Archaeologists discover ancient Chinese skeletons in London cemetery

Historians have dedicated lifetimes of study to the Silk Road trade route, which connected Ancient China and the Roman Empire. But new skeletons unearthed in a London cemetery now have researchers questioning exactly the extent of the partnership between the two great civilizations.

In a Roman cemetery in London, archaeologists found two pairs of remains belonging to people of Asian ancestry. Analysis indicates it is highly likely the people were Chinese, meaning they would have had to travel around 5,000 miles to get to England. "Many people traveled, often vast distances, for trade or because of their occupation, for example in the military, or their social status, for example if they were enslaved," Dr. Rebecca Redfern explained in The Journal of Archaeological Science.

The bones date back to sometime between the 2nd and 4th century A.D. Up until now, only one other person of Asian ancestry had ever been discovered from a site dating back to the Roman Empire, NextShark reports.

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While nothing is conclusive yet, researchers can begin to speculate about what kinds of lives the people lived; perhaps the pair were immigrants who had come to Europe to set up their own business. Other skeletons in the area have been linked to African and Mediterranean peoples, suggesting the neighborhood was perhaps home to a diverse community of immigrants that shared the same social or economic status as the other locals.