Jaume Noguera, professor at the Faculty of Geography and History: “An important part of the 2nd Punic War was decided in the Ebro River”
Jaume Noguera is professor in the Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology of the UB. He has studied the war conflicts that confronted Romans, Carthaginians and Iberians fought in the Northeast of the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 3rd century BC. Recently, the research group led by Noguera has found a moat that defended the Iberian town of Vilar de Valls, the ancient city of Valls, in Tarragona. Students of the degree in Archaeology of the UB played a key role in the find. During the fieldwork of the subject Archaeological Methodology I, students detected some soil anomalies and discovered that they were a moat. This defensive construction could have been attacked by Romans in the battle against Carthaginians that took place in Cissis during the Second Punic War (218-202 BC).
Jaume Noguera is professor in the Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology of the UB. He has studied the war conflicts that confronted Romans, Carthaginians and Iberians fought in the Northeast of the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 3rd century BC. Recently, the research group led by Noguera has found a moat that defended the Iberian town of Vilar de Valls, the ancient city of Valls, in Tarragona. Students of the degree in Archaeology of the UB played a key role in the find. During the fieldwork of the subject Archaeological Methodology I, students detected some soil anomalies and discovered that they were a moat. This defensive construction could have been attacked by Romans in the battle against Carthaginians that took place in Cissis during the Second Punic War (218-202 BC).
Why did you begin to excavate in Valls?
Previous excavation campaigns carried out in a Roman camp in La Palma (Aldea, Tarragona) and some ancient articles and numismatic news indicated the peculiar existence of some Carthaginian coins between the Ebro River and the Pyrenees. In the case of Valls, a keen person told us that he had found some Carthaginian coins near the city. When we began to survey the area, we observed that, besides Carthaginian coins, there were coins from Massalia, the ancient Marseille (remains that coincide chronologically), and glandes, lead projectiles to be shot with a slingshot. Conducting a survey in Valls has one disadvantage: it is a modern urban area, so we find remains from the 18th, 19th, 20th, etc. centuries.
How did you realize that it may be a Carthaginian camp?
In La Palma, we found Carthaginian and Roman coins as well as Roman pottery. However, in Valls, we have only found Carthaginian remains, so we think that it was a Carthaginian camp. It has not been proved yet because we lack information about Roman camps, but this lack is even bigger in the case of Carthaginian camps: we ignore their structure, composition, area, etc. Moreover, Carthaginians were not a Punic army, but a group of mercenary soldiers composed mostly by Iberians. Therefore, clothing, pottery, small metallic objects, weapons, etc. are Iberian. What elements distinguish a Carthaginian camp from Cartago-paid troops? For example, a great amount of Carthaginian coins.
How can a camp be identified after so many years?
It is quite different from working on an Iberian site, which has a wall, a group of houses and a delimited area. You work on a large area where there are not walls and you find tent pegs and tacks, iron reinforcement that Romans wore under the sandals. Large concentrations of these elements indicate the presence of troops.
How was working with students?
Students carry out field walking with metal detectors and a geophysical survey together with experts from the Faculty of Geology. So, they complete an express course on how to carry out a survey. Students are motivated as they work on a real project. In fact, the two first courses that we offered the practical work on the site, our team had already surveyed the area in previous campaigns. I was surprised because students found the same and the same quantity of items we had found before. It is a good way to check that the scientific method works.
Why do you think that the ancient Iberian settlement of Valls is Cissis?
Sources indicate that, in 218 BC, Romans went out from Tarragona and travelled inland Catalonia looking for Carthaginians, who were in the territories of the Ilergetes, their Iberian allies. They met and fought near an Iberian settlement named Cissis, according to the Roman historian Livy, or Kissa, according to the historian Polybius. Therefore, the fight took place in a place located between Tarragona and Lleida. In Valls, there is a very ancient Iberian settlement, Vilar de Valls, which was abandoned in a violent way around 200 BC. There are signs of demolition and destruction, like demolished walls, burnt clay... In addition, many unbroken pieces of pottery have been found, which means that destruction took place suddenly so people did not have enough time to take their belongings. Carthaginian remains found near Valls, together with the destruction around 200 BC and the old moat found recently, suggest that the site could be Cissis. Now, it has to be confirmed by excavating the area.
Do we continue lacking information about the Second Punic War?
When you mention Scipio or Hannibal, everyone knows them. However, from an archaeological perspective, Second Punic War remains have not been excavated yet. The Second Punic War is completely unknown, maybe because historical sources describe it well. In spite of that, it must be considered that we only know the Roman part. The Carthaginian part ─a group of historians also accompanied Hannibal─ has disappeared. Available sources are biased as they only belong to the Roman nationalist history that describes the creation of the Empire. For that very reason, archaeology is so important, as it will allow us to have information further than Roman sources.
Was the front important in Iberia?
It has always been considered a secondary force which did not have much importance, but it is not right. Actually, an important part of the Second Punic War was decided here because the presence of Romans in the Ebro River made that many resources that Carthaginians could have used to support Hannibal were kept here in order to strengthen the fort. In fact, in a given time, when Hannibal was in the Italian peninsula, the Carthaginian army of the Iberian Peninsula planned to get there and another contingent of troops was in Africa ready to land in the south of Italy. Romans were invaded by three Carthaginian armies. Then, in 217 BC, Carthaginians lost a battle in the north of Castellón which destroyed the Iberian army and forced Africaʼs army to reinforce this front instead of invading Italy.
What actions are going to be made next to develop the study?
Now, we will try to prove in which context the Iberian settlement of Vilar de Valls was destroyed. There are two hypotheses: either Hannibal destroyed it after he went through the Ebro River, as sources indicate that Hannibal had lost many soldiers during the fights against the Iberian tribes during the two or three months he stayed in the area; or it was the consequence of the fight between Romans and Carthaginians in the battle of Cissis. Or it could also be another undocumented city. We are going to survey soon other area between Valls and Tarragona where we have found signs to locate the place where the battle between Romans and Carthaginians took place, probably located three of four kilometres far from the camp.