GPR allows observing an Iberian city located underground in Banyeres del Penedès

Urban structure and defense system of the Iberian site in Masies de Sant Miquel (Banyeres del Penedès).
Urban structure and defense system of the Iberian site in Masies de Sant Miquel (Banyeres del Penedès).
Research
(04/07/2018)

Using the GPR allowed researchers to discover 2.5 hectares of a big Iberian city in Banyeres del Penedès. This town would be as important as the one in Ullastret, the biggest Iberian urban area in Catalonia so far. The findings are framed within the research project led by the UB professors Joan Sanmartí and Jaume Noguera and Maria Belarte (ICREA and ICAC).

Urban structure and defense system of the Iberian site in Masies de Sant Miquel (Banyeres del Penedès).
Urban structure and defense system of the Iberian site in Masies de Sant Miquel (Banyeres del Penedès).
Research
04/07/2018

Using the GPR allowed researchers to discover 2.5 hectares of a big Iberian city in Banyeres del Penedès. This town would be as important as the one in Ullastret, the biggest Iberian urban area in Catalonia so far. The findings are framed within the research project led by the UB professors Joan Sanmartí and Jaume Noguera and Maria Belarte (ICREA and ICAC).

The results of the geophysical prospection, carried out by the company SOT Prospecció Arqueològica, whose owner is Roger Sala, show a great part of the city with a regular road structure formed by broad and parallel streets, which are crossed by narrower streets. So far, 200 areas have been found -with squares, unique buildings, walls, towers and a big moat. This would have been the big city of the Eastern Cessetania, an area inhabited by the Iberian tribe with the same name, the Cessetans, who lived in the area that ranges from the mountain chain in Garraf to coll de Balaguer, with its capital city in Kesse, current Tarragona. Previous excavations in the eighties and the nineties pointed out to the possible existence of a big area now found by the GPR, a system which identifies the different electromagnetic properties of underground materials. Regarding chronology, the ceramics and old excavation works show there was an urban area in the 6th century BC, which lasted until the year 200 BC, when it was ─probably─ abandoned due the Second Punic War or the following indigenous rebellions.

Researchers want to undergo a first excavation this year to test the results in those areas which are more difficult to analyse. Afterwards, they will conduct excavation works together with the city council of Banyeres del Penedès. “The results of the GPR will make this task easier, since it allows us to manage and plan the work; although there are always elements which are not clear, such as constructions and urban traces that go far from the defence system in the south of the town”, says Noguera, lecturer at the Faculty of Geography and History of the UB.

The city council of Banyeres del Penedès will be the owner of these areas, which will be bought over the upcoming months. The municipal government is working on the formalities to start excavations together with the UB, in order to disseminate and show people the site. The mayor of Banyeres, Amadeu Benach, says this is “a big finding, which is important not only for the town but also for the whole country”.

Research on this new town is framed within the project Caracterización de lo asentamientos urbanos en la costa de la Iberia septentrional (siglos VI-III aC), funded by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness. The site is also part of the research project of the UB El canvi sociocultural a la Cessetània oriental Durant la Protohistòria i lʼèpoca romana republicana.

Scientific results will be presented in an event organized by the City Council of Banyeres del Penedès on Tuesday, July 3, at 7 p.m. in Heretat Sabartés, a 18th century palace which is about 500 meters away from the new Iberian town. 
 

The video of the research study is available here.