The medieval Jewish quarter only used as vessels molluscs
arqueomalacológico study can only show that these species were used as food, because the Jews considered unclean
Source / Fonte: Diario de León 
or impure by their religious precepts. Carlos Fernandez, of the Department of Prehistory at the University of León, explains the importance of studying the remains of bones and associated molluscs power of humans in relatively recent times: "In general lines about, we have studied better eating habits of the populations of the Middle Ages written sources for the archaeological, and that this science is more focused on periods in which the remains can become primary information in the absence of written data. " However, the collected black and white need not be complex or faithful to the reality of an era. "The point of this research is that it complements the information that was written sources," said the expert.
The work, which was coordinated by researchers Victor and Eduardo Bejeda González Gómez de Agüero, analyzed the archaeological remains of molluscs found in the four examinations that have been made in the
Castro (castro of Jews in Latin), became known as the site in the Middle Ages. These deposits were led by José Luis Sánchez and Jorge Abello. "The medieval world was not richer than Roman, so there is very high consumption of shellfish from the general population," anticipates Fernández. In the case of the Jewish inhabitants of León, incorporated as a town a few miles away in the Christian city, consumption also was different. malacological remains collected, very few in number, can be divided into two types according to their origin: the river and marine molluscs. In the first case of the few rivers mollusks found, Fernandez said, "no witness evidence of having been worked for, for example, extraction of pearl", so they could serve food. Another case was the shells, "which had some type of drilling." Some examples are the scallops, the symbol of pilgrims to Santiago, which are perforated, or rounded shells. 1397124194
Explanations.
These changes find that the shellfish were more decorative use tool or food, "said the expert. In the Torah, in books like Leviticus or Deuteronomy, establishing the precepts by which Jews should regulate feeding time: the kosher . Food is kosher
(correct or pure) or non-kosher (impure). "With regard to aquatic animals are considered pure only if they have fins and scales", so the shellfish does not fall into this category. In Puente Castro "volumes are not large consumption of these foods, and existing ones need not be associated with Jews, Christians could have raised, for example. " These remains minority, "whose effect on minimum" contrasts with the traditional use of the shells. The scallops found, for example, "are among the trash, when for Christians is typically found in burials, since their use is associated with the Camino de Santiago." This fact suggests that the scallops, being large and deep, served as some sort of container, as now used in some households as ashtrays. 1397124194 Nothing pig. The study of the mammal fauna found in the Castrum Iudeorum follows the same line as that of the mollusks. "Again the Jews hold the precepts of what can and can not be consumed. For example, the presence of pig bones is anecdotal. " Keep in mind that along with the molluscs, the remains of animal bones to define in a scientific way what they eat old people.
Puente Castro provides very important data for the study of the Jewish population in the Middle Ages peninsular. At that time, many Jewish communities were built in the city.
Read the news in the online edition of Diario de León .
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