LA MAQBARA MEDIEVAL DE TAUSTE. PRIMERAS INVESTIGACIONES

The discovery of an Islamic necropolis with an estimated surface area of about 5 acres and with two or three levels of burialsat the village of Tauste (Zaragoza) shows the existence of a settlement in that place of which there was no knowledge throughwritten sources according to the tested density of graves, we have estimated that the minimal number of them in this cemetery canamounts to about 4,500 within a wide chronology (between the 8th and 11th centuries). The main characteristics of the graveskeep the common precepts of the Islamic religion, like turning the corpse looking at Mecca, no burial goods and its position intoa pit. The necropolis is situated at the end of the medieval city, along the road towards Zaragoza. The anthropological studies ofpaleopathology, paleodiet, mineralogical analysis and others, which we summarize here, have revealed different features of theMuslim population.KEYWORDS: Muslim archaeology; Al-Andalus; Ebro’s Valley; Necropolis; Physical anthropology; Paleodiet.