If archaeologists were studying Neanderthal remains in the Spanish Pyrenees a few weeks ago, it is now an atypical medieval community that is attracting attention. For several centuries, individuals formed a troglodyte society, riddled with diseases and eaten away by inbreeding and violence.
in summary
Rocky peaks in northern Spain, seemingly simple, have nevertheless attracted the attention of archaeologists in recent years. The reason? Cavities carved into the rock were home to a troglodyte society for several centuries during the Middle Ages. Researchers are trying to understand the way of life of this small tribe, on the site called Las Gobas. A study published on August 28 in Science Advances offers some rather macabre details about the harsh and brutal way of life of this little-known community.
The brutal fate of a medieval troglodyte population
Venturing into the galleries of Las Gobas, it is a set of thirteen caves, forming ” clusters ” which experts inspected for many months. And in these caves, archaeologists excavated a significant quantity of human remains.
In order to carry out dating and understand their way of life, the genomesgenomes of thirty-three individuals were studied at length thanks to forty-eight skeletal fragments. The researchers established a period of occupation of the site, between the 7the and the XIe century AD. Among the thirty or so bodies examined, twenty-two men and eleven women present characteristics determining the rate of inbreedinginbreeding or the impact of infectious diseases on individuals.
Skulls unearthed at the site are evidence of violent clashes between individuals on site. © Varela, Pochon and al.
Infectious disease, inbreeding and violence
Traces of smallpox are spotted by scientists, who determine that the bacteriumbacterium was commonly found in pig herds in the Middle Ages. The diet of the community of Las Gobas was surely based on pig farming, increasing the vectors of spread of the disease through the consumption of contaminated animals.
Another element that may have impacted the troglodyte population: a high rate of inbreeding. Nearly 63% of the samples carry these characteristics, with low variations of the Y chromosome in men, across the five centuries of occupation. couplingscouplings as well as reproduction would not have extended to individuals outside the community.
Another observation by archaeologists highlights the presence of marks of violence on certain skeletons. skullsskulls dating from the first centuries of occupation of Las Gobas are marked by holes or cracks, which academics liken to sword blows.
The complex demographic history of the Iberian Peninsula
During the Middle Ages, Spain experienced many demographic changes with population movements parallel to political changes in Western Europe. From Roman troops to Visigoth warriors, through Arab conquerors and then the Christian reconquest, Spain continued to reveal its singularities. The site of Las Gobas is one of the examples demonstrating that some societies adopted an autarkic way of life, far from large cities like Toledo or Barcelona, which were developing rapidly at that time.
Las Gobas is a valuable archaeological site for researchers, allowing them to establish that epidemics of smallpoxsmallpox could impact the secluded communities. Although the site was abandoned, turning into a depopulated necropolis after the 11th centurye century, five centuries of history are marked in these once forgotten caves.
