Researchers from Sweden and Spain have conducted a comprehensive archaeogenetic study of a community that lived in isolation on the border between the Christian kingdoms of the north and Al-Andalus during the Early Medieval period. This dynamic era, especially in the Iberian Peninsula, was characterized by religious competition, power struggles, and significant human mobility, shaping the foundation of modern Europe. The findings of this study, published in the journal Science Advances, provide a fascinating glimpse into the life of this unique community.
The study focuses on Las Gobas, a rural archaeological site located in the province of Burgos, northern Spain, near the village of Laño. The community existed from the mid-6th to the 11th century and is notable for its church and residential areas carved into caves. This cave-dwelling site, isolated yet positioned just north of regions under Islamic rule, serves as a unique lens into the lives of its inhabitants over a period of about five centuries.
Researchers uncovered evidence of violence among this community, likely caused by sword blows, seen in some of the buried individuals. A total of forty-one graves were excavated, and archaeogenetic analyses were conducted on thirty-nine of them. This interdisciplinary study, led by Ricardo Rodríguez Varela from the Center for Paleogenetics (CPG) in Stockholm, integrated genetic, archaeological, and historical data to reveal the existence of an endogamous (in-group marrying) community in northern Iberia that remained relatively isolated despite the region’s turbulent history.

“Our findings indicate that this community remained relatively isolated for at least five centuries,” Rodríguez Varela explained. Although Las Gobas is located just north of the regions under Islamic rule, “we found relatively low levels of North African and Middle Eastern ancestry compared to other medieval individuals from the Iberian Peninsula, and we did not observe a significant increase in these ancestries after the Islamic conquest of Iberia,” he concluded.
This suggests that, despite the close proximity to Islamic territories, the community maintained a distinct genetic makeup, largely unaffected by the broader genetic shifts occurring in the region.
Zoé Pochon, also from CPG, highlighted the discovery of several little-studied pathogens in the human remains from Las Gobas. “For example, Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, a bacterium that causes skin diseases through contamination of open wounds, often infects humans through domestic animals, suggesting that animal husbandry was important for this community,” she noted. The identification of these pathogens provides insight into the daily life and challenges faced by this group, revealing their interactions with their environment and animals.

One particularly noteworthy finding was the identification of the smallpox virus in one of the more recent burials. This specific strain of the virus is similar to those found in Scandinavia, Germany, and Russia, underscoring the pan-European presence of smallpox during the Middle Ages. Anders Götherström, the senior author of the study, emphasized the comprehensive nature of their research: “It is amazing how much information we were able to gather about this group of people through our archaeogenetic research.”
Götherström further explained that “an endogamous group, familiar with violence, seems to have settled in Las Gobas during the 6th or 7th century. By the 10th century, smallpox seems to have affected Las Gobas, likely spreading across Europe rather than through Islamic routes, as previously theorized to explain how smallpox entered Iberia.” This finding challenges previous assumptions and opens new avenues for understanding the spread of diseases in medieval Europe.
The study of Las Gobas provides a rare and detailed look into a unique community that lived in isolation amid centuries of conflict and change in the Iberian Peninsula.
SOURCES
Ricardo Rodríguez-Varela et al., Five centuries of consanguinity, isolation, health, and conflict in Las Gobas: A Northern Medieval Iberian necropolis. Sci. Adv. 10, eadp8625(2024). DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adp8625
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