medieval burial discovered in France owned by Muslims – BBC

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Archaeological and genetic analysis of the remains found in medieval graves discovered in France, confirmed the fact that the skeletons belong to Muslims. The study was published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE .

The Arab-Islamic conquest of the Mediterranean in the early Middle Ages proceeded fairly quickly and led to serious political and cultural changes in the region. The presence of Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula, is well documented, however, evidence of Muslim expansion to the north of the peninsula, virtually none.

Yves Gleizes from the National Institute of preliminary archaeological studies and his colleagues from the University of Bordeaux checked whether the associated discovered skeletons of three graves in Nimes in France, with the presence there of the conquerors in the VIII century. The researchers analyzed the DNA of the skeletons to determine the sex and age of the people to which they belonged, and also studied the characteristics of burial rite

The archaeologists found that the body had been buried according to Muslim traditions -. In particular, the head was facing away from the Mecca direction. Genetic analysis revealed the presence of their ancestors in North Africa, and radiocarbon analysis has confirmed that the time of burial belongs to the VII – IX centuries. Scientists have suggested that the remains could belong to Berbers from the army of the Umayyad.

Despite the small number of Muslim graves, the study’s authors believe that the find is significant evidence of the presence of Muslim communities in the south of France already in the VII century.

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