0112tima.dg.doc A Study of the People of Pre-Roman Iron Age and Roman Britain by David G. A. Gibb A thesis presented for the degree of Master of Arts in the Centre for Molecular Immunology and Instrumentation and The Department of Classics and Ancient History University of Western Australia Presented February, 2002 1 0112maabs.dgibb.doc A Study of the People of Pre-Roman Iron Age and Roman Britain Abstract Chapter 1 An introduction to what is known about the Pre-Roman Iron Age (PRIA), the Roman and Post-Roman periods and the people from written, archaeological and burial sources. Chapter 2 The literary evidence about the people of Britain of this time is limited, but what is available may be expanded and built upon from other sources, such as epigraphy, tablets, settlements and their patterns, burials and cemeteries, anthropology, demography and paleopathology. Chapter 3 The Iron Age people of North Western Europe, called Celts by their Mediterranean neighbours, developed common cultures known in the order of their occurrence as Hallstatt and La Tene and their impact on the people of Britain and their language is examined. Chapter 4 Contrary to the low population estimates of earlier historians, more recent evidence of land settlement in Britain, beyond the fringes bordering Continental Europe, disproves these claims for the PRIA and Roman Britain. In the Post-Roman period, population growth and stability are seen in decline. In support of increases and decreases in population growth an analysis of the evidence is presented. Chapter 5 Studies using mitochondrial DNA would indicate that, genetically, the peoples of Britain have remained relatively unchanged. Genetic markers such as the ii male Y-chromosome and profiling by the genomic matching technique (GMT) on DNA extracted from modern and ancient Britons, it is anticipated, would produce another scenario. Molecular genetics in population studies and their applicability to the ancient people of Britain are reviewed. Chapter 6 Methods of extracting and analysing ancient DNA, including their limitations, are discussed. In principle GMT offers a new approach to kinship and population studies. Chapter 7 A case study based on human teeth from the remains found in a small Romano-British burial site was carried out. Difficulties encountered through limitations imposed on the samples through quantity, probable inhibition and their possible resolution are presented. A successful analysis on similar material from a European site demonstrates the potential of the technology in contrast to the pitfalls. Chapter 8 The population of LPRIA Britain was greater than has been postulated in the past. Evidence of increased settlement numbers, their productive capacity and a developing material culture, pre-existing the Roman period, provides a launching pad for population increases in Roman Britain. Demic diffusion or residential movement of people bringing agriculture from the Levant to Britain is not supported by the present molecular genetic analysis of the European gene pool. The major component of the European gene pool as determined by genetic analysis is thought by some to have arisen from survivors of the last European glacial period, and not from demic diffusion of farmers from the Levant. Delayed by adverse climatic conditions, farming in Britain is said to have taken 5 or 6 millennia to arrive from the Middle East. From the gene pool analysis, I believe that agriculture in Britain was introduced through a combination of innate and colonising development that led to population growth long before the advent of the Romans. iii Population growth in Roman Britain cannot be seen solely as a direct effect of the inclusion of foreign genes but due to the stabilising influence of a unifying administration. The decline in the population in the Post-Roman period may be attributed to a variety of reasons, including system collapse, new invaders, climatic effects on food production and pestilence. Future population studies using genetic markers such as GMT on aDNA extracted from the skeletal remains, particularly teeth, of contemporary LPRIA and Roman Britons will assist in elucidating the source of population expansion, that is, through either demic or cultural diffusion, or both. IV 0202macont.dgibb.doc Table of Contents Pages Abstract i - iii Table of Contents iv - vi Acknowledgements vii- viii Figures and Tables ix - x Abbreviations xi - xii Chapter 1 Introduction 1-12 Preamble Archaeology Population in the PRIA Population in the Roman period The written evidence The burial evidence Complementary evidence. Chapter 2 The Evidence Introduction 13-33 Literary Epigraphic Tablets Settlements and patterns Burials Cemeteries Anthropology Cemeteries Demography Palaeopathology Chapter 3 Celts, Culture and Language 34-52 Introduction