Campaign Start

The archaeological excavation at the Roman Villa of El Vergel has resumed this time in early August. The company FORAMEN Study of Archaeology is responsible for carrying out archaeological work, as in previous seasons. We are a team led by Rosalia Serrano Noriega (archaeologist ) and advised by specialists in different fields of Archaeology (epigraphy, numismatics, ceramics, glass ...) including Dr. D. Jose-Antonio Abásolo Alvarez, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Valladolid.

In this campaign we will intervene in different places distributed around the area already excavated, in an attempt to prove irrefutable residential complex boundaries and the extension of the area dedicated to burials which were established moments after the decline and abandonment of the settlement during the late Empire.

Translated by Lara M. Moreda
Edited by Andrew B. Greeves



Final mosaic cleaning

The cleaning of one of the mosaics is almost completely finished, and now we are consolidating certain areas, especially the ones close to a breakage and therefore likely to be altered again.
View of the octagonal central motif surrounded by rope motives that bind creating swastikas and generating, at the same time, another large cruciform frame.

View of the northern end of the room, with a closing checkered mosaic (Bichrome): white and pink tesserae.

In addition, we started to clean the second mosaic pavement. It is polychrome and larger than the one mentioned above, the decorative scheme presents the same motifs as we said before but with a slightly different distribution.
View of mosaic floor. It can be observed that the octagonal shape is repeated, the rope motif is linked in swastikas and other caissons have a black and white checkered motif .

Translated by Lara M. Moreda
Edited by Andrew B. Greeves



Plundered tombs

Mosaic floor cleaning is slowly discovering the decorative scheme. Until now, it had been observed how the octagonal central motif is surrounded by a meandering of braided rope, intertwined, making swastikas. Also, in the southern end of the room there are four square coffered, faced two by two, and in the northern end we can see how it draws a border of lotus motifs.
Mosaics overview with an octagonal central motif. We also can see coffered squares with floral motifs.
Photo of the frieze of lotus-shaped motifs, located at the northern end of the room.

The area, which we have documented the presence of burials in sarcophagi, has been excavated in its entirety during this campaign. The results that have been documented show how all these graves have been opened and plundered several times. We observed that inside of these sarcophagi there aren’t complete burials, we only found a few unconnected bones.
Overview of the area occupied by sarcophagi. In the left of the picture there is a carved burial site situated in an area of hydraulic concrete, the excavation of this zone is still pending.

Translated by Lara M. Moreda
Edited by Andrew B. Greeves



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