GEMS project

The FWF-funded project “Social Genomics in Late Antique and Early-Medieval Societies” 2023-2026 aims to study the health conditions and living trajectories of the most disfavored people at the end of the Roman Empire, taking into consideration the political and economic crises. We will integrate a huge dataset of molecular data from multiple origins with exhaustive archeological research and historical contextualization. The University of Vienna leads the project in close collaboration with the University of Padova and the Sapienza University of Rome.

We study more than 150 individuals from very well-contextualized sites in Northern Italy expanding the provinces of Brescia, Padova, Verona, Varese, Milano, Bergamo, Lecco, and Como.

The excavations at the UNESCO site of Castelseprio, included in the project (Università degli studi di Padova)

Main Collaborators

• Alexandra Chavarria-Arnau, PhD: University of Padova
• Emanuela Cristiani, PhD: Sapienza University of Rome.