East Asian Remains Found in 1st century CE Roman cemetery

A research team working in a 1st -2nd century CE Roman necropolis near the ancient town of Vagnari in southern Italy have unearthed a skeleton of a man with East Asian ancestry, according to DNA analysis.  When I was researching an article on the Han Dynasty for Heritage Key, I read that one of the important achievements of the period was the development of trade with the Roman Empire in the 2nd century CE. But the age of the remains and the possibility that there are more than one individual in the cemetery with East Asian descent makes it appear that there could have been a substantial group of East Asians in Vagnari before history tells us a formal delegation from the Han Dynasty had even made "First Contact". 

Vagnari was actually part of the emperor's estate during this time with its inhabitants engaged in tile production and iron working.

"So far the evidence suggests that Vagnari was a settlement of artisans and lower status individuals. The most likely location for the house of the imperial procurator who would have managed the estate is up the hill near the top of the plateau now called San Felice where a building provisionally interpreted as a villa is being excavated by a Canadian team directed by Hans vanderLeest (Mount Allison University) and Myles McCallum (St Mary’s University, Halifax)." - The Vagnari Project  

What seems puzzling is that if this man or even more than one of the 73 burials unearthed in Vagnari were slaves from China, how did the Roman emperor acquire them?  We don't know of any campaigns by the Romans that far east during that time.  Were they presented as a gift to him by a trade delegation? 


It will be interesting to see if any East Asian artifacts turn up as the excavation progresses.  Although the slaves could have been without significant possessions I can't imagine them living out their lives without fashioning some amulet or talisman to remind them of their former homeland, especially since the Romans did not discourage foreign religions.


The research team hope ongoing excavations will provide clues to globalization, human mobility, identity, and diversity in Roman Italy.

"This multi-faceted research demonstrates that human skeletal remains can provide another layer of evidence in conjunction with archaeological and historical information," says Tracey Prowse, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, initially of McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario) and, since 2006, of Southern  Illinois University Carbondale, the lead author on the study. . - DNA testing on 2,000-year-old bones in Italy reveal East Asian ancestry