Dr Patxi Perez Ramallo
Main Focus
Patxi Pérez Ramallo focuses his research on the combination of osteological and isotopic methods for studying past populations to define aspects such as social status, migration, and geographical mobility, as well as the analysis of individuals within a given religious context (e.g., pilgrimage, relics, or crusaders). Pérez Ramallo developed his research on medieval individuals from the Iberian Peninsula, marked by the coexistence of the three main monotheistic religions and the advance and conquest of Al-Andalus by the northern Christian kingdoms. His projects include the study of the origin and evolution of the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St James), the warrior monks of the Order of Calatrava, and currently, Ramallo is studying Islamic religious minorities within the Christian kingdoms. Even though his research has been dedicated mainly to medieval individuals, Pérez Ramallo has collaborated on projects with different chronologies and archaeological contexts (from Prehistory to the Spanish Civil War) in Spain and México.
Patxi Pérez Ramallo focuses his research on the combination of osteological and isotopic methods for studying past populations to define aspects such as social status, migration, and geographical mobility, as well as the analysis of individuals within a given religious context (e.g., pilgrimage, relics, or crusaders). Pérez Ramallo developed his research on medieval individuals from the Iberian Peninsula, marked by the coexistence of the three main monotheistic religions and the advance and conquest of Al-Andalus by the northern Christian kingdoms. His projects include the study of the origin and evolution of the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St James), the warrior monks of the Order of Calatrava, and currently, Ramallo is studying Islamic religious minorities within the Christian kingdoms. Even though his research has been dedicated mainly to medieval individuals, Pérez Ramallo has collaborated on projects with different chronologies and archaeological contexts (from Prehistory to the Spanish Civil War) in Spain and México.
Curriculum Vitae
Patxi Pérez Ramallo obtained his PhD in the Forensic Analysis Programme at the University of the Basque Country -UPV/EHU- (Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain) (2021); after receiving his BA in History with a triple major in Archaeology, Middle Ages and Prehistory from the University of Santiago de Compostela -USC- (Santiago de Compostela, Spain) (USC) (2007-2012); and MSc in Archaeological Sciences at the University of Bradford (Bradford, the UK) (2014-2015). His training has been complemented by research stays at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (Jena, Germany) and the University of Oxford (Oxford, the UK). He is currently a research associate in the Department of Archaeology at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (Jena, Germany), and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of the Basque Country (Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain).
During his doctoral thesis, Pérez Ramallo focused his research on the origin and evolution of the Camino de Santiago in the Middle Ages, as well as on the societies that arose around this pilgrimage paths and its impact on the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. In total, over 400 individuals from 28 archaeological sites throughout the north of the Iberian Peninsula were analysed, with a chronology spanning from the 9th to 15th centuries CE. Ramallo created and coordinated this project, which acquired an interdisciplinary and international character through collaboration with prestigious research centres and universities such as the Max Planck Society, the Stockholm University, and the University of Oxford. The relevance of his research has been endorsed by the awarding of several national and international grants: a Doctoral Fellowship in Spanish Research Centres and Universities from the "La Caixa" Banking Foundation, Spain (2016); a research grant from the PALARQ Foundation, Spain (2019-2021); and the George Greenia Fellowship for Pilgrimage Studies, the William and Mary College, Virginia, USA (2019). In 2022, Pérez Ramallo was awarded the V Research Prize for his doctoral thesis by the Cátedra do Camiño de Santiago and the University of Santiago de Compostela.