Discovered a church that could be the origin of the monastery of Granja de Moreruela

Discovered a church that could be the origin of the monastery of Granja de Moreruela https://i1.wp.com/www.eresviral.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/El-big-data-una-tendencia-imparable-en-el-comercio-electrónico.png?fit=260%2C40&ssl=1

Discovered a church that could be the origin of the monastery of Granja de Moreruela





Discovered a church that could be the origin of the monastery of Granja de Moreruela


The excavations developed throughout the month of October at the site of El Castillón de Santa Eulalia in Tábara (Zamora) (Spain) have brought to light the remains of a church of the Early Middle Ages. Archaeologists know that at least date from the ninth century but believe that it could be even older, from the Visigothic era. The analysis of the remains of three bodies found in this campaign will provide more data, but it is very likely that the origins of the nearby monastery of Santa María de Moreruela, whose exact location was unknown until now, have appeared.



The church has three naves of great dimensions, with a length that reaches 20 meters, benches attached to the wall and a floor of excellent quality. The surrounding buildings seem to be related to the activity of the church, which would reinforce the idea that everything can be part of a monastic complex.



"At least, we are sure it belongs to the 9th century, but it can be much older," Jose Carlos Sastre, director of the Zamora Protohistórica association and head of the works, told DiCYT. In his opinion, it is very likely that the church should be placed in a period before the Arab domain, that is, in the time of the Visigoths. In fact, it does not rule out that it could be contemporary to San Pedro de la Nave, an architectural jewel of the province of Zamora that straddles the seventh and eighth centuries, just before the Muslim conquest.



The discovery of the burial of two children in the campaign of 2016 gives the key, since the dating of their remains by carbon 14 let us know that they lived in the ninth century and the church must be earlier than these tombs. Both were under one year old, suffered from anemia and lack of vitamin C, according to the analyzes that have been performed. In addition, one of them had suffered a blow to the head and an infection. One of the tombs was built using a Roman stele from a much earlier cemetery.







Aerial view of El Castillón. (Photo: Luis and Ana)



This time they have found three more bodies, apparently all adults. Their burials do not offer many clues, since they lack trousseau, so the information will be obtained through various scientific analyzes. Samples will be sent to the United Kingdom for a company to do the carbon 14 tests and also to the University of the Basque Country, which through isotope analysis performed on bone collagen and genetic tests will determine what your diet was and can even determine if you are people had family ties in other geographic locations.



However, the University of Murcia will receive the skeletons almost completely to carry out the anthropological studies that will determine the age and sex, as well as the type of diseases that could suffer and the cause of his death.



Apart from all these tests, the important thing will be to put the data in context to write new pages of history. In that sense, there are documents that mention the existence of a monastery before that of Santa María de Moreruela, the most important settlement of the Cistercian Order whose magnificent remains can be seen today in the nearby town of Granja de Moreruela. That previous enclave would be its origin and, according to the bibliographical sources, "it was located in an elevated place on the banks of the Esla river", recalls Sastre.



With this information and the recent findings in El Castillón, everything points to the fact that the Protohistoric Zamora campaign has found that primitive monastery. "It is very likely that many construction materials were moved from here to the monastery of La Granja and that they also ended up in nearby churches, such as Moreruela de Tábara," says the expert.



The hypothesis that the historians handle is that in the monastery of The Farm, whose construction would give beginning at the beginning of the XIIth century, it was installed a much greater community that was gaining in importance and eclipsing its neighbors. However, there are indications that El Castillón was inhabited until the end of the Middle Ages.



The previous excavation campaigns show that this settlement was occupied many centuries before: "There could be a continuity in the human presence from the 5th century until very late medieval times, although there were changes at all levels, including its inhabitants."



Since 2007 Zamora Protohistórica excavated for the first time in this site, the campaigns have been repeated every August -with the exception of two years 2012 and 2017, when there were none, and from 2018, which has moved to October- and They have revealed very important data. Among the most outstanding findings are two metallurgical furnaces, two houses of the 5th and 6th centuries and numerous animal remains that are being analyzed by the University of Salamanca and vegetables (especially cereal seeds), of which the CSIC deals.



"In the scientific aspect we are facing one of the most important archaeological sites in Spain, according to all the experts and now we put the icing on the finding of this church clearly before the Romanesque Zamorano, which is so important and so attractive for the province ", Says Sastre.



For that reason, Zamora Protohistórica does not want to have to cover again the extraordinary remains discovered in this campaign. "The Junta de Castilla y León must put them in value so that citizens can know and can visit, because they are also in an extraordinary environment to also enjoy the nature and landscape," he says. The investment would be minimal, according to the experts, since they are very well preserved remains and it would not be necessary to carry out any type of restoration.



Proof of the extraordinary interest that this enclave awakens is that, once again, the excavation campaign has had the support of volunteers from various Spanish universities (Salamanca, León, Santiago de Compostela, Vigo, Zaragoza, Complutense de Madrid, Extremadura, Seville, Rovira i Virgili, Autónoma de Madrid and Jaén) and foreigners, such as the University of Perugia (Italy), La Plata (Argentina), Columbia (United States), Yucatán (Mexico), Taiwan and San Francisco (United States). We will see if this extraordinary heritage is valued both inside and outside. (Source: José Pichel Andrés / DICYT)

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