Western Europe’s oldest mule died 2,700 years ago and was buried with a partially cremated woman

About 2,700 years ago, a partially cremated woman buried with a mule is the oldest remains of a hybrid animal ever found in Western Europe, a new study has revealed.

The mule and the woman were buried in an ancient rock-lined pit that served as a silo at the Holt den Grimau archaeological site in northeastern Spain. The skeletons were discovered in 1986, but genetic testing recently revealed that one set of remains were mules.

A mule is a cross between a male donkey and a female horse. These animals “combine the strength and size of horses with the hardiness and frugality of donkeys,” the researchers wrote in a paper published in the February issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

you may like

Mules are usually sterile, making it difficult to breed male donkeys with horses. The researchers noted that ancient mule herders had to train donkey stallions “from infancy until they are mounted on mares,” and that these challenges made mules valuable throughout history.

The oldest mule on record is more than 4,000 years old and was discovered in the Middle East, F. Javier López Cachero, an archaeologist at the University of Barcelona and co-author of the study, told Live Science in an email.

At the time when this mule was alive, a maritime tribe called the Phoenicians was active in Spain. They were based in the Middle East and may have brought knowledge of how to raise mules, the researchers say in their paper.

These chemical residues could provide clues about the food the mules ate, so the scientists looked at the ratio of isotopes (atoms with varying numbers of neutrons in their nuclei) in the mule remains. Researchers found that the mules were fed a diet rich in cultivated grains, while anatomical analysis of their bones showed they were widely used for horseback riding.

“There is clear evidence that the mule was ridden and well-fed, suggesting it had considerable social value,” López-Cachero said.

The woman buried with the mule was between 20 and 25 years old at the time of her death, but little else is known about her.

“Unfortunately, the condition of the remains does not allow us to assess the woman’s health or determine the cause of death,” López Cachero said. However, analysis revealed that the woman had been partially cremated before being buried, and that her body had not been carefully arranged and disintegrated during burial.

“But the mule shows no signs of being cremated,” he noted. “This remains a difficult question.”

In the ancient world, horses at or near human burial sites sometimes indicated “warrior” status, but it is unclear why this woman was buried with a mule.

“The funeral treatment of the body was ‘unusual’ and the lack of grave goods makes it impossible to draw firm conclusions about the woman’s social status,” López Cachero said.