Work performed in the project addressed the primary research question: How did the identities of migrant women, and local women married to migrant men, respond to intercultural contact. This was achieved through the following objectives, reflecting a series of analytical scales in order to integrate population-wide patterns with information about specific individuals to determine how large-scale transformations had an impact on individual lives:
1. Synthesis and statistical analysis of large scale regional mortuary, skeletal and epigraphic data sets to identify regional patterns in i) gender ideals and ii) the diversity in the expression of identity in social practice for Roman and nomadic men and women. This forms the baseline data to which migrant women and men can be compared.
2. Distinguish non-local (migrant) and local individuals using a combination of mortuary, epigraphic, and isotope (Sr, O, C, N) data.
3. Generate osteobiographies for specific selected women to create detailed individual understandings of the effect of migration on female identities.
WAEE has yielded an exceptional quantity of significant original high-quality data. In particular, it has resulted in important regional data sets for mortuary, skeletal and epigraphic data, substantial isotope data for diet and mobility, and high-resolution information on individual people at a level of detail far beyond that hitherto available in the region. These draw together material from all countries in the Lower Danube region for the first time, allowing a trans-national understanding of the people who lived there during the 4th-6th Centuries AD. The results of WAEE research have been presented at international conferences and will be published in a series of journal articles. An international project workshop brought together researchers to discuss female identities in the past. Public outreach activities included the facial reconstruction of women studied within the project in order to inspire and engage people today.
