# Humanities & Anthropology > History & Civilisations >  Islamic Cemetery NE Spain

## Angela

It's quite unexpected as it was thought they spent almost no time in NE Spain.

https://www.archaeology.org/news/923...lamic-cemetery

It will be interesting to see genetic analysis of the samples





TAUSTE, SPAIN—_CNN_ reports that *more than 4,500 graves* have been identified at a cemetery in northeastern Spain, in *an area thought to have been largely untouched by the Arab invasion of the Iberian peninsula in the early eighth century A.D. Radiocarbon dating suggests the necropolis was in use from the eighth century through the eleventh century A.D.* Miriam Pina Pardos of the Anthropological Observatory of the Islamic Necropolis of Tauste said that more than 400 of the graves have been exhumed, and *all of the bodies had been buried facing southeast toward Mecca,* according to Islamic customs. “We can see there was a big Muslim population here in Tauste from the beginning of the presence of Muslims in Spain,” explained archaeologist Eva Gimenez. *“It is very important—the 400 Muslim tombs show the people lived here for centuries.”*

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## italouruguayan

Tauste passed to Christian domination in 1121 ... there were several centuries of Islamic domination ..

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## Joey37

Yes, Mudéjars were numerous in Aragon, and the expulsion of the Moriscos (those of their descendants who had converted, at least on face value, to Christianity) dealt a profound blow to the economy of this area of Spain. In Valencia just to the south of Aragon they had a majority of Mudéjars for over a century after the reconquest.

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## kingjohn

We should expect for those remains to be a mixture of e-m81+ j1
With a touch of r1b 🤔
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tauste


P.s
And maybe some e-v65 :Smile:

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## Carlos

I saw it on the TV news a few weeks ago and they said they were local Islamists I saw it on the TV news a few weeks ago and they said they were local Islamists in other documentaries they said they were of African descent so we will have to wait for the genetic results.

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## Don Quijote

It is not surprissing in that area. It would be rare in Catalunya but in Aragon was well known the arabic presence. In a little country near Tauste, in La Rioja there are an islamic castle, one of the northern in the peninsula.

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## Carlos

> It is not surprissing in that area. It would be rare in Catalunya but in Aragon was well known the arabic presence. *In a little country* near Tauste, in *La Rioja* there are an islamic castle, one of the northern in the peninsula.


It is very strange for a Spaniard to use such terminology to refer to a region even when some of them would not all have been a Kingdom at some point in history. And precisely seeing it used for La Rioja in no way I have ever seen it used even to refer to some past episode by any Spanish person in any article or commentary.


*UAB researchers excavate the largest Islamic site in Catalonia*

The research group of Agricultural Archaeology of the Middle Ages, of the Department of Sciences of the Antiquity and the Middle Ages of the UAB, is excavating the Plan of Almatà (s.IX-XII, Balaguer), the biggest site of the Andalusi period in Catalonia. It is one of the largest Andalusian archaeological sites in the Iberian Peninsula, with 27 ha of extension.


https://www.uab.cat/web/sala-de-pren...=1345795274800

*The Black Tower* 1145 AD


The Black Tower has its origin in the defense tower that the abbot ordered to be built ... against the incursions of the Arabs.

It is in the province of Barcelona. I myself have been in front of it dozens of times when, for personal reasons, I have lived in Barcelona and I had never thought of it as a fortification for such a purpose and I learned almost nothing of what it was.

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## Angela

Most of the Mediterranean coasts had defensive towers against the incursions of "Saracen" pirates. 

My particular coast is riddled with them. They would give the alarm so people could flee to the castles. Otherwise they risked being taken as slaves. In the south where it was even worse the coast was depopulated and the "towns" were relocated inland.

We always know their origin because they're known as "torre saracena" even if now a hotel or whatever.



That's different than an actual invasion or takeover of territory, however, as happened in Spain, even Catalonia it seems, and Sicily. 

There was one such Saracen "kingdom" in the northern Med. It's called Fraxinetum, but it was short lived; about one hundred years. They actually came by way of Spain.

https://themuslimtimes.info/2017/11/...tury-provence/

Parts of Languedoc also came under their control for a short time; again, about one hundred years. Islamic burials have also been found there.
http://www.midi-france.info/1011_moors.htm

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## kingjohn

> Most of the Mediterranean coasts had defensive towers against the incursions of "Saracen" pirates. 
> 
> My particular coast is riddled with them. They would give the alarm so people could flee to the castles. Otherwise they risked being taken as slaves. In the south where it was even worse the coast was depopulated and the "towns" were relocated inland.
> 
> We always know their origin because they're known as "torre saracena" even if now a hotel or whatever.
> 
> 
> 
> That's different than an actual invasion or takeover of territory, however, as happened in Spain, even Catalonia it seems, and Sicily. 
> ...



maybe it has a connection to the e-m81 that was found in nimes  :Thinking: 

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ar...l.pone.0148583

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## Angela

> maybe it has a connection to the e-m81 that was found in nimes 
> 
> https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ar...l.pone.0148583


Indeed. I don't think all the E-M81 in France is recent, although the percentage that is ancient is, I'm sure, quite small in comparison to that of recent immigrants.

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## kingjohn

Yes some branches 
Are recent most of them are from
400-600Ad late antiquity roman period
Rather than moorish ( acording to yfull which is a mess right now) 😉

P.s
So they are at least like 1400-1600 years on the french yard  :Cool V:

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## Angela

Well, there are a hell of a lot of North African men in certain parts of France, many of whom carry E-M81, and they came within the last 100 years. 

Trust me; I'm in Marseilles and other parts of southern France every year, and sometimes you would swear you were in North Africa. You should drive through the outer suburbs of Paris, too, the ones the tourists don't see.

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## Carlos

In Spain the same thing happens, mainly in urban areas of the main cities in a more massive way, but you can already see them in any town. Most of them are Berbers; although I have also known them to claim to be Arabs. A large number of Pakistanis and in lesser numbers Algerians, say that there are already Turks, perhaps they should be much less.

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## Regio X

> Yes some branches 
> Are recent most of them are from
> 400-600Ad late antiquity roman period
> Rather than moorish ( acording to yfull which is a mess right now) 😉
> 
> P.s
> *So they are at least like 1400-1600 years on the french yard*


We should assume certain migration happened anytime "after" the actual TMRCA of the branch, not necessarily "at" the TMRCA. That's generally speaking.
Of course, when possible, some hypotheses involving more specific periods could emerge, based on wider phylogeny, on what we know about historical movements and on and on.

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