Personal profile
Expertise
Patxi Pérez Ramallo (Santiago de Compostela, Spain) holds an International PhD from the Forensic Analysis Program at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU, 2021), an MSc in Archaeological Sciences from the University of Bradford (UK, 2015), and a BA in History with a triple major in Archaeology, Medieval History, and Prehistory from the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC, 2012).
He is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Social History of Capitalism (SHOC) Research Group at the Department of History, Archaeology, Art History, Philosophy and Ethics at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Within the “Make-Up of the Cities” project, he applies stable isotope analysis to investigate diet, mobility, and social differentiation in medieval populations from urban centres across present-day Belgium, contributing to a deeper understanding of early urbanism and its demographic impact.
His doctoral research explored the origin and development of the Camino de Santiago during the Middle Ages through osteological, stable isotope, and aDNA analysis. During his first postdoctoral fellowship at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology (Jena, Germany), he specialised in the bioarchaeology of marginalised groups in medieval Iberia.
In parallel, Pérez Ramallo has actively collaborated on archaeological projects covering a broad chronological spectrum—from Prehistory to the Spanish Civil War—in Armenia, Ecuador, Mexico, Norway (where he also held a postdoctoral position), the Horn of Africa (Somaliland, Djibouti, Ethiopia), and Spain. His interdisciplinary approach combines bioarchaeology, isotope geochemistry, and historical archaeology to explore broader questions of identity, inequality, and human mobility in the past.
Education/Academic qualification
Forensic Analysis, PhD (International Doctorate), Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela: Osteological and biomolecular analysis of medieval individuals, University of the Basque Country
1 Oct 2016 → 1 Sept 2020
Award Date: 5 Feb 2021
Osteology and Stable Isotopes Analysis, MSc in Archaeological Sciences, Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela: Investigating society and the geographical mobility of medieval individuals, University of Bradford
1 Sept 2014 → 1 Nov 2015
Award Date: 2 Dec 2015
History and Archaeology, BA History, University of Santiago de Compostela
1 Oct 2007 → 1 Oct 2012
Award Date: 10 Oct 2012
Osteological and Stable Isotope Analysis in Prehistoric Individuals in Norway, Postdoctoral Fellowship, Social Complexity and Population Entanglements in Norway 2500-1000 BCE: Understanding new biomolecular datasets through a humanist lens, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
28 Feb 2001 → 16 Mar 2025
Osteological and Biomolecular analysis of Medieval Social Minorities , Postdoctoral Fellowship, People of the Book: osteological and biomolecular analysis of Jewish and Muslim minorities in the medieval Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology
1 Feb 2022 → 29 Feb 2024
Radiocarbon Dating, Research Stay, Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela: Osteological and Biomolecular analysis of medieval individuals, Oxford School for Archaeology, University of Oxford
9 Jan 2019 → 31 Mar 2019
Stable Isotope Analysis, PhD - cosupervised and Research Stay , Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela: Osteological and Biomolecular analysis of medieval individuals, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
1 Mar 2018 → 30 Oct 2018
External positions
Associated Research, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology
1 Mar 2018 → …
Managing Artificial Intelligence in Archaeology - COST Action, University of Pisa
7 Mar 2015 → 19 Sept 2028
Keywords
- free keyword
- Middle Ages
- Stable isotopes
- Osteology
- Pilgrimage
- Diet
- Geoagraphical Mobility
- urban archaeology
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 1 Active
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EU713: FLAnders MEdievAL Diets: multi-isotopic reconstruction of urban foodways in Bruges, Ghent and Ypres (Belgium)
Snoeck, C. (Administrative Promotor), Pérez Ramallo, P. (Mandate) & Lambert, B. (CoI (Co-Promotor))
1/04/26 → 31/03/28
Project: Fundamental
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Analysis of medieval burials from Ibiza reveals genetic and pathogenic diversity during the Islamic period
Rodríguez-Varela, R., Pochon, Z., Mas-Sandoval, A., Yaka, R., Fortes-Lima, C. A., García Rubio, A., Márquez-Grant, N., Mari, J., Graziani Echávarri, G., Ferrer Abárzuza, A., Vicente, M., Lorca-Francisco, L., Linderholm, A., Lagerholm, V. K., Arauna, L. R., Pérez-Ramallo, P., Krzewińska, M., Schlebusch, C. M. & Götherström, A., Dec 2026, In: Nature Communications. 17, 1, 23 p., 2703.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
La Medicina estudiada por un arqueólogo
Pérez-Ramallo, P., 27 Mar 2026. 1 p.Translated title of the contribution :Medicine as studied by an archaeologist Research output: Unpublished contribution to conference › Unpublished paper
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Strontium on the Menu: Can strontium be used to reconstruct past diets?
James, H. F., Pérez-Ramallo, P., Frère, A., Legrand, E., Cheung, C. & Snoeck, C., 31 Mar 2026, Uk Archaeological Sciences Conference. 2026 ed. Bristol: UK Archaeological Sciences Conference, p. 136 1 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Meeting abstract (Book)
Open AccessFile129 Downloads (Pure) -
Ancient genomes reveal insights into ritual life at Chichén Itzá
Barquera, R., Castillo-Chávez, O. D., Nägele, K., Pérez-Ramallo, P., Hernández-Zaragoza, D. I., Szolek, A., Rohrlach, A. B., Librado, P., Childebayeva, A., Bianco, R. A., Penman, B. S., Acuña-Alonzo, V., Lucas, M., Lara-Riegos, J. C., Moo-Mezeta, M. E., Torres-Romero, J. C., Roberts, P., Kohlbacher, O., Warinner, C. & Krause, J., 27 Jun 2024, In: Nature. 630, 8018, p. 912-919 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access11 Citations (Scopus) -
Five centuries of consanguinity, isolation, health, and conflict in Las Gobas: A Northern Medieval Iberian necropolis
Rodríguez-Varela, R., Yaka, R., Pochon, Z., Sanchez-Pinto, I., Solaun, J. L., Naidoo, T., Guinet, B., Pérez-Ramallo, P., Lagerholm, V. K., Prado, V. D. A., Valdiosera, C., Krzewińska, M., Herrasti, L., Azkarate, A. & Götherström, A., 30 Aug 2024, In: Science Advances. 10, 35, eadp8625.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access4 Citations (Scopus)