La necrópolis de la catedral de El Burgo de Osma (Soria) bioantropología de una población medieval y moderna

Tesis de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, leída el 23-02-2001Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y EvoluciónFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEpu

Eating in silence: Isotopic approaches to nuns’ diet at the convent of Santa Catalina de Siena (Belmonte, Spain) from the sixteenth to the twentieth century

Advances in geochemical and physical anthropological studies have provided new tools to reconstruct ancient lifestyles, especially of those minorities not commonly mentioned in historical texts. In comparison to males, little is known about everyday life in female monastic communities, and how it has changed over time. In this paper, we present a paleodietary (δ13C and δ15N in bone collagen) study of human (n = 58) and animal (n = 13) remains recovered from the former Convent of Santa Catalina de Siena in Belmonte (Cuenca, central Spain). Two funerary areas used by Dominican nuns were sampled: one dated to the sixteenth (n = 34) and the seventeenth (n = 15) centuries, and the other dated in the nineteenth and twentieth (n = 9) centuries. The isotopic values for sheep (n = 7) suggest the animals consumed at the convent came from diverse ecosystems or were raised under a range of management strategies. The human samples reflect a terrestrial diet, and those from the nineteenth to twentieth century, in some cases, reveal the presence of C4 plants (millet, corn or sugar cane). Due to their religious practice, the consumption of terrestrial animal protein was restricted, and although they were allowed to eat fish, the isotopic signatures show little evidence of this. The individuals from the sixteenth and seventeenth century show a continuous shift in δ15N (9.7–12.7‰), with few significant differences in relation to the period, age, or pathologies (osteoporosis, periostitis, and brucellosis). The nineteenth- to twentieth-century samples can be divided into two groups: (a) one that fits the trend of previous centuries, albeit with a higher δ15N, possibly related to extensive access to animal protein; and (b) a second group with elevated δ13C values (up to − 15.7‰). Different customs in the assumed homogeneous monastic life are discussed as possible sources of isotopic variation, including access to luxury products such as animal protein or sugar, or the practice of periods of food abstinence, which were especially popular with these communities, according to historical recordsThe isotopic study was carried out with funding from the CONSILIENCIA network (R2014/001; ED 431D2017/08) of the Consolidation and Structuring Programme of Research Units of the Xunta de Galicia, and a consolidating grant of the Xunta de Galicia for emerging research groups to the group CULXEO (GPC2015/024). OLC is funded by Plan Galego I2C mod.B (ED481D 2017/014)

La necrópolis de la catedral de El Burgo de Osma (Soria) bioantropología de una población medieval y moderna

Tesis de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, leída el 23-02-2001Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y EvoluciónFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEpu

Autopsy and its role in Franco’s dictatorship: a case of the last Republican mayor of the town Calera y Chozas (Toledo, Spain)

In the town of Calera y Chozas (Spain), fve mass graves containing the remains of 28 individuals were discovered during a 2012 excavation. The witnesses and historical evidence indicated that the body of the last Republican mayor of the town, Felipe Fernández Varela, who had died in September 1939, was located in the mass grave designated as no. 1. Within this particular grave, only two bodies were found. Anthropological analysis showed that the frst individual was signifcantly younger than 50 years, being the mayor’s age at the time of death, while the age of the second individual was closer to 50. This second individual had a fractured skull, with a depression on the left parietal bone, and there were unmistakable signs of autopsy, which consisted of cut marks on the frontal bone and the sternal extremity of the right clavicle. Further historical research revealed documents concerning the autopsy performed on this individual. Although, according to the report, the cause of death was a stroke — the consequence of atherosclerosis and alcoholism — no reference was made to the forceful impact to the skull or intracranial bleeding. Considering the size of the fracture on the skull and the fact that there were no signs of bone healing, we believe that this impact, and not the stroke, was the direct cause of the death of the last Republican mayor. The mayor’s case is a clear example of the role forensic medicine performed at the beginning of Franco’s dictatorship. The task was not only to conceal the crime but also to tarnish the victim’s name

LA TUMBA T7 DE LA NECRÓPOLIS DE EL CAÑO, TRADICIÓN ARQUEOLÓGICA GRAN COCLÉ, ISTMO DE PANAMÁ (Grave T7, El Caño Necropolis, Gran Coclé Archaeological Tradition, Isthmus of Panama)

Recientemente se ha excavado en El Caño un entierro múltiple, la tumba T7 —cal d. C. 770-905 (cal AP 1180-1045)/cal d. C. 920-965 (cal AP 1030-985)— con 43 individuos de diferentes estatus, edades y sexos y un paquete de huesos humanos, así como depósitos rituales post-entierro. Tanto los entierros múltiples como los depósitos rituales post-entierro ya habían sido observados en otras tumbas de El Caño y su presencia en la tumba T7 ha servido para depurar y definir el patrón funerario básico del yacimiento. Los símbolos de alto estatus del ajuar de uno de los infantes de la tumba podrían reflejar un estatus social heredado. ENGLISH: Recent excavations of Grave T7 at El Caño—radiocarbon date 770–905 cal AD (1180–1045 cal BP)/920–965 cal AD (1030–985 cal BP)—have revealed a multiple-individual burial containing 43 individuals of different social statuses, ages and sexes, a bundle of human bones, and post-burial ritual deposits. While multiple-individual burials and post-burial ritual deposits have both been observed in other tombs at El Caño, their presence in Grave T7 has helped to identify and refine the fundamental burial pattern at the site. The elite attire of one of the infants buried in T7 may provide evidence of inherited social status