A multidisciplinary investigation on the collective identity and social perspective of a medieval Islamic necropolis (eighth–tenth centuries) in Girona (modern Spain)

The Galligants’ necropolis (eighth–tenth centuries) represents the first known example of human burial among the probable early wave of Muslims who arrived in the northeast region of the Iberian Peninsula. This discovery helps to elucidate the identity of the “foreigners” and their potential interactions, from a biological standpoint, with the local population. This study aims to examine the individuals from an archaeological, anthropological, and genetic-population perspective. This will permit us to ascertain whether there is a correlation between the biological biogeography of the individuals and the archaeological-cultural observations. Furthermore, we aim to detect any evidence of religious conversion that can be derived from this interdisciplinary study. The results show the possibility that some individuals were biologically related, and a plausible correlation between the non-European biogeographical origin and the Islamic archaeological evidence was found. It is also noteworthy that no women were identified among the adult population, but rather among the children. Since children were biologically related to the first Islamic adults who arrived, it is interesting to reflect not only the warlike nature of Islamic incursions but also a migratory civil, religious, and cultural movement.