grant), produced in collaboration with a
children's author and the Runnymede Trust, the UK's leading race-equality
think tank. The research has thus prompted a significant and important
correction to a highly popular historical topic.
Underpinning research
The underpinning research, carried out by University of Reading lecturers
Hella Eckardt, Mary Lewis and Gundula Müldner, is an AHRC-funded project
(`A long way from home — diaspora communities in Roman Britain':
2007-2009) that explored the cultural and biological experience of
immigrant communities in Roman Britain through an innovative combination
of scientific and archaeological techniques. Mobility in the Roman Empire
was previously studied through epigraphy (the study of ancient
inscriptions), but inscriptions on stone are very rare in Britain. The
Diaspora project combined the analysis of archaeological data (grave
goods, burial rites) with osteological and forensic ancestry assessment as
well as oxygen and strontium isotope analyses to assess geographic
origins. The research examined 150 individuals from late Roman Britain and
identified significant numbers of migrants, including individuals of
mixed-race ancestry, in particular in the important late Roman settlements
of York and Winchester.
The results show that a significant number of individuals sampled (up to
33 per cent) can be classed as non-local, that is coming from beyond a
day's travel (30km radius) from the sampled site; a smaller proportion
probably came from outside the UK. Ancestry assessment of the skeletons
with local and non-local isotopic signatures revealed a complex picture of
locals and newly arrived and second-generation migrants. There were also
women and children amongst these migrants, a finding that challenges the
popular perception that it was mainly adult males (soldiers and
administrators) who moved across the Roman Empire. The project revealed
the considerable diversity of people living in Romano-British towns and
studied the ways in which immigrant and local communities may have
differed, examining for example their diet, health, burial rites and
personal adornment. Dietary assessment (through carbon and nitrogen
isotope analysis) in particular highlighted individuals who had consumed
millet, a crop not grown in Roman Britain, and/or significant amounts of
fish (the Iron Age populations of Britain did not consume marine foods,
but fish and oysters became important markers of high status in the Roman
period).
The research demonstrated scientifically, for the first time, that there
was more diversity amongst Romano-British populations than previously
thought. This is in contrast to popular perceptions, which portray `The
Romans' as homogenous (essentially Italian) peoples, especially in books
and websites for primary-school children (e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/romans/;
`Usborne Time Traveller: Rome and the Romans'). Academic
dissemination of the research findings took place through peer-reviewed
publications (see below) and at academic conferences. Dr Eckardt joined
the University in 2002, Dr Mary Lewis and Dr Gundula Müldner joined the
University in 2004.
References to the research
All of the following papers and grants were rigorously peer-reviewed and
assessed as of at least 2* quality; those marked ** are entered for REF:
**Eckardt, H. (ed.). 2011. Roman diasporas: archaeological
approaches to mobility and diversity in the Roman Empire. Journal of
Roman Archaeology Suppl. 78. Portsmouth, Rhode Island: JRA
**Eckardt, H., Booth, P., C. Chenery, Müldner, G., J.A. Evans
& A. Lamb 2009. `Oxygen and strontium isotope evidence for mobility in
Roman Winchester'. Journal of Archaeological Science 36,
2816-2825. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2009.09.010
Leach, S., Lewis, M., Chenery, C., Eckardt, H. & G. Müldner 2009.
`Migration and diversity in Roman Britain: a multidisciplinary approach to
immigrants in Roman York, England'. American Journal of Physical
Anthropology 140: 546-56; DOI:10.1002/ajpa.21104
Müldner, G., Chenery C., Eckardt, H. 2011. "'The Headless Romans':
Multi-isotope investigations of an unusual burial ground from Roman
Britain". Journal of Archaeological Science 38, 280-290; DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2010.09.003
Chenery, C.A., Müldner, G., Evans, J., Eckardt, H., Leach, S. & M.
Lewis. 2010. `Strontium and stable isotope evidence for diet and mobility
in Roman Gloucester, UK.' Journal of Archaeological Science 37,
150-163; DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2009.09.025
Research grants:
Eckardt, Lewis & Müldner: 'A long way from home — diaspora
communities in Roman Britain'; AHRC; 2007-2009; £337,000.
Eckardt: 'Foreigners and locals in Roman Britain — painting a more complex
picture for school children`; AHRC Follow-on-Funding; 2012; £62,000.
Details of the impact
The research findings have directly challenged popular perceptions of
`The Romans'. As part of the dissemination and impact process, the
researchers constructed biographies for selected individuals from the
project to make wider points. The `Ivory Bangle Lady', for example, a
mixed-race female from York buried with rich exotic and local artefacts,
whose isotopes suggest that she came from somewhere slightly warmer than
the UK, illustrates African (second generation) migration as well as
female mobility and high status.
Three important areas of impact can be highlighted:
1 School curriculum
In 2012, the research team received AHRC Follow-on-Funding (£62,000) for
a specific project to communicate their findings to school children,
working with the Runnymede Trust, the UK's leading independent
race-equality think-tank. This resulted in the production of a website and
teaching resource (http://www.romansrevealed.com/,
launched on 25 April 2013), which draws on the research findings to
provide materials on the themes of migration, diversity and evidence. It
shows how the concept of a diverse Britain is not new. As the introductory
text explains, `Links can be made between the way we understand modern
multicultural Britain and the very diverse groups of people who lived in
Romano-British towns such as York and Winchester'. The resource offers
young children the opportunity to engage with ideas about migration and
diversity, as well as teaching them about the use of archaeological
science in history. It thereby makes cross-curricular links between Key
Stage 2 History, Geography and Science, while the activities and
discussion materials, in particular, will help develop and consolidate
English curricular skills'.
