Archaeology experts have reportedly sequenced DNA from a Christian community in medieval Spain that lived in artificial caves carved into a rocky outcrop.
According to the officials, the remains of 39 individuals are buried at Las Gobas, a village site in northern Spain that was occupied from the mid-sixth century to the eleventh century A.D.
Of them, 33 provided enough DNA for sex identification (22 males and 11 females). Some 28 remains yielded enough DNA for further investigation with a variety of genetic techniques.
Anders Götherström and Ricardo Rodríguez Varela of the Centre for Palaeogenetics in Stockholm and their colleagues analysed the remains and found surprising findings.
Some of the remains showed signs of wounds thought to have been inflicted by swords.
The village, which was located to the north of regions under Islamic rule, featured dwellings carved into caves and a Christian church.
Rodríguez Varela said: “Our findings indicate that this community stayed relatively isolated for at least five centuries.”
Genetic study of the remains found low levels of mixing with peoples of North African and Middle Eastern ancestry when compared to other medieval inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula, he explained.
The study also uncovered the presence of bacteria likely transmitted through the keeping of domesticated animals.
Additionally, one individual from a more recent burial was found to have been infected with the variola virus, which causes smallpox.
This strain of the virus was similar to those identified in Scandinavia, Germany, and Russia, indicating that it likely spread to Spain via a European route.
The early phase of the Las Gobas settlement also revealed several cases of the bacterium Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, which causes a skin disease in humans. More interestingly, the bacterium often originates in domestic animals. The bacterium was also present in the settlement’s latter phase but at a lower frequency.
The rural site of Las Gobas provides insight into life outside the urban centers, showcasing one of the unique cave-dwelling communities from that era.