The President of the Diputación de Alicante, Luisa Pastor, travelled this morning to the municipality of Calpe to visit the ninth excavation campaign which takes place in the Medieval town of Ifach until the next 31 August and to subsequently inaugurate the new History Museum of the municipality that hosts half a hundred pieces found in the Penyal and on loan from the MARQ for temporary exhibition.
Pastor, accompanied by the local mayor, César Sánchez, and by the deputy for Culture, Juan Bautista Rosellófirstly toured the natural enclave where this year's explorations are taking place. 40 students of archaeology from 15 Spanish and European universities.
The aim of the work is to to deepen the discovery of the access system to Penyallocated in the western sector of the site, as well as extending the area of the necropolislocated on the façade of the Church of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles.
The campaign, in which the City Council and the Penyal d'Ifac Natural Park -depending on the Regional Ministry of Infrastructures, Territory and Environment- are collaborating and which is directed by the MARQ archaeologist José Luis Menéndezto date, has yielded the discovery of three large rooms of some 35 square metres each with recovered material consisting of metals and a large amount of ceramics, as well as two stone archesAll these elements will provide information for the study of the internal organisation of the area.
On the other hand, the work carried out in the area of the necropolis has been directed to expanding and locating more graves in the burial space. The following have been delimited 16 new burials which bring the number of discoveries to a total of 40 niches, including that of a knight, the first double burial in a primary position and that of a cleric or ecclesiastical position, among others.
Luisa Pastor pointed out that the valuable information that has been generated by this medieval archaeological site allows us to consider the possibility of creating an Interpretation Centre that would show the main remains found in the area, while offering information about the site and its history..
Both the President and the Mayor of the town have advanced that this proposal, which would be materialised through a collaboration agreement between the Diputación de Alicante, the Fundación de la Comunitat Valenciana MARQ, Calpe Town Council and the Conselleria de Infraestructuras, Territorio y Medio Ambiente, will make it possible to to put in value e to promote this cultural infrastructure for tourism that more than 130,000 visitors each year.
For his part, the director of the excavations has emphasised the success of this year's campaign and has highlighted, especially the findings of the tombs which, to date, all correspond to men except for the first one found, which is of a woman, as well as the discovery of the two stone arcades.
Menéndez has indicated that This summer we have found materials of such high quality as we have not been able to find to date and this has allowed us to learn more about the history and customs of the community that lived in this nucleus.
Calp History Museum
After the visit to the enclave, the president of the Diputación de Alicante inaugurated the new Museu d'Història de Calp, now located in the Casa de la Senyoreta, for which the MARQ has on temporary loan around fifty archaeological artefacts from the excavations carried out in the Medieval town of Ifach.
The temporary and renewable agreement with the municipality of Calpe includes the supervision by the Museo Provincial de la conservation and exhibition quality of the objectsincluding a buckle with the image of a Basiliskthe Islamic amulet of Ifach found in the necropolis or a brass buttons.
Pastor commented that The Provincial Archaeological Museum contributes, with this cession, to complete the exhibition discourse of this history centre of Calp, since the Pobla de Ifach is one of the most important archaeological landmarks of the area, together with the Roman enclave of the Baños de la Reina. The joint exhibition of both sites will allow visitors to get a complete understanding of the history of the town and its inhabitants..
For his part, César Sánchez has stated that this museum recovers the origins of our land, our history and our tradition. He also pointed out that eight out of ten jobs in Calp depend on tourism. All initiatives related to attracting more tourists are welcome.said the mayor, who finally pointed out that with this new proposal, the historic centre of the municipality and this museum will become a tourist reference point.
The set of materials, consisting of ceramics, objects for personal use and some archaeological items from the church of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles in Ifach, has been found and recovered by the MARQ technicianswho Since 2005, they have been carrying out an important research project in the area.
