Late Imperial Dalmatia

The Late Imperial period in coastal Dalmatia and the inland Sava valley is a frame of slow cultural transformation and intense mobility. Archaeological excavations at Trogir-Dobrić (Split-Dalmatia County, Općina Marina) and Sisak-Pogorelec (Sisak-Moslavina County, Grad Sisak) uncover cemeteries and settlement traces that sit within the Roman provincial world between roughly 100 and 600 CE. Material culture—pottery styles, building foundations and funerary goods—shows continuity with earlier Roman practices alongside new forms that reflect changing administrative, military and economic realities of Late Antiquity.

Genetically, the seven sampled individuals provide a limited window into this dynamic landscape. Their mitochondrial lineages (H, V16, T, N, K) are broadly typical of European Mediterranean populations and suggest maternal continuity with earlier and contemporary populations across the Adriatic and central Europe. Two male individuals carry Y-DNA R—an umbrella lineage widespread in Europe—which may reflect long-standing regional ancestry or male-mediated mobility within Roman networks. Because the sample count is small (n=7), these patterns should be read as preliminary: archaeological signals of continuity and change must be integrated with larger genetic datasets and more extensive site sampling to resolve population-level processes.

The genetic snapshot from seven individuals dated between 100 and 600 CE presents a maternal pool dominated by haplogroup H (3/7), with single occurrences of V16, T, N and K. Haplogroup H is common across Europe and particularly abundant in Mediterranean and Atlantic populations; its prevalence here is consistent with broad maternal continuity in the region through Roman and Late Antique times. The presence of V16, a sub-lineage detected in Europe, adds nuance but cannot on its own indicate specific migration events.

On the paternal side, two sampled males carried haplogroup R. R is a widespread European Y lineage (including branches such as R1a and R1b), and its detection here is compatible with long-term European genetic backgrounds or with movement of European males into the province via military service and trade. Importantly, only two Y-chromosome results were recovered, limiting inferences about male structure and mobility. Genome-wide ancestry patterns (autosomal data) would better resolve admixture between local Illyrian-descended populations, Roman settlers from Italy, and other Mediterranean or continental groups—however such analyses require larger sample sizes.

Because the dataset is small (n=7), statements about population continuity, replacement, or specific migration pulses remain tentative. Archaeogenetic interpretation benefits most when integrated with archaeological context: burial type, artifact associations and isotopic mobility studies all sharpen hypotheses about who moved, who stayed and how communities transformed during the Late Imperial period.