RT Journal Article
T1 Multi-isotopic study of the earliest mediaeval inhabitants of Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain)
A1 Pérez Ramallo, Patxi
A1 Grandal-d´Anglade, Aurora
A1 Organista, Elia
A1 Santos, Elena
A1 Chivall, David
A1 Rodríguez Varela, Ricardo
A1 Götherström, Anders
A1 Etxeberria, Francisco
A1 Ilgner, Jana
A1 Fernandes, Ricardo
A1 Arsuaga Ferreras, Juan Luis
A1 Le Roux, Petrus
A1 Higham, Thomas
A1 Beaumont, Julia
A1 Koon, Hannah
A1 Roberts, Patrick
AB Santiago de Compostela is, together with Rome and Jerusalem, one of the three main pilgrimage and religious centres for Catholicism. The belief that the remains of St James the Great, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, is buried there has stimulated, since their reported discovery in the 9th century AD, a significant flow of people from across the European continent and beyond. Little is known about the practical experiences of people living within the city during its rise to prominence, however. Here, for the first time, we combine multi-isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N, δ18Oap, δ13Cap and 87Sr/86Sr) and radiocarbon dating (14C) of human remains discovered at the crypt of the Cathedral of Santiago to directly study changes in diet and mobility during the first three centuries of Santiago’s emergence as an urban centre (9th–12th centuries AD). Together with assessment of the existing archaeological data, our radiocarbon chronology broadly confirms historical tradition regarding the first occupation of the site. Isotopic analyses reveal that the foundation of the religious site attracted migrants from the wider region of the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula, and possibly from further afield. Stable isotope analysis of collagen, together with information on tomb typology and location, indicates that the inhabitants of the city experienced increasing socioeconomic diversity as it became wealthier as the hub of a wide network of pilgrimage. Our research represents the potential of multidisciplinary analyses to reveal insights into the origins and impacts of the emergence of early pilgrimage centres on the diets and status of communities within Christian mediaeval Europe and beyond.
PB Springer
SN 1866-9557
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/88763
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/88763
LA eng
NO Pérez-Ramallo, Patxi, et al. «Multi-Isotopic Study of the Earliest Mediaeval Inhabitants of Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain)». Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, vol. 14, n.o 11, noviembre de 2022, p. 214.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-022-01678-0.
NO Fundación Caixa
NO Max Planck Society
NO University of Bradford
NO Xunta de Galicia
DS Docta Complutense
RD 6 abr 2025