2023-06-26 11:57:11
A limestone quarry found in the town of Deza (Soria) was exploited for the construction of a large military campin order to enhance the defense of nearby and important Celtiberian city of Titiakos during the sertorian wars. This is revealed by a multidisciplinary research group from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) that has brought to light these hitherto unknown archaeological sites. The study is published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.
“Despite its relevance, this site has never been studied and has remained ignored. To date, no systematic study has been carried out that has tried to discover its historical importance”, he comments. Vicente Alejandromayor of Deza and member of the investigation team.
Despite its relevance, this site has never been studied and has remained ignored
Vicente Alejandre, co-author of the study
“The key to the identification of the quarry has been the comparison in aerial photography of the geomorphology of the slopes of this sickle with the snouts of the rest of the streams that cross the plateau of the foothills of the Sierra de Minana“, Explain Alvaro Sanz de OjedaEnergy and Mining Engineer from the UPM.
“All the little snouts present an identical reliefwith very regular slopes up to an erosion surface, except this one that had relatively large cavities on its left slope at its exit”, adds the researcher.
The quarry and remains found in Deza. /UPM
This geomorphological anomaly could be explained with the exploitation of a quarry, according to Sanz de Ojeda. “The path was then justified, since it was the path of the quarry by which the stone was removed. One of the secondary elements of a quarry, such as a road, has been another of the keys to identify it”.
However, the way I was not going to the city of Titiakosbut it rose inexplicably and with gentle slopes covering about 700 meters upstream of the gorge until reach the highlands. There lay a maze of long and thick wallsand in the immediate labor camps, outside the military compound, they had found Celtiberian coins and lead projectiles, etc.
“Is about a roman camp”, affirms Vicente, “most of the coins correspond to the Titiakos mint minted in the period of the Sertorian wars, which presupposes that Deza was that celtiberian city, although it is not certain; the projectiles also tell us about a battle”. The pieces of the puzzle fit together: the quarry was opened to build a Roman defensive enclosure.
Most of the coins correspond to the Titiakos mint, minted in the period of the Sertorian wars.
Vicente Alejandre, co-author of the study
“The limestone quarry is located in a small gorge next to the Soria town of Dezawhich is at the exit of this gorge”, declares with Eugenio Sanz Perez, UPM professor and research leader. “The exploitation has gone completely unnoticed because the place and the rock are naturalized in such a way after more than 2000 years, that the quarry fronts were considered to be natural accidents on the ground. Therefore, it was not known nor was there an oral tradition about it”.
However, some sections of a path excavated in rock and with ruts have been preserved for the passage of carts that accessed the quarry from the upstream part of the hocecilla. “These are easily identifiable and end in a precipice of 40 meters where there is a large stone block of 2.5 tons, visible from the town. This path was surrounded by mystery since it was not understood why it had been builtand fueled local legends and stories.”
Despite the fact that the Roman camp is located next to the Celtiberian city of Titiakos, the professor denies that there was any intention to conquer it. “Celtiberia and the rest of Hispania were already conquered at that time (82-76 BC). Surely the Celtiberians (Titos) of Titiakos were allies of Sertorio, and they wanted to defend themselves against the supporters of Pompey, who is the one who finally won the civil war in Rome (Sertorian Wars)”, affirms the researcher.
Celtiberia and the rest of Hispania were already conquered at that time
Eugenio Sanz Pérez, study leader
“Although Deza is located on a hillock that rises 50 meters above the valley of the river Henar, in case of war it was vulnerable to catapult attack from the plateau 100 meters above to the northeast. A military camp was necessary to give protection to the celtibéra-roman city on this side more vulnerable. The choice of the location of the camp site was carefully studied ”, he adds.
Ángela Moreno, professor in the Department of Engineering and Morphology at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería and member of the research, reports that “in order to quantify all these aspects, the use of unmanned vehicles”.
“This is a Roman military engineering project very well done: the geological deposit was exploited selectively, differentiating between the extraction areas of large and small stone blocks, according to the needs of the work”, affirms Sanz Pérez.
“The stone material was transported by means of small carts by a path of careful and studied layout about 600 meters long and of clear Roman affiliation. From this quarry some 12,000 m3 of limestone that correspond to the volume and type of rock of the remains of the walls that are still preserved in situ, and of the reused stone borders of the surrounding farms”, he concludes. Antonio Arcosprofessor at the UPM and participant in the work.
Rights: Creative Commons.
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