Approaches to Scale in Highly Commingled Contexts: A Case Study from Roncesvalles

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Continued Advances in Method and Theory for Commingled Remains" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Excavations at the ossuary of El Silo de Carlomagno, located in Roncesvalles (Navarre, Spain), have generated more than 680,000 human bones dating from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries CE. The subject of ongoing archaeological research, the site represents one of the largest commingled assemblages ever studied, with a targeted approach to the inventory and collection of osteological data that has facilitated the interpretation of a range of mortuary practices employed throughout 800 years of continual usage as an ossuary, carnarium, and local cemetery. This presentation discusses some of the logistical challenges associated with such large-scale levels of commingling and the strategies employed in a highly fragmented context in which traditional MNI methodologies could not be readily applied. Conclusions from various aspects of the commingled analysis will be presented, specifically those from the demographic, taphonomy, and trauma analysis, all of which proved crucial in reconstructing mortuary patterns, identifying secondary deposits and specific episodes of conflict throughout the final phases of the ossuary's use. The dramatic scale, historical importance, and long-term usage of the ossuary make this a unique case study that highlights the enormous contribution to be made from the field of commingled remains.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Continued Advances in Method and Theory for Commingled Remains

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38388.0