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In a recent discovery, skulls of four immigrants, including a young teenager and three adult men, were found in cemeteries outside of Rome. After analyzing the teeth, the researchers claimed that the individuals belonged between the time period of first and third centuries A.D. The discovered remains are also identified as the first individuals who migrated to the city during imperial era of Rome, said Live Science.

When put under the isotope analysis, these 2000-year-old skeletons revealed that some migrants came from Alps or North Africa, said the study published in Plos One on February 10, 2016 by Kristina Killgrove from the University of West Florida and Janet Montgomery from UK's Durham University.

There have been studies in the past that concentrated on the migration patterns of people within the Roman Empire. However, to get a deeper understanding of the human migration, the study authors analyzed 105 skeletons buried in the Roman cemeteries between 1^st and 3^rd century AD. After examining the strontium, oxygen and carbon isotope ratios found in the skeleton's teeth, the researchers were able to determine the diet and their geographical origin. The migrated individuals were children and men and as per the authors of the paper, their burial in the necropolis points out at their slave status or poor economic condition. They also discovered that their diet changed substantially after migrating into Rome by adjusting to the local cuisine that consists of wheat, meat, legumes and fish, as reported by Phys.org.

The authors also pointed out that further DNA and isotope analysis is required to provide context to their findings. Despite that, their study still provides substantial physical evidence to prove the migration of individuals to Rome in this period.