Population dynamics and cultural transitions: A dental nonmetric investigation of the Iron Age to Early Medieval period in Wessex, England

Faillace, Katie 2025. Population dynamics and cultural transitions: A dental nonmetric investigation of the Iron Age to Early Medieval period in Wessex, England. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

This study investigates social networks and mobility across the longue durée of the Iron Age, Roman, and Early Medieval periods in Wessex, England. Although bioarchaeological research has improved understanding of how these cultural transitions affected lived experiences, their impact on population dynamics is little understood, still dominated by much-critiqued models of mass migration or acculturation despite calls for nuanced, regionally specific models. The present study addresses these needs using dental morphology to measure biological distance in Wessex throughout these periods. Because dental traits are highly heritable, they reflect reproductive relationships between groups, which can be combined with other forms of evidence to interpret population relationships including migration and group affinity; however, this method is under-utilised in Britain. Dental traits were recorded from 765 individuals across 22 sites from the Iron Age (n=116), Roman (n=324), and Early Medieval (n=325) periods following the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System. Trait frequencies were analysed using Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD), Multi-Dimensional Scaling, and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis to reveal intra-regional relationships. MMD provides biological distance measure, which was compared to geographic distances to assess models of Isolation by Distance. The evidence suggests Iron Age groups were connected via central places which acted as foci in wide-ranging networks. Social organisation changed in the Roman period, becoming strongly correlated to geographic distance, reflecting shifting ways people moved and connected through Wessex. This trend continues in the Early Medieval period, demonstrating changes introduced under Roman rule had an indelible biological effect on the population. However, within this overall pattern of affinity, differences were identified between the sites in the east and west, and between urban and rural settlements. This approach offers a new perspective on regional population dynamics, improving understandings of social organisation, migration, and ethnicity, and demonstrates the utility of the method to archaeological contexts in Britain.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D111 Medieval History
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	2 April 2025
Date of Acceptance:	2 April 2025
Last Modified:	02 Apr 2025 15:25
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/177364

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