Mobility and Social Structure in Late Antique Italy at the Edge of Longobard and Byzantine Territories

From the 5th to the 8th century CE, a period historically known as Late Antiquity, intense socioeconomic changes, political instability, and massive migration events reshaped the former Western Roman Empire, especially along the Italian Peninsula. To assess the genetic and social influences of these events on the Italian population, we aim to conduct archaeogenetics and mobility analysis on 44 individuals from three Late Antiquity funerary areas in the modern Marche region of central Italy: Fossombrone (27 individuals), Castel Trosino (10 individuals) and a re-analysis of Pesaro (7 individuals), which has already been genetically sequenced. All selected sites played a strategic role in Late Antiquity as centres of both peaceful and conflict-driven interactions among Romans/Byzantines, Goths, and Longobards. Fossombrone, located along the Via Flaminia, was part of the Byzantine Duchy of the Pentapolis until the Longobard conquest. Castel Trosino within the Duchy of Spoleto (Longobardia Minor), stood at the boundary between Longobard and Byzantine political entities. Pesaro, like Fossombrone, was one of the main centers of the Exarchate of Ravenna, under the formal rule of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Preliminary findings from our ancient samples seem to suggest a complex interaction scenario, characterized by significant genetic variability and, in some individuals, a genetic shift toward Eastern or Germanic components. Historical evidence and preliminary genetics data makes our sites excellent case-studies for exploring population dynamics and individual-level stories through genetic and molecular anthropology approach.