Radiocarbon (Carbon-14) analysis dates the uncovered remains to the 9th–10th centuries.
The cemetery appears to be of considerable size, according to local residents who claim to have long been aware of the presence of human remains in various parts of the area.
The bodies were found in relatively shallow burial pits, close to the surface, and consistently oriented in the same direction. This arrangement follows the typical pattern of Islamic burial practices: the deceased were placed individually in narrow graves, lying on their right side and facing Mecca.
Characteristics of the Necropolis
The characteristics of the necropolis discovered are consistent with those of a classical Muslim cemetery, also known as a maqbara. Such cemeteries were typically located along the main access roads to a city, outside its urban limits but close to the city walls.
As cities expanded over time, urban growth often encroached upon the areas of the cemetery closest to the inhabited zone, gradually pushing burial grounds further away and, in some cases, eventually surpassing them. In the case of Tauste, the main access road was clearly the one coming from Zaragoza. Its route may have coincided with the present-day Independencia Avenue, Alfonso I “the Battler” Street up to Felipe V Square, followed by Santa Ana Street, Fray Ángel Martínez Street, and Zaragoza Street.
The location of the cemetery suggests the existence of a rammed-earth wall (tapial) at this point, separating the burial area from the city. This wall would have surrounded the urban core and its suburbs, serving as an element of control and defense. Thus, anyone arriving in Tauste at that time would have passed the cemetery on their right before crossing the gate in the rammed-earth wall, entering a suburb (today’s Barrio de Santa Ana), and finally accessing the medina (present-day Barrio Nuevo), which constituted the historic city center enclosed by stone walls.
The main gate providing access to the medina was likely located at what is now known as Berroy Corner, at the crossroads of Zaragoza Street and Germán Street.
Among the possible dates considered for this cemetery, ranging from the 8th to the 12th centuries, one of the most widely accepted hypotheses initially pointed to the 11th century.
The discovery of the Islamic cemetery in Tauste was of great significance, both for the town itself and for the El Patiaz Cultural Association. Until then, it had been widely believed that the burials dated to the late 19th century and were associated with a cholera epidemic.
Very few people could have imagined that the remains might actually belong to a much earlier period, possibly dating back to the post-Christian conquest era—or even earlier—since, according to traditional historiography, the presence of a Muslim population in Tauste during those times had long been considered unlikely.
According to the anthropologist Miriam Pina, the excavated burials can be described as follows:
- Tomb No. 1 contained the remains of a male individual aged between 20 and 35 years.
- Tomb No. 2 corresponded to a male aged between 30 and 45 years, approximately 1.75 metres tall—remarkably tall for the period—with evidence of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis affecting the vertebral bodies.
- Tomb No. 3 belonged to a female individual showing degeneration in one of the lower limbs. The body appeared without one foot; however, no visible lesions were observed on the tibia that would indicate an amputation.
- Tomb No. 4 contained the remains of a child aged between 3 and 5 years. These remains were extremely deteriorated, with only the skull preserved.
Samples from Tombs 1, 2 and 3 were collected and sent to the Geochronology Laboratory of the Spanish National Research Council in Madrid for radiocarbon (Carbon-14) dating. Once the analyses were completed, the results were arranged chronologically from the most recent to the oldest as follows:
- Tomb No. 1: dated between 890 and 1200 CE. According to the archaeological report, it can be assigned to the 10th century.
- Tomb No. 3: dated between 860 and 990 CE, corresponding to the 9th–10th centuries.
- Tomb No. 2: dated between 650 and 780 CE. Since the Muslim population in this area of the Ebro Valley converted to Islam from 714 onwards, this range can be narrowed to between 714 and 780 CE.
According to data kindly provided by the archaeologist of the Government of Aragon, José Ignacio Royo, these results allow us to state that this is the oldest Islamic burial site ever documented in the region of Aragon.
