Immigration to Roman London

Identifying migrants in Roman London using lead and strontium stable isotopes

Authors:

Shaw et al

Abstract:

The ancient settlement of Londinium (London) has long been characterized as a major commercial and bureaucratic centre of the Roman province of Britain (Britannia). Primary source information indicates that people were drawn to the city from around the Empire. Mortuary and archaeological material evidence also attest to its cosmopolitan nature and have long been used to characterize the people who are buried in Londinium and identify where they may have originated. Within the past decade, researchers have successfully applied isotopic analyses of strontium and oxygen to human remains from various settlements in Roman Britain in order to identify the migrant status of the inhabitants. Recent studies have highlighted the utility of lead isotopes for examining past mobility, particularly for the Roman period. The aim of this project, therefore, was to apply lead and strontium isotope analyses to dental enamel samples from twenty individuals excavated from Londinium. The results suggest that the geographic origins of the population of Roman London varied, comprising individuals local to Londinium and Britannia, but also from further afield in the Empire, including Rome. The findings from this study are a valuable addition to the growing stable isotope dataset that is helping to characterize the nature of migration in Roman Britain, and this has broader implications for interpreting the relationship of migration and identity in the province.

1 Undershaft, London, Britain

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London's Robopocalyptic Bicycle Storage Tower

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London's Proposed Skinny Shard

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A Whole new Take on 'Sub' Urban Farming in London's WW2 Tunnels

The "world’s first underground urban farm" is set to start selling herbs and salads grown 33 m (108 ft) below the streets of London. Growing Underground is based in disused World War II tunnels. At less than two miles from the city-center, it promises farm-to-fork produce in less than four hours.

Growing Underground is the brainchild of West Country entrepreneurs Richard Ballard and Steven Dring and has been developed in partnership with Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux Jr. It was conceived as a means of producing local and environmentally-friendly high-quality produce, with the disused tunnels providing the ideal location.

The tunnels are located below London's Northern Line underground rail link in the Clapham area of the city and were previously used as a bomb shelter for residents. The site currently being used was able to accommodate 8,000 people when needed. Now it provides a steady and controllable environment for Ballard and Dring to grow their crops.

The location allows for all year round urban farming, as it's unaffected by weather and seasonal changes. It is a pesticide-free environment and the hydroponics system employed is said to use 70 percent less water than traditional open-field farming. Likewise, the lighting and irrigation systems mean the crops can be grown with very little energy. What energy is used is sourced only from green suppliers.

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Reconstructing the Roman London's use of Exotic Plants for Culinary Purposes

Reconstructing the Roman London flavourscape: New insights into the exotic food plant trade using network and spatial analyses

Authors:

Livarda et al

Abstract:

Using archaeobotanical data and examining them with a novel combination of density interpolation surfaces and social and spatial network analyses, this study has brought together all exotic food plants in Roman London to outline the changing ‘face’ of its flavourscape, and contextualise it within the broader exotics commerce in Britannia. Consumption of a variety of exotics appeared to be widespread since the very first stages of London’s establishment and their presence was maintained throughout although later on, as life in the town developed and its character changed, the focus of their distribution also changed. The emphasis shifted from the core of the city in its early days towards its outer zones, such as the upper Walbrook valley and Southwark in the Middle Roman, and the western and eastern sectors in the Late Roman phase. These changes appeared to largely reflect the changes in the overall commerce network of exotics in Britannia. In this network London starts as a mainly consumption place in the Early Roman phase to become the main redistribution centre in the Middle Roman and the necessary intermediate node in the transport system that had been established by the Late Roman phase, connecting the south to the north.

London's Proposed Garden Bridge

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London Mayor Briefly Supports the Robopocalypse for London Bus Drivers

Replacing London's driver-operated buses with driverless vehicles would provide large cost savings as part of a "paradigm shift" in the way people travel, according to a controversial passage in a document published by Boris Johnson this week.

However, the loosely worded job-cutting suggestion had to be swiftly disowned by the mayor's office on Thursday, even though the document in which the futuristic idea was aired was published in support of Johnson's 2050 transport plan the day before.

Discussing trends in transport, the document supporting the plan heralded a future in which buses might glide around the capital with no drivers – there are currently 22,500 of them – a generation after conductors largely disappeared across most of London's bus routes.

It said that driverless technology of the type being developed by Google would provide "large cost savings for buses while delivering a faster more efficient service," and added that it would become possible to provide what it called "taxi like" services "at reduced costs".

A day after the document was published, the mayor's office moved to distance itself from the remarks.

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Chinese Investment Firm to Fund Rebuilding London's Crystal Palace

A Chinese investment firm on Thursday announced plans to resurrect London's Crystal Palace, once the largest glass structure in the world.

The planned £500 million ($800 million, 600 million euro) re-creation by the ZhongRong Group is on the same size and scale as Joseph Paxton's original cast iron and plate glass masterpiece.

The Crystal Palace was built in central London's Hyde Park for the 1851 Great Exhibition of wonders from across the globe, but moved to a hilltop dominating south London in 1854.

The building, a marvel of the Victorian age, burnt down in 1936, although the area is still known as Crystal Palace.

The Italian-style terraces on which it stood are now empty and grassed over.

The plans involve turning the site into a major new cultural destination and restoring the surrounding 180-acre (73-hectare) public park through landscaping, planting and new facilities.

"London is renowned across the world for its history and culture and the former Crystal Palace is celebrated in China as a magnificent achievement," said ZhongRong Group chairman Ni Zhaoxing.

"This project is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring its spirit back to life by recreating the Crystal Palace and restoring the park to its former glory."

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