Literary sources Material culture The Hallstatt culture La Tene culture Iron-Age culture in 5th century BC V Hallstatt Art La Tene art La Tene in Britain; Language Celtic in the British Isles Continental and Insular Celtic Insular Celtic Celtic in Roman Britain. Chapter 4 Archaeological and Historical Demography 53-68 Population growth Coins and writing The Druids Censuses LPRIA Britain Archaeological evidence Burial evidence Population size - Roman Britain Population size - Settlement data Population size - Post Roman Britain Roman army Climatic change Chapter 5 Molecular Genetics in Population Studies 69-81 Introduction Peopling of Europe - mitochondrial DNA Populating Britain Y-chromosome in population studies The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) Genomic Matching Technique Ancient DNA. Chapter 6 Ancient DNA: Recovery from Archaeological Teeth 82-95 Introduction Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) DNA in soft tissues DNA in hard tissues - population studies DNA in teeth and bone - kinship and ancestry Methodological challenges with ancient DNA Contamination Selection of material Microscopy Amino acid racemization Procedures to minimise contamination Procedures (Austin et al 1997, 304) Authentication Conclusion. VI Chapter 7 Archaeological Teeth - A case Study in aDNA Analysis 96-113 Introduction Bradley Hill cemetery DNA analysis of Bradley Hill teeth Extraction of DNA from Bradley Hill teeth Chelex 100 Sequencing of extracted aDNA Analysis of results Quantity of sample for extraction Inhibition of PCR Degradation of aDNA Conclusion Chapter 8 Conclusion 114-123 Introduction Celts or Iron Age People Molecular Genetics Arrival of Agriculture Molecular Genetic Studies on the Ancient People of Britain The Population of the Period Future Developments in the Study of the People of the PRIA and Roman Britain Bibliography 124-144 vii 0111maack.doc.dgibb ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was made possible by the patience and forbearance of my wife, Moira, to whom I am eternally grateful. I am much appreciative and very grateful for the support and encouragement that I received from my supervisors, Professor Roger Dawkins and Professor David Kennedy. I gratefully acknowledge and record my appreciation to the Somerset Museums Service and its Assistant County Museums Officer, Mr Stephen Minnitt for supplying the Bradley Hill teeth used in this study. I also am indebted to Associate Professor Gary Heathcote of the University of Guam for providing the 19 century teeth. Dr Wei Wang of Edith Cowan University kindly carried out the mitochondrial DNA analysis of the Bradley Hill teeth and provided me with helpful advice and encouragement. I also wish to record my thanks for the help of my daughter, Kathryn, who provided dental expertise in obtaining samples from the teeth for DNA analysis and restoring the integrity of the Bradley Hill teeth, I am indebted and appreciative of the advice, expertise and support with laboratory procedures received from past and present members of CMII staff, who included Associate Professor Yurek Kulski, Dr Guan Tay, Dr Silvana Gaudieri and Mr Nikitas Economou. For the understanding and goodwill of my fellow students, past and present, in helping me out with new technologies, I am particularly grateful. Thank you Natalie Jacobsen, Jemma Berry, Jenny Hui, Rebecca Laird, Craig McClure, and Joe Williamson for Vlll untangling my inexpert use of computers and instrumentation. I also would like to include Graeme Miles and thank him for helping me with the Greek translations. Finally, I acknowledge the support of the Immunogenetics Research Foundation (IRF) and the CMII in providing laboratory facilities for the project. IX 0112mafig.dgibb.doc FIGURES AND TABLES Page Figure 1. Europe in the Hallstatt period. 38 (Cunliffe 1997, 271) Figure 2. Centres of power: Hallstatt to La Tene 39 (Cunliffe 1997, 64) Figure 3 Chieftain's burial at Hochdorf. 40 (Cunliffe 1997, 59} Figure 4 La Tene art. 43 (Cunliffe 1997,113) Figure 5. Europe in the late La Tene period. 49 (Cunliffe 1997, 274) Figure 6. Bilingual inscriptions in Latin and Celtic. 54 (Cunliffe 1997, 22) Figure 7. Nature's book of life. 70 (Ridley 1999) Figure 8. HLA-A and B phylogenetic tree of 80 ethnic groups. 78 (Gojobori and Imanishi 1993, 71) Figure 9. Tree representative of 29 Mediterranean and European samples. 79 (Piazzo and Lonjou 1997, 380) Figure 10. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). 83 (Powledge and Rose 1996, 38) Figure 11. Cross section of Mammoth femur - microradiograph. 91 (Herrmann and Hummel 1994, 5) Figure 12. Contamination by microorganisms in ancient femur. 92 (Herrmann and Hummel 1994,10) Figure 13. Extirpating tooth pulp cavity for DNA analysis. 104 Figure 14. Electropherogram - test for PCR