The skeleton of a young girl who died 700 years ago has been discovered in the Real Alcazar in Seville

A wall with tiles and ceramics built in the 16th century and located in the Chapel of the Gothic palace of the Real Alcazar of Seville it had to be restored. It is for this reason that a team of curators and archaeologists began the task of painstaking reconstruction. However, an unexpected discovery diverted his attention.

While the workers were removing the tiles from the floor, a piece of lead with wooden parts surprised them. Taking special care not to damage it, the specialists removed the floor from the place and, after days of work, they noticed a grave with wooden coffin 20 centimeters deep.

Inside were the bone of a girl about five years old, according to information revealed by the team of curators who work in the place run by Miguel Angel Tabales, and by the anthropologist Juan Manuel Guijo. The skeleton was complete and the arms semi-flexed and crossed over the thorax.

// Historical discovery: they found the oldest human tomb in Africa

The researchers succeeded in detecting hairs on the back of the neck that indicate the girl was blonde and his age was calculated from a molar that was in his jawbone. Her clothes had disintegrated and only scraps of fabric, shoe leather and two mother-of-pearl buttons remained, a sign that the girl might have belonged to the nobility.

Doubts about seniority

According to anthropologist Juan Manuel Guijo, the main hypothesis indicates that The antiquity of the tomb would be between the 13th and 15th centuries. The first estimate is based on the type of funeral rite and the sarcophagus used – made of lead. However, Guijo warned that the results “are inconclusive”. “This is only a working hypothesis, it can also go back 200 years,” added Miguel Ángel Tabales.

The presence of reused bricks fixed with cement around the lead sarcophagus raised doubts among the curatorial team led by Tabales. According to the archaeologist, the materials found date from the first half of the 20th century.

// They found a thousand-year-old mortuary temple in Egypt: the incredible objects discovered

In 1930, the floor of the chapel was rebuilt. “My theory is that the workers found the sarcophagus in another area, they opened it and, seeing that it was a corpse, they decided to cover it decently and place it near the altar, ”Tabales told reporters.

To resolve these doubts, the next step will be to try to dating of the remains from different analyzes with Carbon 14. The results of this study will provide certainty for the identification of the age of the skeleton. In addition, more detailed examinations of the remains will accurately identify the baby’s lineage and cause of death.

A crypt in the Real Alcazar?

The story of Real Alcazar of Seville It is marked by the diversity of kings and nobles who lived in the building. It was built to function as the palace of the Muslim governor in the 10th century, but it has undergone several modifications since its inception. Today is a exceptional example of Mudejar architecture, style of Moorish influence common in the Iberian Peninsula from the 13th to the 16th century. The upper floors of the palace are still used by the Spanish royal family during their visit to Seville.

Following the discovery of the girl’s skeleton, researchers are considering the possibility that under the royal chapel of the Gothic palace there is a crypt. “For now, caution must prevail until the appropriate studies are carried out to determine the chronological assignment and, therefore, the possibility of identifying the character,” said the delegate of Urban Habitat, of Culture and Tourism, of the municipality. Antonio Munoz.

For now, the team in charge of Tabales will continue to wait for the results of the chemical analyzes carried out on the skeleton. If his seniority is confirmed and his ancestry can be established, the municipality would grant permission to continue the investigation into a section of the oldest operating palace in all of Europe.