A Dramatic Event in Late Roman Florence

A multi-disciplinary investigation beneath the Uffizi Gallery in Florence uncovered an emergency burial site from the late 4th to early 5th century AD. Likely due to an epidemic, this discovery sheds new light on a dramatic, undocumented event in the city’s history, revealing its historical and socioeconomic context.

A Dramatic Event in Late Roman Florence: The Anomalous Burial Site Discovered beneath the Uffizi Gallery presents a multi-disciplinary scientific investigation arising from excavations under the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. Investigations revealed traces of a striking, hitherto unknown episode and made it possible to write an entirely new chapter of the city’s ancient history. Between the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th century AD this space – then a strip of land between the walls of Roman Florentia and the River Arno – was chosen as the burial place for dozens of inhabitants who had died within a short time span. Indeed, what has survived the expansion of the medieval and Renaissance city represents a small part of an originally much larger emergency burial area used in the course of a dramatic event of considerable proportions, most probably an epidemic, of which there is no historical record. The scientific investigations described here aim to understand, through a synergetic and coordinated approach, not only the cause of these deaths but also the historical and socioeconomic context of this event. The volume therefore collects contributions by several specialists in different disciplines: anthropology, medicine, numismatics, C14 dating, palaeogenetics, palaeobacteriology, and palaeoparasitology. The results are of considerable historical interest: they reveal contemporary living conditions, which contributed to the onset of mortality; the event was likely a contributing factor to subsequent well-known demographic changes; and its chronology suggests a probable relationship with the first barbarian aggression against the city.

"The Uffizi before the Uffizi - Andrea Pessina

Introduction - Elsa Pacciani

Chapter 1. The Excavation and Archaeo-Thanatological Analysis of the Depositions - Elsa Pacciani

Chapter 2. Radiocarbon Dating of Bone Finds - Mariaelena Fedi, Serena Barone, Lucia Liccioli, Pier Andrea Mando

Chapter 3. The Coins from the Burial Site - Michele Asolati

Chapter 4. Anthropological Features - Elsa Pacciani

Chapter 5. In the Search for Infectious Diseases Using Ancient DNA - Gunnar U. Neumann

Chapter 6. Palaeopathological Investigations - Elsa Pacciani, Linda Calistri, Filiberto Chilleri, Martina Focardi, Alessandro Franchi, Gianluca Giavaresi, Melania Maglio

Chapter 7. Genomic Analysis of Human Remains - Costanza Cannariato, Margherita Vanni, Valentina Zaro, Gunnar Neumann, Martina Lari, Cosimo Posth, David Caramelli

Chapter 8. Endemic Parasites: A Microscopic and Paleogenetic Survey - Kevin Roche, Nicolas Capelli, Raffaella Bianucci, Matthieu Le Bailly

Chapter 9. The Oral Health - Elisa Morieri, Alessandro Riga

Chapter 10. Stable Isotope Analysis of Diets in Late Roman and Medieval Firenze - Patrick Roberts, Mary Lucas

Chapter 11. Notes on the Conservation Treatment of Human Remains - Franca Caracci, Rossella Cheli

Concluding Remarks - Elsa Pacciani

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The Uffizi before the Uffizi – Andrea Pessina

Introduction – Elsa Pacciani

Chapter 1. The Excavation and Archaeo-Thanatological Analysis of the Depositions – Elsa Pacciani

Chapter 2. Radiocarbon Dating of Bone Finds – Mariaelena Fedi, Serena Barone, Lucia Liccioli, Pier Andrea Mandò

Chapter 3. The Coins from the Burial Site – Michele Asolati

Chapter 4. Anthropological Features – Elsa Pacciani

Chapter 5. In the Search for Infectious Diseases Using Ancient DNA – Gunnar U. Neumann

Chapter 6. Palaeopathological Investigations – Elsa Pacciani, Linda Calistri, Filiberto Chilleri, Martina Focardi, Alessandro Franchi, Gianluca Giavaresi, Melania Maglio

Chapter 7. Genomic Analysis of Human Remains – Costanza Cannariato, Margherita Vanni, Valentina Zaro, Gunnar Neumann, Martina Lari, Cosimo Posth, David Caramelli

Chapter 8. Endemic Parasites: A Microscopic and Paleogenetic Survey – Kévin Roche, Nicolas Capelli, Raffaella Bianucci, Matthieu Le Bailly

Chapter 9. The Oral Health – Elisa Morieri, Alessandro Riga

Chapter 10. Stable Isotope Analysis of Diets in Late Roman and Medieval Firenze – Patrick Roberts, Mary Lucas

Chapter 11. Notes on the Conservation Treatment of Human Remains – Franca Caracci, Rossella Cheli

Concluding Remarks – Elsa Pacciani

“Elsa Pacciani graduated in Biological Sciences from the University of Florence. Before her retirement she was Director of the Archaeo-Anthropology Laboratory of the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio di Firenze, Pistoia e Prato. She currently leads a research project for the Soprintendenza. She has held numerous teaching assignments at the University of Florence and has published four books and 193 articles.

• Edited by Elsa Pacciani

‘The editorial work is good, with great success in eliminating the appearance of a direct translation from Italian and achieving a readable and fluent style. With the exception of minor instances the language is polished and correct, adding much to the readability of the volume and assuring a far wider audience. … No less praiseworthy is the lavish and informative photographic apparatus that supports the text. The decision to present the entire set of photographs in color, particularly in a volume that addresses the analysis of human skeletal remains, is an excellent editorial choice. … Along with the careful editing and the fine visual record, these elevate the volume to a standard of quality all too rarely achieved in books of this kind, and assure both its scientific utility and its broader relevance.’ - Alessandro Sebastiani (2025): Bryn Mawr Classical Review

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