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The paper presents a set of glass fragments excavated at several different locations within and outside the late Roman fortified imperial residence Felix Romuliana (Gamzigrad, Serbia). This small group of eighteen fragments and mosaic glass tesserae are distinguished by their cobalt blue colour. The majority of the finds are mosaic tesserae (six pcs) and sheets of glass (five pcs), which could be related to architectural decoration (sectilia panels). Others are pieces left behind from secondary glass working (four pcs). There are also two fragments tentatively identified as window pane pieces, and only one find is a vessel sherd. The materials are dated to the 4th century. Significantly, some of the production debris and the two “window pane” fragments were found inside the destruction of a glass furnace. The analyses of the chemical glass composition of the finds confirmed that the blue colourant in all samples is cobalt, and antimony is also present at notable levels (except for one sample), likely to produce opacification of the glass. Regarding the origin of the raw glass, the data on almost all pieces suggests a Syro-Palestinian provenance, and a single sample could be related to Egyptian primary glass production. Importantly, the concentrations of the oxides added to the base glasses in order to modify the colour are positively correlated in certain samples, hinting at the makeup of the cobalt bearing ingredient and at a likely existence of particular production practices of the late Roman period.

This paper deals with the occurrence of lead figurines of the goddess Venus in the area between the two cities of Sirmium and Viminacium. A classification into five types, based on stylistic and iconographic features, has been proposed. Although these types show features in common with products of other workshops in the Danubian basin, it has been observed that such products were not exchanged among the centres in the area. This paper puts forward the hypothesis that there were two centres of worship of the goddess Venus, in Sirmium and Viminacium, where these figurines could have been manufactured. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177007: Romanization, urbanization and transformation of urban centres of civil, military and residentialcharacter in Roman provinces on territory of Serbia]

After accidental discovery of the Late Roman sarcophagus in Šid there were conducted rescue archaeological excavations in 1998. On that occasion has been discovered underground rectangular structure - crypt where the sarcophagus had been placed. In the immediate vicinity has been discovered a grave of a female buried in simple burial pit. In this work we are discussing representations of soldiers on the sarcophagus, dating of the find and possibility of the villa existing in the immediate vicinity of the necropolis.

Ancient DNA research in the past decade has revealed that European population structure changed dramatically in the prehistoric period (14,000-3000 years before present, YBP), reflecting the widespread introduction of Neolithic farmer and Bronze Age Steppe ancestries. However, little is known about how population structure changed from the historical period onward (3000 YBP - present). To address this, we collected whole genomes from 204 individuals from Europe and the Mediterranean, many of which are the first historical period genomes from their region (e.g. Armenia and France). We found that most regions show remarkable inter-individual heterogeneity. At least 7% of historical individuals carry ancestry uncommon in the region where they were sampled, some indicating cross-Mediterranean contacts. Despite this high level of mobility, overall population structure across western Eurasia is relatively stable through the historical period up to the present, mirroring geography. We show that, under standard population genetics models with local panmixia, the observed level of dispersal would lead to a collapse of population structure. Persistent population structure thus suggests a lower effective migration rate than indicated by the observed dispersal. We hypothesize that this phenomenon can be explained by extensive transient dispersal arising from drastically improved transportation networks and the Roman Empire's mobilization of people for trade, labor, and military. This work highlights the utility of ancient DNA in elucidating finer scale human population dynamics in recent history., Competing Interests: MA, CW, SS, VO, HM, JS, OC, BZ, EP, KÖ, LD, PG, DF, ML, TA, SA, PA, CB, ŽB, AB, LB, PB, EB, DB, FC, MC, DD, ID, KE, MF, AG, GG, FG, SG, ZH, RJ, KV, GJ, IK, KK, HK, AK, SK, MK, VK, MK, DK, FL, ML, SL, TL, TL, WL, AS, VM, YC, NM, IM, NM, BM, LN, MN, AN, CN, JN, AO, JP, LP, DP, KP, SP, MR, MS, AS, AS, TS, MT, IT, DT, JT, DV, TW, DW, MŽ, MF, MČ, MŠ, DB, MN, AC, RP, JP No competing interests declared, ZG Reviewing editor, eLife, MB Affiliated with Palisada Ltd. The author has no financial interests to declare, JB, DL Affiliated with Kaducej Ltd. The author has no financial interests to declare, RM Affiliated with Skupina STIK. The author has no financial interests to declare, (© 2024, Antonio, Weiß, Gao et al.)