Category - Study
Study: Pompeii Residents Had Progressive Family, Community Roles
The saying goes that it takes a village to raise a child, and new research out of Pompeii seems to showcase just how common this phenomenon might've been in the ancient Roman city.
A new study published in the Current Biology journal explains how new DNA research from body casts in Pompeii illuminates what family and community structures in the city might have looked like. This includes what appears to be non-traditional nuclear family units and gender roles and forms of dress that turn traditional ideas on their head. Simply put, the victims' sexes and family relationships don't necessarily line up with what we believe homes and neighborhoods back then might've looked like.
"The scientific data we provide do not always align with common assumptions," study author David Reich said in a statement. "For instance, one notable example is the discovery that an adult wearing a golden bracelet and holding a child, traditionally interpreted as a mother and child, were an unrelated adult male and child. Similarly, a pair of individuals thought to be sisters, or mother and daughter, were found to include at least one genetic male. These findings challenge traditional gender and familial assumptions."
Related: Unearthed Pompeii Skeletons Shed Light on Victims' Final Moments
The team examined the skeletal remains of 14 plaster casts at the site with only six of them able to provide genetic data. The findings came as quite a surprise given what anthropologists for centuries have thought about families in ancient Rome since the rediscovery of the Pompeii site in the 1700s.
“Our findings have significant implications for the interpretation of archaeological data and the understanding of ancient societies," study author Alissa Mittnik explained. "They highlight the importance of integrating genetic data with archaeological and historical information to avoid misinterpretations based on modern assumptions. This study also underscores the diverse and cosmopolitan nature of Pompeii’s population, reflecting broader patterns of mobility and cultural exchange in the Roman Empire."
Moving forward, then, Mittnik warned researchers in the field to try not to impose their present-day ideas and assumptions about humans that lived in the past.
"While our findings allow us to challenge some of the traditional narratives, we must be careful not to repeat the same mistake," Mittnik told ScienceAlert. "Instead, our results emphasize the importance of integrating various lines of evidence and of not superimposing modern assumptions onto ancient contexts."