The UB opens the doors of its archaeological site in Raval with ArqueUB

The people that walk around the site can see two canvas, which have been renewed this year, with texts and illustrations on the archaeological value of the site and photographs of the pieces that have been found. Moreover, six pre-university students can spend a week in the sit to learn first-hand about the world of archaeology. During this stay, these secondary education schools will carry out some tasks related to the excavation under the supervision of teaching staff and students of the bachelorʼs degree in Archeology.

Awakening and confirming archaeological vocations

Having such a site in the Faculty of Geography and History allows the possibility, almost exceptional, that the students of the bachelorʼs degree in Archaeology conduct their practicals in the same place where they study, thanks to an agreement between the University and the Barcelona City Council, which is the owner of the site. Sofia Pejoan, one of the students of this degree that conducts the practicals in the site in Raval this year, had her first contact with the site some years ago already: “From my first experiences as a high school student in the site, the most important one is that I confirmed I wanted to study Archaeology and that it was my passion, but there were other fundamental aspects, such as finding new ways of working in real sites, which are sometimes unknown to the general public”. After that experience with ArqueUB, Sofia started the studies of Archaeology four years ago with a great entrance university grade, over 13. She is now finishing her degree and is back to the site where she decided on her vocation, in order to conduct the practicals.

The first factory of terracotta sculptural decoration in Barcelona

The site in Raval preserves the remains of the old studio of Antoni Tarrés, a potter of whom we can see more than sixty works in different buildings around Barcelona. Although he made bricks, containers, ornaments for façades and ceramic objects, his great talent lies in the terracotta sculptural decoration. His studio became the first factory to produce these ornamental elements to place them in the architecture of the city. The site also has construction phases prior to the studio of Tarrés, although the excavations from these other periods have to be carried out carefully so as not to damage the remains of the 19th century workshop. The emeritus professor of the Faculty of Geography and History Josep Maria Gurt says that last year, the archaeological works enabled “completing the area that had the mills to grind the clay from which the dough came to make the pieces and grind the mineral elements that made the glazes”.

The Raval site is one of the places where the UB students of archaeology can course the mandatory practical subjects.

The ArqueUB project is jointly organized by the Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit (UCC+i) of the UB and the Department of History and Archaeology of the Faculty of Geography and History of the UB, and has the support of the Barcelona City Council.