First Glimpse into the Genomic Characterization of People from the Imperial Roman Community of Casal Bertone (Rome, First–Third Centuries AD)

Abstract

This paper aims to provide a first glimpse into the genomic characterization of individuals buried in Casal Bertone (Rome, first–third centuries AD) to gain preliminary insight into the genetic makeup of people who lived near a tannery workshop, fullonica. Therefore, we explored the genetic characteristics of individuals who were putatively recruited as fuller workers outside the Roman population. Moreover, we identified the microbial communities associated with humans to detect microbes associated with the unhealthy environment supposed for such a workshop. We examined five individuals from Casal Bertone for ancient DNA analysis through whole-genome sequencing via a shotgun approach. We conducted multiple investigations to unveil the genetic components featured in the samples studied and their associated microbial communities. We generated reliable whole-genome data for three samples surviving the quality controls. The individuals were descendants of people from North African and the Near East, two of the main foci for tannery and dyeing activity in the past. Our evaluation of the microbes associated with the skeletal samples showed microbes growing in soils with waste products used in the tannery process, indicating that people lived, died, and were buried around places where they worked. In that perspective, the results represent the first genomic characterization of fullers from the past. This analysis broadens our knowledge about the presence of multiple ancestries in Imperial Rome, marking a starting point for future data integration as part of interdisciplinary research on human mobility and the bio-cultural characteristics of people employed in dedicated workshops.