Concealed Roles. An Osteoarchaeological Reading on Nourishment, Health and Caregiving in a Peasant Community in the Sharq al-Andalus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17561/aytm.v33.9703Keywords:
maqbara, inhumation, gender roles, osteoarchaeology, isotopesAbstract
The Andalusi farmstead (alquería) of Xaresa (Xeresa, Valencia) is one of the most thoroughly excavated rural sites of the period. These works have revealed several houses, a small pottery workshop, a water wheel and a maqbara (cemetery) with around 200 inhumations. An initial study of this burial site has recently been undertaken based on a random sample of 35 skeletons, which allowed a complete bioanthropological study and several genetic and isotopic profiles of this community. Thanks to these approaches, it is now possible to present a detailed health assessment of this peasant community by studying the skeletal remains from the site. The objective is twofold. On the one hand, to analyse various factors relevant to understanding the well-being of these people; these include their demographic profile, their diseases and pathologies, the markers of occupational stress or the quality of their diet, among others. On the other hand, to study the gender and age roles in the division of labour in this community, as well as the importance of maintenance activities for the success of this rural settlement, which remained populated from the second half of the 10th century until the Christian conquest, in 1239.
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