The Provincial Council and the MARQ. The excavations at Lucentum.
Campaign 2009/2010
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
Since the beginning of September 2009 and until the end of May 2010, archaeological excavations have been carried out in Lucentum (the Tossal de Manises in the Albufereta area of Alicante) focusing, in this campaign, on two areas: the "forum" of the Roman city and the so-called "Termas de Popilio", being financed entirely by the Provincial Council of Alicante through the Architecture Area and the MARQ.
Three test pits were excavated in the forum with a triple objective: to establish the chronology of the construction of this civic centre, to determine the characteristics of the monumental access between the religious area (where the temple was located) and the square in front of this building and to determine the evolution of the city at this central point by excavating the levels below the pavement of the forensic square.
As for the work on the Popilius Baths and adjacent buildings, the purpose of the intervention was to complete the exhumation of the bath complex, specifically the room between the vestibule and the changing room, and to discover the architectural and urban fabric between the baths and the Roman forum.
The results have been entirely satisfactory despite the adverse weather conditions, as the excavation period has seen more than 60 days of rain, which has slowed down and, at times, halted the excavation work.
As far as the Roman forum is concerned, its chronology has been confirmed as dating from the end of the period of the Emperor Augustus and the beginning of Tiberius' rule, i.e. the beginning of the 1st century AD, which confirms the economic vigour of the Roman city at this time. On the other hand, the existence of a single-span arch that acted as a monumental transit element between the religious and civil areas of the forum has been confirmed, a rare occurrence in the architectural framework of the Roman forums of this period, since this type of element is located as an access monument to the entire forensic complex.
The most spectacular result, however, was the discovery of a street under the forum. It is 4 m wide and has several pavements. It was built in the last two or three decades of the 3rd century BC and confirms the existence of a human settlement prior to the Roman one, probably of Carthaginian origin. The road, undoubtedly one of the main roads, ran through a large part of the city from NW to SE, articulating the entire central-eastern sector of what was becoming an urban foundation of which the complex defensive system (with hollow towers to house catapults) and some constructions attached to the walls were already known.
Excavation of the room between the entrance hall and the changing room at the "Popilius Baths" has revealed a major alteration of the building from the 2nd century AD onwards. The concrete floor was destroyed and a production area, probably a small olive-oil mill, was installed. The change of use of the public building gives an idea of the profound transformations that the Roman city underwent from the second century AD until its disappearance in the following century.
Next to the baths, two large elongated naves have been discovered which we interpret as "tabernae" or shops. These two constructions are in addition to others already known in the same street, which confirms that this street, also known as "Popilio's", was probably the main commercial axis of the Roman city of Lucentum. It has also been found that these shops were partially destroyed by the construction of a large quadrangular building attached to the forum at some point in the Flavian period (last third of the 1st century AD), of which only the traces of the first course of large ashlars on a bed of mortar remain. The detection of this construction only on the basis of fragile traces confirms that Lucentum became a quarry for building material, suffering a great deal of plundering from the 3rd century AD onwards, a fact that has already been confirmed in other parts of the city.
This first phase of excavation has been allocated €209,000. For a second phase of work, which is planned for this September, the consolidation and musealisation of the sectors already excavated will be undertaken, with a budget allocation of a further €69,000, applying the methodology that has been tried and tested at Lucentum and at other Spanish sites. The objective, on the one hand, is to conserve the exhumed architectural remains and, on the other, to ensure that the visiting public has a better understanding of the new areas that will be incorporated into the site's itinerary. The comprehensive excavation and consolidation work is directed by M. Olcina Domenech and Rafael Pérez Jimenez, with MARQ archaeologists A. Guilabert Mas and E. Tendero Porras as co-directors of the excavation.
With regard to the rest of the excavation programme that the Provincial Council, through the MARQ, is carrying out in 2010, it should be noted that in Illeta dels Banyets (El Campello), the excavations in the Roman villa sector were completed in May, together with those at Lucentum, directed by the technical director of the MARQ, Manuel H. Olcina Domenech and A. Martínez Carmona, archaeologist at the MARQ. With a budget allocation for 2010 of 183,000€, distributed in a first phase of excavations of 62,000€, a second phase of consolidation and musealisation of 91,000€ plus a further 30,000€ for the adaptation of the exterior visitor access control hut.
In June, the annual campaign at Cabezo Pardo (San Isidro-Albatera) was also carried out under the direction of MARQ archaeologist Juan Antonio López Padilla. In July and August, excavations are also being carried out in the medieval village of Ifach (Calpe) under the direction of the MARQ archaeologist José Luis Menendez Fueyo, and in September the excavations in the Cueva del Randero in Pedreguer, directed by Jorge A. Soler Díaz, will be undertaken. The project also has a budget allocation of around €55,000.
www.celineoutletstore.com
