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Judi Lynn

(162,374 posts)
Tue Sep 3, 2024, 03:01 AM Sep 3

DNA reveals inbreeding, smallpox and violent ends among cave-dwelling Christians in medieval Spain

By Anders Götherström, Ricardo Rodriguez Varela
published 2 days ago

It's unclear why people chose to live in the caves, but DNA is shedding light on their lives.



An aerial photo of a tall cliff wall with cave openings on the bottom
Las Gobas cave in Spain hosted a medieval community. (Image credit: Anders Götherström and Ricardo Rodriguez Varela)

In a new study, we have sequenced DNA from a Christian community in medieval Spain that lived in artificial caves carved into a rocky outcrop.

This is one of several medieval cave communities known to have lived on the Iberian peninsula – which includes both Portugal and Spain. Why these groups favored caves over more conventional village dwellings is a subject of longstanding debate for archaeologists. While it may be tempting to speculate about hermits or religious groups, there’s scant evidence to support such theories.

Our study, published in Science Advances, explores the possibilities, adding genetic analysis to what we know about the physical remains of people from the site’s cemetery. DNA was able to shed light on the ancestry of this community, their relationships to each other and the diseases that afflicted them.

The combined information reveals a story of inbreeding, occasional bouts of violence and disease during a fascinating period in history. One possibility is that some of the earliest settlers were people with military experience, though it’s unclear whether they were professional soldiers or not.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/dna-reveals-inbreeding-smallpox-and-violent-ends-among-cave-dwelling-christians-in-medieval-spain

8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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DNA reveals inbreeding, smallpox and violent ends among cave-dwelling Christians in medieval Spain (Original Post) Judi Lynn Sep 3 OP
Did they find red and white caps? RandySF Sep 3 #1
Not all that much has changed. Fancier caves and different disease. n/t brewens Sep 3 #2
Hopefully ._. Sep 3 #3
Cult clan? Dunnjen Sep 3 #4
1+ keithbvadu2 Sep 3 #5
Anything to do with the presence of the Moors? SleeplessinSoCal Sep 3 #6
There must be some written records somewhere that would wnylib Sep 3 #7
There is probably more to this agalisgv Sep 9 #8

._.

(1,062 posts)
3. Hopefully
Tue Sep 3, 2024, 03:36 AM
Sep 3

Hopefully it won't be long before they are all back in caves, getting diseases and beating each others brains out. And leaving the rest of us alone.

Dunnjen

(79 posts)
4. Cult clan?
Tue Sep 3, 2024, 04:42 AM
Sep 3

Groups like the Kingston Clan live primitively compared to their surrounding communities because the patriarch won't allow money spent on lifestyle improvements. Breeding close to the patriarchal line is preferred.

wnylib

(24,373 posts)
7. There must be some written records somewhere that would
Tue Sep 3, 2024, 07:08 AM
Sep 3

shed some light on those cave communities. I'd think that they must have been mentioned by some writers of the times, i.e. monks in monasteries, or royal record keepers.

agalisgv

(256 posts)
8. There is probably more to this
Mon Sep 9, 2024, 03:38 AM
Sep 9

"Between the 8th and 11th centuries AD...underwent a massive upheaval and population shifts due to invasions from the first Muslim dynasty, the Umayyad Empire."

Link:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/christianity-survived-dna-cave-conquest-plague-b2603606.html

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