[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]
This volume presents the result of a multi-authored investigation of a late Roman necropolis, dated from the late fourth to the early fifth century CE, which was brought to light during the construction of the new Uffizi galleries in Florence. Although only a small portion of the cemetery has survived, as its original extent was irreversibly compromised by floods of the Arno, the Medieval expansion of the city, and finally by Vasari’s sixteenth-century works, the remains are of considerable importance for reconstructing the funerary topography of Late Antique Florence. Located in the eastern wing of the Uffizi complex, the site has produced important new evidence, such as suggestions of a possible pandemic, perhaps in conjunction with the arrival of the Goths. This book is a product of collaborative work in which archaeology, bioarchaeology, and historical reconstruction are intertwined in the various chapters to provide a new interpretative framework for late Roman Florence. The multidisciplinary nature of the book enriches the discussion and highlights the complexity of the city during an era of radical transformation.
The first chapter gives a complete description of the excavation and the archaeo-thanatological analysis of the graves. Twenty graves were identified, some of them multiple burials; the location of the necropolis, outside the Roman city walls and on a slight elevation with no prior occupation, bears witness to its deliberate use as a place of burial. When it ceased to be used as a cemetery, the land was reclaimed for farming and ultimately absorbed in the expanding city, eventually giving rise to the eastern wing of the Uffizi. The discussion then proceeds to a close examination of the individual burials, observing that the graves were not disrupted by subsequent intrusions or reuse. The thanatological study, along with subsequent laboratory studies, strongly suggests that the cemetery was created hastily, most likely in the aftermath of a traumatic event.
Chapter two focuses on the radiocarbon dating methodology and results, establishing a precise chronology for the cemetery. All of the calibrated dates fall within the late fourth and early fifth century CE. The numismatic evidence presented in Chapter 3 also supports this reconstruction: the coins excavated from the graves all date to the first half of the fifth century, reaffirming the conclusions based on radiocarbon dating. There are only two exceptions, associated with a cappuccina-style grave of a later date, which suggests that the cemetery was visited periodically after its main period of use.
Chapter four is the anthropological examination of the skeletons, giving a picture of the late Roman population of Florence. The average height of the individuals is consistent with evidence from other sites of the period, and no pathological features are evident other than indications of everyday activity and labor. Of greater interest are some of the pathological features, e.g., metopism and schisis of the sacrum, that may be indicative of endogamous behavior in this population and thus its limited genetic diversity.
Chapter five adds to this analysis the results of genetic investigation. Ancient DNA from dental samples was examined to find possible signs of infectious disease, but the results were negative. This absence is significant, especially in light of the overall hypothesis that the necropolis may be representative of the impact of an epidemic event.
Chapter 6 presents a valuable contribution through the paleopathological examination of the skeletal remains, and the frequency of periostitis is observed, which is explained by the authors as not only a common cause of death but also most likely the result of an epidemic disease (p. 73). Following an extended excursus on the history of epidemics, whose pertinence to the chapter is not fully evident, the focus returns to the interpretation of the evidence gathered. From the pathological evidence, the authors conclude that the most likely diagnosis is typhoid fever, which could reasonably account for the sudden and mass utilization of the necropolis. These other pathologic conditions, though less frequent, were also identified, including meningeal inflammations, polyenthesopathy, and osteomalacia.
The genomic analyses presented in Chapter 7 indicate that the subjects examined were, in general, part of a south-central Italian population, with the exception of one individual whose genotype indicates instead an affiliation with the Iberian Peninsula. This finding reinforces the impression of a fairly localized community but also suggests the occasional occurrence of mobility or external contacts.
Complementary parasitological studies provide further insight into the living conditions of the group. The existence of endemic parasites suggests that these individuals lived in poor sanitary conditions, most likely caused by practices such as eating with unclean hands, consuming contaminated water, or ingesting vegetables contaminated by human feces. Genomic and parasitological information, when combined together, enhance the bioarchaeological record of the population by providing insight into not only its population structure but also its everyday environment.
Chapter 9 presents oral health, with results overall consistent with trends attested in Medieval populations. Dental caries were more frequently recorded in female individuals, a distribution justified by an imbalanced diet rich in carbohydrates and meat. The latter is also considered the likely reason behind the widespread occurrence of dental calculus. Underlying these conditions, nonetheless, is poor oral hygiene, which emerges as the common denominator for the whole population.
Chapter 10 shifts to stable isotope analyses, providing more evidence about dietary habits of the late Roman population. The results confirm the consumption of animal proteins alongside barley, wheat, legumes, and dairy products, suggesting a mixed diet. There was also a presence of aquatic-derived proteins, while millet appears to have augmented the overall subsistence regimen. These results, taken together, offer a rich reconstruction of dietary practice, one that integrates biological markers into larger cultural and environmental contexts.
In the concluding chapter, Elsa Pacciani brings together the results presented throughout the volume. She confirms the chronology of the necropolis between the late fourth and early fifth century CE, also discussing the possible origin of the deceased. Although one might initially suspect an external provenance, either from the Near East or northern Europe, the paleogenetic investigations ultimately support a local origin, indicating an autochthonous population.
The conclusions also indicate a degree of economic dynamism in late Roman Florence, a city still connected to Rome and Pisa through its road systems. Indications of decline are also visible, nonetheless. Economic activity appears to have shifted increasingly towards local production rather than Mediterranean long-distance imports, foreshadowing the collapse of the Roman commercial system. Examination of skeletal and dental remains also reveals that by the late fourth century, the city’s aqueduct and sewer systems were already in a state of disrepair or at least not well maintained, with the clear consequences for public health. Finally, attempting to connect the necropolis to broader historical events, Pacciani cautiously proposes the possibility of attributing these burials to the Gothic siege of Florence by Radagaisus. In this context, an outbreak of typhoid fever or dysentery, possibly originating in military camps, emerges as a plausible cause behind the rapid establishment of the cemetery.