The website features stories arising from collaboration with the
established children's author Caroline Lawrence (author of The Roman
Mysteries, a major book and BBC TV series) and with a visual artist
(Aaron Watson). Lawrence provided four short stories about specific
individuals, adding a creative twist to the scientific `clues' provided by
the University of Reading research team.
In addition to the `Ivory Bangle Lady', for example, there is a girl from
Winchester who has exotic grave goods but a local isotope signature,
suggesting she is the child of migrants; a young man local both in terms
of grave goods and isotopic signatures; and an older male from York who
appears unremarkable in terms of grave goods but originates from a colder,
continental part of Europe. This project is of relevance to the National
Curriculum, in particular to Key Stage 2 (ages 7-11), as it enables
teachers, especially those working with children from diverse backgrounds,
to portray images of the Roman world that are not only more relevant but
directly reflect new academic research on the topic.
The website, which was trialled with approximately 200 children at
primary schools in London and Reading, received over 2,000 unique visitors
in its first few months, and is already changing how children and teachers
view `The Romans', with both user groups reporting an increased awareness
of diversity not just in terms of ethnicity, but also with regards to age
and gender (Corroborating Source 1, Ottosdir 2013). The website's
reach is expected to increase significantly through promotion at teachers'
conferences and links through teaching-resource sites such as Primary
Resources, Thinking History, Minimus, TES, History on the Net, My Learning
and the London Grid for Learning. Moreover, Professor A. Kempe from the
University of Reading's Institute of Education is organising an INSET day
for primary-school teachers from the local region in December 2013 to
explore how the use of the website can enhance history teaching, while the
research team is distributing promotional materials at participating
museums and selected schools.
2 Museum displays
The research directly contributed to the redesign of the `People of Roman
York' gallery at the Yorkshire Museum, as part of a complete refurbishment
in 2010. The museum is visited by up to 94,000 people per year. The new
gallery display features the skulls, facial reconstructions and
`life-stories' of six individuals studied by the research team,
highlighting the diversity of the Roman population.
The curator of the museum stated that: "Having recently worked with the
University of Reading investigating human remains found in York City in
order to gain an understanding about where and how people lived, the
museum wanted to reconstruct these people in a way which you and I today
would feel a genuine affinity with....The vision resulted in the creation
of a life-size interactive presentation where the characters were in fact
real people telling their story through time."
The `Ivory Bangle Lady', in particular, is now used for school workshops,
is featured in a video and is the subject of interactive tweets, as a
result of a recent (2012) collaboration by the project's Post-Doctoral
Research Assistant (S. Leach, now at the University of Exeter) with the
Yorkshire Museum ("I tweet dead people", funded by AHRC and REACT). There
are also plans to develop a hologram.
On the basis of this research, Eckardt is also acting as an academic
advisor for the redesign of the Museum of London Roman Gallery (opening
2015), which will similarly emphasise migrant individuals and their
biographies.
3 Broader public awareness
The research findings have been disseminated through national and
international media, including, in the UK, The Sunday Times, the Daily
Mail and The Independent newspapers and BBC TV's The One
Show. International coverage has been mainly on websites, sometimes
linked to magazines
(http://www.archaeologie-online.de/magazin/nachrichten/afrikanische-lady-im-roemischen-england-9879/;
http://www.spektrum.de/alias/roemisches-britannien/die-lady-von-eboracum-eine-reiche-afrikanerin/1024189
and http://www.epoc.de/artikel/1024189&_z=798890).
Members of the general public, local amateur archaeologists as well as a
theatre producer have responded to this media coverage about the project,
and the `Ivory Bangle Lady' in particular (see Daily Mail blog,
5.3 below). These responses indicate a fascination with `black' history
or, conversely, negative (and often racist) replies, but it is clearly
difficult to quantify this impact.
In addition, the research team has run an active programme of talks to
local archaeological societies including those in Yorkshire, Berkshire,
Hampshire, Henley and Surrey. Informal feedback from these events,
typically attended by between 30 and 70 people, suggests that the audience
had their perceptions of Roman Britain challenged.
Impact summary
In terms of beneficiaries, this project is changing understanding
and improving awareness of diversity in the Roman period for visitors to
Yorkshire Museum (94,000 visitors p.a.) and for children, teachers and
parents using the educational resource, as well as for the general public.
Despite only being launched in April 2013, the website has had more than
2,228 unique visitors to date, and is beginning to be used in classrooms
as part of the Key Stage 2 curriculum.
The Romans are a popular subject for children and adults across Britain
and the world, and the significance of the University of Reading's
research is that it profoundly changes the way they are viewed. Rather
than a simplistic contrast between essentially homogenous local and
`Roman' populations, the research and its outreach programme use specific
case studies based on the latest scientific findings to highlight
diversity. This project will alter public understanding of the period, and
of populations in Roman Britain in particular.
In terms of its reach, the impact of the research affects diverse
groups (of all ages and backgrounds) across the UK. This may be of
particular relevance amongst an audience that either assumes the Romans
were all `white and like us' or those who have previously viewed the
Romans as irrelevant (African-Caribbean, and other immigrant groups).
Sources to corroborate the impact
1 School curriculum:
- http://www.romansrevealed.com/
- Ottosdir, G. 2013. An initial assessment of the Romans revealed
website. Unpublished report, University of Reading; based on
interviews with school children and teachers.
2 The Yorkshire Museum:
3 Media and blogs: