ABSTRACT

The study of non-adult individuals and the concept of childhood are essential for deepening our knowledge of past communities. Adro Vello (O Grove, Pontevedra) is considered one of the most representative and iconic necropolises of medieval Galicia. However, research on the human skeletal remains has so far been scarce and has not previously focused on what osteoarchaeological analyses can reveal about lifestyle. Here we study the human skeletal remains recovered in a 2017 archaeological campaign. The results show a Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) of fourteen – seven articulated individuals, and MNI of seven among disarticulated skeletal remains – eight of whom are non-adults (including six individuals ≤ one year). The analysis in this article revolves around the management of cemetery space, the relationship of burials with earlier and later structures, and, especially, the high presence of individuals under the age of one year in a Christian cemetery, where burial of the unbaptised would not be allowed. This demonstrates the importance of archaeological and bioarchaeological study in detecting ex norma practices and in the characterisation of childhood.

摘要

对非成人个体和童年概念的研究对于加深我们对过去社区的了解至关重要。Adro Vello (O Grove, Pontevedra) 被认为是中世纪加利西亚最具代表性和标志性的墓地之一。然而，迄今为止，对人类骨骼遗骸的研究很少，以前也没有关注骨考古分析可以揭示的生活方式。在这里，我们研究了在 2017 年考古活动中发现的人类骨骼遗骸。结果显示最小个体数 (MNI) 为 14 - 7 个关节个体，MNI 为 7 个脱节骨骼遗骸 - 其中 8 个是非成人（包括 6 个小于一年的个体）。本文的分析围绕着墓地空间的管理，墓葬与早期和晚期建筑的关系，尤其是在基督教墓地中，一岁以下的个人数量很多，不允许埋葬未受洗的人。这表明考古学和生物考古学研究在发现ex norma实践和童年的表征。