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The Archaeological Museum of Alicante has presented this morning the catalogue of the exhibition "Ajuares para la eternidad. The funerary rite at Cabezo del Molino".which includes four sets of Byzantine jewellery found in the necropolis of the Rojales site.
The Deputy for Culture, Juan de Dios NavarroThe Mayor of Rojales took part in this event together with the Mayor of Rojales, Antonio Pérezthe director of MARQ, Manuel Olcinathe managing director of the Fundación CV MARQ, José Alberto Cortésand the curator of the exhibition, Mª Teresa Ximénez de EmbúnArchaeologist and Exhibition Technician at the Fundación CV MARQ.
The new publication brings together images and data from the exhibition which was inaugurated last year and can be visited in the Museum's foyer until next May. As Navarro explained, it is a high quality edition that brings together the results obtained in the research carried out since 2018 at the Cabezo del Molino enclave.. "This project was part of the Annual Excavations Plan of the Diputación de Alicante and had the collaboration from the beginning of the Rojales Town Council and the Archaeological and Palaeontological Museum of this town," said the deputy.
Specialists and researchers such as Juan Antonio López PadillaMARQ archaeologist, Susana Gómez, lecturer at the Isabel I University of Burgos, Henry L. Gruberfrom the University of North Carolina (USA), and the restorers of the MARQ, Silvia Roca y Tatiana Maria Martinezas well as the architect Angel Rocamora and Teresa Ximénez de Embún herself have participated in the book, which is over 140 pages long.
Through an innovative museography, explanatory panels and a narrative video, 'Trousseaus for eternity' shows a particular moment in history. The Cabezo del Molino is one of the first sites in the province where it has been possible to confirm the presence of Byzantine-era population (6th-7th centuries AD), in this case through a large necropolis which is also one of the first examples in our territory of Christian communities in the rural world.
The excavations revealed a large number of children's burials The remains found - probably victims of the serious epidemic known as the "plague of Justinian" - and the location of a group of female graves of very young ages - between 6 and 12 years old - who were treated in a very special way in the face of death. These girls died a sudden and premature death that prevented them from performing rituals of great social relevance, such as marriage, during their lifetime.
For this reason, at their death, and with the utmost care, they were dressed in a special way, with bridal jewellery. In these cases, as Ximénez de Embún explained, "the documented funeral rite has been impressive and moving, and has left us with a series of sets of images of the bride and groom, which we have seen in the past". consisting of necklaces and earrings, made of high quality raw materials such as amber, bronze and silver, vitreous paste or semi-precious stones such as carnelian and turquoise.".
