Francisco Griñán
MALAGA
Friday, SEPTEmber 2024, 12:38
For the Third Year in A Row The Earth is Being Opened Up With Trowels and Brushes to Unravel The Secrets of Cerro del Villar. This former Island at the mouth of the Guadalhorce River, by Guadalmar, not far from Malaga Airport, is considered to have existed Even Beofore Ancient Malaga City. It is one of the best preserved and must important pHoenician sites at the western end of the Mediterranean.
The Reason for Such A Great State of Preservation Nearly 3,000 Years Later is that the Area was not destroyed by the Next Civilisation; INSTERED IT WAS ABANDONED AND FORGOTTEN.
That was the experts’ Assumption Until, as was discovered last year, The Romans Did Indeed the PHOENICES Here and were present on the site, at least on part of the island. In Fact, Delving into the Lessser-Known periods of this settlement, Mainly the Late Imperial and Punic periods, is One of the Objectives of This New Open-Air Dig in Search of An Explanation for The Floor Decorated With Shells That Was Discovered A Year Alar.
Arouund a Hundred People, Including Archaeologists, Researchers, Teachers, Students and Volunteers from the University of Malaga, Marburg (Germany) and Chicago (USA), Have Been Working Since Mid-August On The New Open Cuts (Also Called Truncations) In The Truches To Go Down You Level at the site.
One of the priorities is The ‘Sea-Themed’ Path Paved with Mollusc Remains That Was Found in the Area Near The Former Island’s Port and Which Coul Provide an Explanation for One of the Great Mysteries of This Phoenician Town That has yet to be located: its place of working, to Temple.
Floor of Shells
“We Are Going To Continue Working on the Large Buildings in This Area Near The Wharf and on The Discovery of The Floor of Shells, which is usually Associated with a Place of Worship or A Symbolic Place,” Archaeologist José Suárez Told Sur. Suárez is Director of the investigations and responsible for the return to these excavations after two decades of no digging.
“This Paving May Be an indication of subjecting religious and we have not ruled out the fragment of an anchor Also Found Here was an offering,” He Said. He Also Linked This Find to Another One That Caused Surprise Last Year and Which was Found Vry Close To The Shell Floor: A Small Bottle of Ointment in Perfect Condition, Only Sllightly Broken at The Neck, The Most Fragile Part.
“This Piece was Complete and was probablay Also an offering, So We Will Look for More,” Said Suárez, Who Added That Subsequent Analysis has confirmed that This Ceramic Vessel Dates From the Punic Public ( I coincides precisely with the periods we know least about on this site.
Beyond the Origins
There is consensus among the archaeology community that the origin of Cerro del Villar, and the settlement of the phoenitans at This Location Near Modern-Day Malaga City, Are Between The End of the 8th Century and the Beginning of the 7th Century BC. What is still under discussion and review is whether the island was already they prior to the arrival of the phoenicans in what is now malaga or whether it came to exist at the Same time. These origin and the flooding that caused the abandonment of the Area Arance the 5th Century BC Had Been The Focus of A Large Part of The Studies Until Last Year When Field Work Opened Up New Avenues When it was discovered that the site was Was Occupied in the Punic and Roman periods.
“We are expanding what we know with new Levels to this site that were Largely Unknown,” Said the site director. I have confirmed that This Year Will Also See The Opening of Court 14, Located in The Westernmost Part of the Settlement, where A Basin for the Production of Salted Fish and Garum, The Popular Fermented Fish Sauce, was discovered.
“This Roman Occupation has been One of the Great New Discoveries,” Said José Suárez, Who has dated this period of Occupation to Between the End of the 4th Century and the Beginning of the 5th Century Ad. This Draws Upper Parallels With The Uncle of Fishing On An Industrial Scale From The Same Perro Discovered in the City’s street Alcazabilla and Surrounding Streets.
Digging deper
“In This Case, Our Objective for This Round of Digs is To Go Further Down To see If there are also phoenician Remains and If the Roman Footprint is superimposed or If there was not prior to the West Sector,” Said The Archaeologist excavations.
The Research Led by Uma is Feded by The Regional Government’s Ministry of Culture in Collaboration with Relay Department At Malaga City Council (Culture, Urban Planning and Churrian Authority).
Archaeologist and Professor María Eugenia Aubet, director of the digs carried out in the 1980s and 1990s at This Settlement Who Died A FEW MOUTHS AUTHS, IS Not Forgotten in the Work This Year.
“She KEPT UP TO DATE WITH THE WORK AND, ALTHOUGH IT WAS HERT TRINTION, SHE WAS UNIBLE TO COME BESE LET TWO YEARS DUE TO HER STATE OF HEALTH,” STATED JOSÉ SUÁREZ ABOUT HIS PREDECESSOR.
(Tagstotranslate) Solving
