Estudio de una población medieval rural. La Necrópolis de Maro (Nerja, Málaga)

Abstract

Carrying out anthropological studies constitutes one of the main sources of information for the knowledge of the ways of life of populations of the past. Likewise, these works allow us to know how environment and culture influence the variability that exists within a population. On some occasions, there is a lack of documentary records on the context of certain archaeological sites, which is a problem when conducting a study on a past population. For this reason, it is necessary to gather all the information that skeletal remains can provide, since, in these cases, the skeletal remains represent the only evidence of the forms of life, diseases and activities carried out by the individuals of ancient populations. For the reconstruction of life forms of past populations, the study of immature bone remains is of great importance, since they provide information on the growth and development of said population. The present study was carried out on skeletal remains from the Maro necropolis (Nerja, Málaga); its chronology has focused on the High Middle Ages, the end of AD 10th century – the beginning of the 11th century AD. The material was recovered during an urgent archaeological intervention, in 2003, which was caused by a fortuitous find during the construction of the Mediterranean Highway. The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the biodemographic characteristics of the population that inhabited Maro, since these characteristics are important for reconstructing the ways of life of past societies. For this, the morphological and metric characteristics of the remains found in each funerary complex have been analysed, as well as the pathologies, entheseal changes and epigenetic variants. The results obtained show a group formed by 365 individuals, in which both sexes and all age categories are represented. Non – adult individuals, with a higher frequency of females, represent a fairly high percentage within this collection (48.48%). Infant I (subjects between the third month and six years of age) was the most represented category. On the contrary, in adult individuals, a higher frequency of males was observed, with a medium – high stature and graceful body characteristics. The comparison of the results with other Islamic populations of the Iberian Peninsula offers similarities relating to the age of the individuals who reached maturity, sex, and sexual dimorphism. Degenerative diseases were the most common pathologies among the individuals of the Maro necropolis. Regading entheseal changes and non – metric traits, they were present in a low percentage, with the septal aperture in the humerus being the most observed non – metric trait in this population.