Rome •

The Colli Albani Volcanic Area near Rome showed signs of activity in the last decades.

More than 2,000 years after the massive event that covered Pompeii with hot lava, another volcanic eruption threatens the city of Rome. The Colli Albani Volcanic District seems to be waking up again.

The volcanoes are placed just 20 miles outside the city. Scientists that monitor the area registered steam vents, the rise in ground levels and earthquakes, all signs that the volcano is not extinct.

The activity started almost 20 years ago. The Colli Albani hills began to rise, which is explained by magma accumulating under the surface.

In 1991, a series of earthquakes affected the area and lasted for four years.

More recently, in 2013 a volcanic vent opened near Rome’s airport. The fumarole appeared near a road leading to Italy’s capital. The whole ejects mud, water, and hot steam.

The researchers studied the rocks around the volcano’s base and discovered that the volcano has a cyclic activity. Each eruption appears around 31,000 years after the precedent one.

As the last eruption took place 36,000 years ago, it seems that the volcano had exceeded its due time. However, the researchers calculated that another explosion would not happen in the next 1,000 years.

The scientists issued forecasts referring to the volcano’s activity. While a major outbreak is not to be expected in the near future, several smaller eruptions might occur in the meantime. These events are not thought to be explosive.

The researchers do not seem to be very worried over the matter. Even if the volcano erupts again, they say there will be plenty of signs beforehand. Moreover, Rome does not appear to be in danger.

Other studies have shown that an eruption would not affect the city. However, the hot ash and the lava have extremely high speeds that would make it tough to be stopped, and the authorities will have a hard time trying to stop them or to intervene.

Being closer to the volcano, the city’s suburbs could be devastated by the event. The authors of the study stated they hope the Colli Albani will be more closely monitored, to make sure that the city will be prepared to react accordingly to any future volcanic activity.

The geologists explain that the Colli Albani volcanoes are stopped from erupting by two pieces of land that press together over the magma bubble, preventing it from reaching the surface.

In the last 2,000 years, the two layers started to move away from one another, increasing the chance of a future eruption.

Computer simulations showed that the area rose to 164 feet in the last 200,000 years. The land continues to grow in altitude at a rate of 0.8 inches every year, as the magma is accumulating underground.

Image Source: Wikipedia

Ancient Roman skeletons reveal human migration pattern.

Scientists are amazed by recent unearthed skeletons, as ancient cemeteries reveal clues to human migration in Imperial Rome.

We are all familiar to the saying ‘all roads lead to Rome’. It can be translated as ‘all paths or activities lead to the center of things’. This was literally true in the days of the Roman Empire, when all the empire’s roads radiated outfrom the capital city: Rome. Today, the story of the hopeful people living the backwaters of the ancient world is a story that hardly seems to change.

According to the close observation of 2,000-year-old skeletons in two Roman cemeteries, researchers state that some migrants were likely from outside Roman Empire, possibly from North Africa and the Alps. Kristina Killgrove from University of West Florida, in the US, and Janet Montgomery from Britain’s Durham University did isotope analyses of 105 skeletons buried at the necropolises during the first through the third centuries AD.

The investigation took place in two Imperial-era cemeteries and showed that several individuals, mostly men and children, migrated to Rome, changing significantly their diet after their move. Four of the individuals were born outside Rome: three male adults, including one over age 50, and a teen between 11 and 15. Another four showed signs of possible migration: two children under 12, a teen boy, and an older teenage girl.

So, the question still remains: ‘Where did they come from?’ According to the researchers, two of the migrants came from old-mountain areas like the Alps or islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, while a third apparently came from Italy’s Apennine mountains. The last immigrant may have been born in Northern Africa, or else he just ate a lot of grain imported from there, as was common in Rome.

No matter where they came from, though, once they got to the imperial city, these immigrants ate like other Romans, declare the researchers. The diet change consisted of wheat, beans, meat and fish. This is the living proof that when in Rome (or its empire), you really had to do as the Romans did.

A recent press release claims that further DNA analysis is needed to expose further genetic origins of the individuals. However, the analysis of their teeth is enough to tell Killgrove and Montgomery the general and initial origin of the people buried there. Genetic data couldn’t confirm what the teeth analysis says, but it could tell us the ethnic origin of the immigrants.

This case study demonstrates the importance of employing bioarchaeology to generate a deeper understanding of a complex ancient urban center.

Killgrove and Montgomery wrote.

All in all, the recent discovery is definitely an exciting step in uncovering secrets about the ancient city and its immigrants.

Image Source: mentalfloss.com.

Volcanic Eruption Threatens Rome

Ancient Cemeteries Reveal Clues To Human Migration In Imperial Rome

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