The Late Antique and Early Medieval eras in the Mediterranean (5th-10th centuries AD) were an extremely turbulent time. In the centuries following the fall of the Western Roman Empire (c. 476 AD), Italy experienced the Gothic War, the plague of Justinian, the Lombard invasion, the rise of the Carolingian dynasty, and the spread of Christianity. The nature of this transitional period has garnered considerable debate in archaeological and historical literature, resulting in some scholars advocating for a “Dark Age” of isolation, disease, and cultural stagnation, while others have suggested these eras were marked by adaptation, interconnectivity, and resilience. Notably, there has been relatively little focus on the ways in which bioarchaeology can contribute to this conversation. At present, no studies have used a diachronic, intracemetery analysis with paleopathological and biological distance (biodistance) approaches to understand the effects of this time period on the residents of Tuscany, Italy.In order to address these scholarly gaps, this dissertation focuses on the site of Rusellae (Tuscany, Italy) and its cemetery, which was in use between the 6th and 12th centuries AD. The present study focuses on a sample of 160 adults excavated in a collaboration between the Art and Archaeology Museum of the Maremma and the Archaeological Superintendence of Tuscany between 1987 and 1991. The burials comprise individuals from two archaeologically-defined phases: Phase I (6th-7th centuries AD) and Phase II (8th-12th centuries AD). The primary foci of this study are: an examination of biological distance within Rusellae and among Rusellae and contemporary sites using craniometrics; a craniometric population affinity analysis within Rusellae; an exploration of craniometric variation over time; and the frequency of skeletal stress indicators (cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, periosteal reaction, and linear enamel hypoplasias) between cemetery phases and population affinities.The results showed that, despite exhibiting an overall greater affinity with contemporary European samples than African references, Rusellae was a biologically heterogeneous site comprising several craniofacially distinct groups. Further, the presence of several individuals consistent with African affinity was preliminarily attested at the site. Notably, when compared with individuals showing greater European affinity, the individuals with a greater affinity to African reference samples showed no significant difference in frequencies of the skeletal stress markers analyzed, with the exception of linear enamel hypoplasia of the maxillary central incisor. In addition, there were no statistically significant differences in either skeletal stress indicators or cranial measurements between the earlier and later phases of the cemetery.Broadly, these results suggest genetic continuity between Rusellae and other European populations, but not to the exclusion of some contribution from the African continent. These findings are consistent with continued circum-Mediterranean trade and migration, including exchange between Tuscany and North Africa, during this period. Additionally, the lack of diachronic change in skeletal stress indicators and craniometrics suggests a degree of biological, ecological, environmental, and psychosocial stability throughout Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages at Rusellae. Further, the findings indicate a generally similar experience between affinities, at least with respect to the stress indicators analyzed, possibly due to a social structure that prioritized religious cohesion over ancestral divisions. Thus, the totality of the evidence supports a view of the transitional period between the 6th and 12th centuries, not as a “Dark Age” characterized by collapse, but as an era of continuity, connectivity, and resilience for Rusellae.
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