The MARQ has programmed the development this year of six performances as part of the Plan for Archaeological Excavations and Research of the Alicante Provincial Councilequipped with 130,000 euros and coordinated by the director of the museum, Manuel Olcina.
The proposal, approved by the government team, will complete the work carried out in recent years by MARQ's team of specialists. This has been confirmed by the vice-president and deputy for Culture, Julia ParraHe has shown his firm support "to guarantee the continuity of the research that has allowed important discoveries to be made and to highlight highly interesting sites in Alicante, which are now considered to be of reference in the Mediterranean basin".
The calendar includes six interventions in as many sites in the province of Alicante, which cover archaeological remains from prehistoric times to the late Middle Ages. A first phase will take place in the second half of June and the rest of the activity will be concentrated between September and October.
The Plan will cover the Iberian site of the San Antón hillside in Orihuela and the walled village of Tabayá in Aspe, where the Argar culture of the 2nd millennium BC is being investigated. In addition, work will also be carried out in the Illeta dels Banyets in El Campello, where the aim is to complete the architectural plan of one of the wine presses from the Iberian period (4th-3rd c. BC), as well as in the Tossal de Maniseswhose intervention will focus on the consolidation and museumisation of the Popilius Baths (1st century AD), which were completed last year.
Another of the sites included in MARQ's programme is the Cabezo Molino de Rojales, a site that has traces of the Iberian period (metal smelting furnaces) but whose greatest documented occupation dates back to the Late Antique period (6th-7th century AD) with the existence of a necropolis. Finally, the Pobla de Ifach in Calpe will continue with its excavation plan, which foresees the excavation of several tombs in the cemetery next to the church, the preparation of the land for future interventions and the consolidation of the structures discovered in previous campaigns.
The specific directions of these six actions at emblematic sites in the province will be the responsibility of MARQ archaeologists Manuel Olcina, Juan López Padilla, Jose Luis Menéndez, Adoración Martínez, Teresa Ximenez, Eva Tendero and Antonio Guilabert. Also, as in other campaigns, the Plan will have the collaboration of an thirty university student volunteers.
It should be noted that some of the interventions, in particular that of the Tossal de Manises and Pobla d'Ifach, are carried out with the collaboration of the Architecture Department of the Provincial Councilunder the direction of Rafael Pérez. The Research Plan This year's project is completed with archaeometric analyses (pollen, sediments, metallurgical, radiocarbon, faunal, etc.), as well as work aimed at documenting and recording the structures (topography, orthophotos) and the objects found.