While the volume is generally well structured and certainly presents a case study of genuine interest for the study of Late Antique and early Medieval populations, some difficulties should also be noted. The data are presented in a reasonably coherent fashion. Yet, at times, there is a sense that the evidence is pushed somewhat too forcefully toward a specific interpretative framework, that is, the reading of the necropolis as the direct product of a traumatic, epidemic event. Although this hypothesis is both intriguing and plausible, it is not always fully supported by the available data, which in some cases could admit more nuanced or alternative explanations. The repeated emphasis on epidemic disease could overshadow other potential interpretative avenues, such as social or cultural factors that may have influenced burial practices and population health.
The analyses themselves are competent, but their presentation is also inconsistent across the chapters. Some sections provide careful discussion of methodology and results without offering a sufficient overarching interpretative framework, while others go further into interpretation, resulting in a lack of balance and uniformity in the overall argument. This unevenness, while inevitable in a multi-authored work, nevertheless detracts from the cohesion of the volume. Occasionally, specific interpretations appear to be over-emphasized. For instance, the suggestion on page 117 that the late Roman population of Florence might be accounted for as descendants of Sulla’s soldiers is particularly unwarranted. The Social War and Sulla’s campaigns belonged to the early first century BCE, and to invoke them as a genealogical explanation for a population four hundred years later is not only methodologically questionable, but seems more like poetic license than historical argument. These digressions endanger the otherwise healthy empirical basis of the research and introduce a degree of interpretative confusion.
There are other aspects that call for more critical scrutiny. First of all, while the necropolis is undoubtedly a priority case study, one which needed to be published in its entirety, even given its small size, as it contributes to our micro-regional understanding of late Roman populations, the temptation to extrapolate from such a limited sample is not without danger. It seems somewhat hyperbolic, for instance, to use the osteological and isotopic evidence to promote the failure of Florence’s public aqueduct and sewer systems in the late fourth or early fifth century CE (p. 142). Claims of this sort require a much greater dataset to substantiate, and stretching the interpretation of twenty burials to deduce the political and administrative collapse of a whole urban context strikes me as methodologically flawed. Finally, the last chapter presents a further set of difficulties. On several occasions (pp. 141–143), the text falls back on stereotypes that are becoming ever more untenable in light of recent historiographical debates and archaeological advances. It is striking, in 2025, to encounter repeated references to “barbarians” and “barbarian invasions” rather than the more precise “Germanic invasions/peoples.” The persistence of such terminology, which carries heavy historiographical baggage and a distinctly pejorative undertone, seems to disregard decades of scholarship that moved beyond the Gibbonian framework by the end of the twentieth century. Equally problematic is the characterization of the new urban structures that replaced classical Roman buildings as “poor.” This reflects a classical-centric bias, whereby timber buildings, perishable materials, and mixed building techniques are minimized as inadequate for an urban context. Yet the past forty years of archaeological research into Late Antique and early Medieval urbanism have made it evident that such building traditions were already present within the Roman world and simply became more widespread subsequently, partly due to cultural contact with Germanic groups.
The editorial work is good, with great success in eliminating the appearance of a direct translation from Italian and achieving a readable and fluent style. With the exception of minor instances, such as the translation of “alla cappuccina” as “Capuchin burial” on page 27, the language is polished and correct, adding much to the readability of the volume and assuring a far wider audience. All too frequently, Italian archaeological scholarship is limited by publication solely in Italian, a strategy that necessarily circumscribes readership, the dissemination of important scientific findings, and the citation of Italian work in the wider historiographical discussions.
No less praiseworthy is the lavish and informative photographic apparatus that supports the text. The decision to present the entire set of photographs in color, particularly in a volume that addresses the analysis of human skeletal remains, is an excellent editorial choice. Aside from enhancing the quality and accuracy of the presentation, it also extends the scope of the audience by making the information more readily accessible to researchers from diverse backgrounds and fields. Along with the careful editing and the fine visual record, these elevate the volume to a standard of quality all too rarely achieved in books of this kind, and assure both its scientific utility and its broader relevance.
Authors and Titles
The Uffizi before the Uffizi – Andrea Pessina
Introduction – Elsa Pacciani
- The Excavation and Archaeo-Thanatological Analysis of the Depositions – Elsa Pacciani
- Radiocarbon Dating of Bone Finds – Mariaelena Fedi, Serena Barone, Lucia Liccioli, Pier Andrea Mandò
- The Coins from the Burial Site – Michele Asolati
- Anthropological Features – Elsa Pacciani
- In the Search for Infectious Diseases Using Ancient DNA – Gunnar U. Neumann
- Palaeopathological Investigations – Elsa Pacciani, Linda Calistri, Filiberto Chilleri, Martina Focardi, Alessandro Franchi, Gianluca Giavaresi, Melania Maglio
- Genomic Analysis of Human Remains – Costanza Cannariato, Margherita Vanni, Valentina Zaro, Gunnar Neumann, Martina Lari, Cosimo Posth, David Caramelli
- Endemic Parasites: A Microscopic and Paleogenetic Survey – Kévin Roche, Nicolas Capelli, Raffaella Bianucci, Matthieu Le Bailly
- The Oral Health – Elisa Morieri, Alessandro Riga
- Stable Isotope Analysis of Diets in Late Roman and Medieval Firenze – Patrick Roberts, Mary Lucas
- Notes on the Conservation Treatment of Human Remains – Franca Caracci, Rossella Cheli
Concluding Remarks – Elsa Pacciani