Santander (EFE) It was the current capital of Cantabria in the Middle Ages.
Whaling, the food consumed by the wealthy population of the time or the trade of the port town are some of the details that come to light as the archeology team working on the excavation unearths it.
In an EFE visit to the site, the archaeologists Lino Mantecón and Javier Marcos Martínez explain the work that has been carried out at the request of the Santander City Council and in which a necropolis discovered just a few months ago and in which they have found , for the moment, 77 bodies.
These remains are attached to the head of the cathedral, which, together with the existence of different types of wooden coffins, indicates, according to archaeologists, that they are burials of “wealthy social classes” within the town.
A complex but very rich deposit
“The obsession was to be close to the relics (of the holy martyrs of the city that are in the cathedral), so the head is a privileged place,” they indicate.
In addition to the bodies, the site, which according to Martínez is “very complex and culturally very rich”, confirms the origins of the town of Santander, with a part of a Romanesque building and a medieval wall from the 12th century.
From this “primordial” moment prior to the jurisdiction of Santander, the necropolis provides information on different moments in the city’s medieval history, up to the 14th century, which historically coincides with the time in which it began to grow.
In this way, the ceramic fragments, which would give information about trade with France or Great Britain, the silver coins of Alfonso X el Sabio or the “mariscada” that has been found under the bodies, indicate what Santander would be like in its consolidation like city.
From the ground to the laboratory
Once recovered, the archaeologists carry out a meticulous work of washing and investigating the material, a phase in which they end up establishing their theories or suggesting new ways of disseminating what they have found, explains Mantecón.
These works after the unearthings have made it possible to confirm the discovery of an intervertebral disc and a piece of rib from a whale that, according to the pieces, must have exceeded 16 meters in length.
What could prove, according to archaeologists, the hunting of this cetacean in the Cantabrian capital between the 12th and 13th centuries, or at least confirm that this food was consumed, of which there is historical evidence that it was hunted in the Cantabrian Sea .
In addition, with the DNA analysis of the organic elements, which are not yet complete, the researchers hope to find out details about the diet at the time and the geographical origin of the corpses found.
And even to know if with the remains of pollen that, still today, are still accessible in the burial, it can be inferred what type of vegetation covered Santander at the time.
Archeology open to the public
Mantecón and Martínez claim to be defenders of archeology open to the public, which is why they seek to disclose their findings transparently and bringing them closer to the people.
Proof of this are the conferences that they have organized in recent weeks to explain the details of the site, which have been filled and in which even attendees have stayed at the door.
Or further initiatives, such as the order of a robot portrait of the skull found in the best condition, with which it will be possible to know, soon, what the face of a medieval Santander woman was like.
Pablo Ayerbe Caselles