2023-05-03 09:13:05
Archaeologists have unearthed 78 skeletons in he FENCED the ancient medieval and modern cemetery of Sant Julià de Ramis. The excavation campaign in the Saint Doctors it has been focused on one end of the old sacrera, the 30-step perimeter that surrounded the church. Above all, here they are found children’s skeletons -some, newborns- and also of women, which will now be studied in the UdG laboratory. At the same time, archaeologists have unearthed part of the coffin of the deceased, such as that of an 18th century soldier. But also, because before becoming a cemetery the area was already there populated since Iberian times, they have all been made of finds from different centuries. Among these, medieval pottery or a coin from the 2nd century BC.
The excavation campaign on the mountain of Sant Julià de Ramis, centered around the church of Sants Metges, continues to delve deeper into the study of the cemetery which occupied the place for more than a millennium (from the 8th century, in the Carolingian era, until the beginning of the 20th century). Since 2011, archaeologists from the University of Girona (UdG) have been carrying out regular campaigns there.
This spring, the excavation has focused on one area of about 50 square meters located on the south side of the church, just outside where the 19th century cemetery fence was. This area was where the limits of the old sacrera were, and it began to host burials from the 13th and 14th centuries. That is, at the end of the Middle Ages.
“The research has allowed us to document an era that until now had been somewhat hidden from us, the one that corresponds to the low medieval period and the modern age”, specifies one of the co-directors of the excavation, Jordi Vivo. Since they began the campaign, the UdG archaeologists have already found 78 skeletons here (in addition to those unearthed in site over the last decade, they already exceed 700).
Many of the skeletons, however, do not appear whole. Most of them overlap. “Since the space for burials was relatively limited, it was reused time and time again when there was a need to open new graves,” explains Vivo.
Of children and women
This 2023, above all, the skeletons that have appeared are of children and women. The anthropologist Neus Coromina, who also co-directs the excavation, links this precisely to the fact that this was the part of the cemetery furthest from the church (because next to it, it was where the most important people of the community were buried; mostly, men).
“We knew that both in the Middle Ages and in modern times the infant mortality was high, but until now this was not evident in the cemetery; having gone beyond the known limits is, precisely, what has allowed us to recover the skeletons”, he points out.
Among the burials, the archaeologists of the UdG have also discovered two skulls pierced by blunt objects – evidence of a violent death – and a skeleton of a terrapin. It is the first one found in Sants Metges. “Surely, he had some mental illness or some other condition that led to him being buried like that,” explains Coromina.
A priori, during the field work, the UdG archaeologists have also seen that, with the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern age, living conditions did not improve. “If necessary, even get worse,” says the co-director. But now, in the coming months, laboratory work will also be added to what has been seen at first glance. The skeletons will be examined to try to find out the cause of death, the approximate age and even, through isotope analysis, some traits about their diet.
Eclectic finds
Centuries before it became a cemetery, the mountain of Sant Julià de Ramis was already occupied, which means that as they excavate, archaeologists come across findings from different periods. From the Iberians to the most recent ones, mixed between the skeletons and the strata that were stirred by bury the dead.
Among the oldest of this 2023, a fragment of calat, an Iberian ceramic vessel, or a bronze coin with the image of the winged horse Pegasus stand out. Initially, UdG archaeologists date them to the second century BC. Two stones have also appeared, which were used to grind the grain, and which could even predate this time.
Going forward in time, already from the Middle Ages, a fragment of a pot, medieval ceramic pieces and animal remains have been found that can provide new information about food (specifically, jaws and bones of donkey, pig, sheep, goat, cow, rabbit and some chicken). And since the modern era, different ones have appeared pieces of glazed pottery -one of them, in Catalan blue- next to coffin nails (after the 17th century) or a lead staple.
Neus Coromina, however, highlights the funeral pyre that accompanied the skeleton of a soldier, which has initially been dated to the 18th century. At that time, after the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation involved changes in religious rituals; for example, that the deceased were buried with a rosary (besides that, depending on their financial possibilities or personal choice, they were dressed or wrapped in a simple shroud).
In the case of the soldier’s skeleton, one has been found rosary between his hands – a symbol that he had received extremunction – and several buttons. Some are of his shirt and others of his clothing (such as a glass button with stars or another engraved with 27 – probably his regimental number).
The excavation campaign at Sants Metges will end this Friday. Alongside Vivo and Coromina, it is also co-directed by archaeologists Josep Burch and Jordi Sagrera. In addition to drawing the boundary of the old medieval cemetery, part of another area already explored in previous years has also been excavated. In this case, what has been done is to dismantle some medieval remains to deepen the previous stratigraphy “and see more precisely the Visigothic structures”, concludes Jordi Vivo.
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