The medieval burial assemblage from Koudiet er Rammadiya, Northern Tunisia. An interdisciplinary bioarchaeological investigation

IF 2.1 2区地球科学 Q1 ANTHROPOLOGY

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Pub Date : 2025-04-04 DOI:10.1007/s12520-025-02209-3

Ileana Micarelli, Martina Di Matteo, Fatma Touj, Emanuele Cancellieri, Kais Trabelsi, Mary Anne Tafuri, Nouri Boukhchim, Rocco Rotunno, Francesca Castorina, Savino di Lernia, Nabiha Aouadi

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Abstract

The osteological analysis of human skeletal assemblages offers crucial osteobiographical insights into ancient populations, yet remains largely unexplored in past Tunisia. This paper presents the first archaeological investigation of Tunisian medieval burials, unearthed during excavations between 2016–2017 and 2021–2022. This interdisciplinary study, combining archaeology, bioarchaeology, and paleopathology, examines skeletons from Koudiet er Rammadiya, a site in the Wadi Serrat region. The main aim is to investigate the funerary practices, health, and lifestyle of individuals from medieval North-western Tunisia, shedding light on this underexplored population. The focus is on the site’s final phases of use and occupation, exploring funerary practices and rituals from the early Islamic period. The skeletal assemblage dates to two main periods: the seventh century CE and the fifteenth century CE. Osteological analysis revealed a minimum number of individuals (MNI) of 10, including three young females and two foetuses. A preliminary palaeopathological assessment identified a congenital condition in two individuals. An exploratory stable isotope analysis highlighted dietary practices focused on a predominantly terrestrial diet and a possible shared local origin for all the buried individuals.

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突尼斯北部的拉玛迪亚的中世纪墓葬。一项跨学科的生物考古调查

对人类骨骼组合的骨骼学分析为研究古代人口提供了至关重要的骨骼生物学见解，但在过去的突尼斯仍有很大程度上未被探索。本文介绍了对突尼斯中世纪墓葬的首次考古调查，这些墓葬是在2016-2017年至2021-2022年的挖掘期间出土的。这项跨学科的研究结合了考古学、生物考古学和古病理学，研究了在Wadi Serrat地区的一个遗址——Koudiet er Rammadiya的骨骼。主要目的是调查中世纪突尼斯西北部个人的丧葬习俗、健康和生活方式，揭示这一未被充分探索的人群。重点是该遗址的最后使用和占领阶段，探索早期伊斯兰时期的丧葬习俗和仪式。这些骨骼组合可以追溯到两个主要时期：公元7世纪和公元15世纪。骨学分析显示最小个体数（MNI）为10，包括3名年轻女性和2名胎儿。初步的古病理学评估确定了两个人的先天性疾病。一项探索性的稳定同位素分析强调，所有被埋葬的个体的饮食习惯主要集中在陆地饮食和可能的共同本地起源上。

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来源期刊

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

4.80

自引率

18.20%

发文量

199

期刊介绍： Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences covers the full spectrum of natural scientific methods with an emphasis on the archaeological contexts and the questions being studied. It bridges the gap between archaeologists and natural scientists providing a forum to encourage the continued integration of scientific methodologies in archaeological research. Coverage in the journal includes: archaeology, geology/geophysical prospection, geoarchaeology, geochronology, palaeoanthropology, archaeozoology and archaeobotany, genetics and other biomolecules, material analysis and conservation science. The journal is endorsed by the German Society of Natural Scientific Archaeology and Archaeometry (GNAA), the Hellenic Society for Archaeometry (HSC), the Association of Italian Archaeometrists (AIAr) and the Society of Archaeological Sciences (SAS).