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Mobility and Burial Along the Way of Saint James: Embodiment and Ephemerality at the Silo of Charlemagne

Year: 2025
Type: dissertation
Abstract: In this dissertation, I examine how signs of mobility and locality are inscribed both in burial practices and on the skeleton itself through an investigation of mortuary practices, skeletal assessments of demographic traits, pathological indicators, and isotopic ratios in an assemblage from the Silo of Charlemagne in northern Iberia. My primary aims were to identify local versus nonlocal individuals, analyze dietary variations by mortuary context, and investigate how mobility and diet manifested in skeletal pathologies associated with deleterious health changes across the lifespan. The individuals included in this research have life histories linked to the historic Way of Saint James pilgrimage route, to military conflicts at the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century, and ultimately to the settlement of Roncesvalles, which despite its small size has long served as a nexus of mobility and a gateway into the Iberian Peninsula due to its strategic location at the mouth of a traversable mountain pass. The recovery of various artifacts confirms the presence of both religious pilgrims and soldiers, and isotopic findings show that the Silo of Charlemagne served as a key mortuary site for nonlocal individuals. These analyses identified significant dietary variation linked to occupation and identity, reflecting diverse and stratified resource access. Pathological evidence highlights the health challenges faced by soldiers, including physical stress and potential nutritional deficiencies stemming from their labor-intensive and mobile lifestyles. These results underscore the role of territorial and sociopolitical relationships during late 18th and early 19th century military conflicts, including the diverse composition of conscription and volunteer armies in the region.This biocultural study illustrates the complexity of entanglements between health, mobility, and social identities, ultimately concluding that the embodiment of social forces in the human skeleton takes a multiplicity of forms that are observable through several media. Broader implications of this work resonate with contemporary issues, such as the health impacts of displacement and limited healthcare access among mobile groups (such as refugee populations). The study ultimately emphasizes the need for further investigation into the intersections of disease, isotopic uptake, and mobility in past and present contexts.
DOI: 10.17615/e663-by27
Language: English
Subfield: Archeology
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6906643766
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