The role of emerging elites in the formation and development of communities after the fall of the Roman Empire

Elites played a pivotal role in the formation of post-Roman\r\nEurope on both macro-\r\nand\r\nmicrolevels during the Early Medieval period. History and archaeology have long\r\nfocused on their description and identification based on written sources or through their\r\narchaeological record. We provide a different perspective on this topic by integrating\r\npaleogenomic, archaeological, and isotopic data to gain insights into the role of one such\r\nelite group in a Langobard period community near Collegno, Italy dated to the 6-8th\r\ncenturies CE. Our analysis of 28 newly sequenced genomes together with 24 previously\r\npublished ones combined with isotope (Sr, C, N) measurements revealed that this community\r\nwas established by and organized around a network of biologically and socially\r\nrelated individuals likely composed of multiple elite families that over time developed\r\ninto a single extended pedigree. The community also included individuals with diverse\r\ngenetic ancestries, maintaining its diversity by integrating newcomers and groups in later\r\nstages of its existence. This study highlights how shifts in political power and migration\r\nimpacted the formation and development of a small rural community within a key\r\nregion of the former Western Roman Empire after its dissolution and the emergence of\r\na new kingdom. Furthermore, it suggests that Early Medieval elites had the capacity to\r\nincorporate individuals from varied backgrounds and that these elites were the result of\r\n(political) agency rather than belonging to biologically homogeneous groups.