Skeleton
a challenge to historians
BEN KENDALL
13
June 2006 07:16
The
discovery of a tragic teenager enslaved in 11th century Norfolk
has shed new light on the troubled history of the Romani people.
Archaeologists
revisiting finds made at Norwich Castle have uncovered fresh DNA
evidence suggesting the Romanis, often referred to as gipsies,
arrived in Europe 400 years earlier than first thought.
The
surprise identification challenges conventional wisdom and comes
a fresh look at finds made in 1991.
Although
there are now large Romani populations in Mediterranean and eastern
Europe they are thought to have originated from India and reached
Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. They are first described
in Britain in the early 1500s.
But
scientists studying ancient migration tested Anglo-Saxon skeletons
excavated at Farmers Avenue and stumbled across evidence suggesting
much earlier migration.
Amid
15 skeletons found at the Anglo-Saxon cemetery, where Castle Mall
now stands, was one teenager directly linked to modern-day Romanis.
The
finds date from before the mid-11th century, at least 400 years
earlier than the first mass migration.
And
the condition of the skeleton hints at a tragic death - the body
belonged to a teenage boy who had suffered severe injuries and
possibly spent his life in slavery.
The
excavation was directed by Jez Reeve for the Norfolk archaeological
unit. Liz Popescu, from Cambridge-shire County Council archaeological
field unit, analysed the results.
Rather
than contradicting existing theories of Romani migration, thought
to have first arrived in the Balkans, the discovery instead hints
at a history of slavery.
Ms
Popescu suggests Vikings may have enslaved Romani women during
expeditions to the eastern Mediterranean, or formed liaisons with
them through contact with Varangians, Scandinavian people who
also traded with the east.
The
condition of the skeletons suggested the population of the Norwich
area at the time was not healthy.
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