Colonia Iulia Emona at the crossroads in the South-Eastern Alpine region during the late Roman period – An isotope perspective

Colonia Iulia Emona (present-day Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia) was an autonomous town in the north-eastern part of Roman Italy (regio X). Its importance is closely linked with its favourable position at the crossroad of land and water routes connecting Italy with continental provinces and Eastern regions of the Empire. The Roman town of Emona had three major necropolises, situated along roads approaching to the city from the South-West (direction towards Aquileia), the East (Siscia, Pannonia), and the North-East (Poetovio, Pannonia). Excavations of the Gosposvetska road, conducted in 2017/2018, unearthed a particular area of the Northern necropolis of Emona and revealed a cemeterial complex, spatially separated from the neighbouring burial grounds. To better understand the people from Late Roman Emona and this cemeterial complex, a multi-isotopic study on 27 individuals recovered from the excavation at Gosposvetska road was carried out and a bioavailable strontium (BASr) baseline for Ljubljana and its surrounding was established. The isotopic analyses suggest C₃ plants-based diet, with some contribution from animal proteins and C₄ plants. Most individuals exhibit local oxygen and strontium signals, consistent with the climate and agricultural landscape surrounding Roman Emona. The few outliers indicate individuals with different diet and possibly non-local origins.