Mértola’s Archaeological Site began its work in the
Alcáçova of the Castle of Mértola. Since 1978 we
uncovered a dense necropolis from the Late Middle Ages/
Early Modern Period, an intricate Islamic neighbourhood
and an impressive paleo-christian religious complex that
integrates a crypto-porticus, a 6th century baptistery and
an interesting collection of mosaics with a strong
Byzantine influence, which have been largely studied and
divulged. After the Christian conquest, in 1238, this
entire area, formerly occupied by the Islamic
neighbourhood, was converted by the victors into a
graveyard, from which already more than 700 graves
were exhumed.
In this article we present one of the less known phases of
this important site, the Medieval / Modern necropolis,
excavated during the last 35 years of research. The more
than 700 graves excavated until now brought to light
several Archaeological and Anthropological data, which
combined allow a better understanding of this necropolis,
of the population that inhabited Mértola, and of the
innumerable pathologies that were identified. The study
of the graves and human remains allows for the
characterisation of ancient societies, particularly of their
way of life, religious beliefs, funerary rituals, and in some
cases of the activities to which the populations dedicated
themselves. This is a work in progress, since the
excavations in this site are still underway and each year
new subjects are exhumed, allowing further study and
also the analysis of older data. In spite of the large
quantity of excavated graves, a more systematic
Anthropological study only began to be realised a few
years ago, now showing its first results
