Between Raetia Secunda and the dutchy of Bavaria: Exploring patterns of human movement and diet.

During the transition from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages, the Roman Empire dissolved in the West and medieval empires were founded. There has been much discussion about the role that migration played in this transition. This is especially true for the formation of the Baiuvariian tribe and the founding of this tribal dukedom, which took place from the 5th to the 6th century in what is now Southern Bavaria (Germany).

Ancient genomes from across Western Europe reveal early diversification during the First Pandemic (541-750).

The first historically documented pandemic caused by began as the Justinianic Plague in 541 within the Roman Empire and continued as the so-called First Pandemic until 750. Although paleogenomic studies have previously identified the causative agent as , little is known about the bacterium's spread, diversity, and genetic history over the course of the pandemic. To elucidate the microevolution of the bacterium during this time period, we screened human remains from 21 sites in Austria, Britain, Germany, France, and Spain for DNA and reconstructed eight genomes.

Population genomic analysis of elongated skulls reveals extensive female-biased immigration in Early Medieval Bavaria.

Modern European genetic structure demonstrates strong correlations with geography, while genetic analysis of prehistoric humans has indicated at least two major waves of immigration from outside the continent during periods of cultural change. However, population-level genome data that could shed light on the demographic processes occurring during the intervening periods have been absent. Therefore, we generated genomic data from 41 individuals dating mostly to the late 5th/early 6th century AD from present-day Bavaria in southern Germany, including 11 whole genomes (mean depth 5.

Early medieval stone-lined graves in Southern Germany: analysis of an emerging noble class.

Objectives: Stone-lined graves, which first appear in Bavarian territory during the 7 century AD, are assumed to be tombs of emerging nobility. While previous research on stone-lined grave goods supports their status as elite burials, an important factor defining nobility-kinship-has not been examined so far.

Materials And Methods: Morphological analysis of the commingled skeletal remains of 21 individuals from three archaeological sites was carried out.