Skeletal Remains from Late Roman Period: "As Old as Diocletian's Palace"

Davorka Sutlović, Jelena Ljubković, Angela Stipišić, Zlatka Knezović, Irena Drmić-Hofman, Šimun Andjelinović

Abstract


In 2000, human skeletal remains were discovered in Split (Croatia). As archaeologists confirmed, it was an ancient skeleton accompanied by ceramics and bracelet characteristic for late Roman period whose possible violent death was excluded.  The bone sample was radiocarbon dated by AMS to 1750 years. DNA was successfully extracted from the bone sample and subsequently typed using mt DNA and STR systems. The metal content was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) in flame mode. Mercury concentration was determined by direct consecutive measures taken with a mercury analyzer. According to our results, we consider that the bones could belong to the one of the last citizens of the Diocletian’s Palace.


Keywords*


lead; late Roman period; ancient bone; mtDNA; elemental status; anthropology

Full Text:

PDF


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.