Research that only supported the project to preserve the Conimbriga wall ended up revealing some surprises, such as part of the wall that must have existed before the Roman occupation, and child burials, which are rare.
Four excavations next to the Roman wall that borders Conimbriga, in the municipality of Condeixa a Nova, were launched in early March, with a very specific goal – to diagnose the places where drainage wells were supposed to be built. stabilize this legacy.
The selected sites have even been partially explored in the past, but in Conimbrig, where only 17% of the total area has been excavated, the margin of surprise is always great.
“When we made the first visit, I saw that it would not be as linear as we thought. And the truth is that this is not the case,” João Perpetuo, an archaeologist with the company responsible for conducting the research, reported the Lusa agency.
At one site, archaeologists have found part of an Iron Age wall prior to the occupation of Conimbriga by the Romans, confirming what was already suspected but never found, said Virgilio Correia, an archaeologist at the Conimbriga Museum. who led the excavations along with the director of the complex, Vitor Dias.
The director of the Conimbriga Museum looks at the excavations and comments: “This is better than what was ordered.”
Vitor Diaz admitted that 15 days ago “I didn’t have such high expectations”.
“We had no proof of the existence of the wall, but we believed that it existed,” added Virgilio Correia.
But for the archaeologist, the “big surprise” was the six children’s burials found during the Roman occupation, “very rare throughout the Empire.”
“Two or three dozen” children’s graves will be found in the zone of influence of the Roman Empire, he stressed.
In Conimbriga, the remains of four babies were found at one of the drilling sites, and two more at another excavation site.
“Child burials are always surprising, because the practice of child burials for the Romans is a very difficult thing. From a legal point of view, the child was not a person, and therefore there are all sorts of strange practices. there were many who were thrown into the pile of rubble. I didn’t expect anything,” Virgilio Correia explained the context.
The children must have been between a week and a year old, and given the location where they were found, it is thought they may have been buried when the area was something of a construction site when the Roman wall was being built. advances next to the amphitheater, which will be demolished.
“Compared to the few burials of children that are known in the Roman world, they are known in strange situations, such as children buried in the gardens of houses in Pompeii, or among the debris that deteriorated from the pottery production center in Rome. south of France,” advanced Virgilio Correia.
In the case of the Conimbriga, the children were not mixed with rubbish, but were buried “without much care”.
“It is noted that the burials were in a simple pit – a hole opened up in the ground and the child was placed there, eventually wrapped in a small cloth that did not contain any loot associated with the burial,” João Perpetuo added.
Another discovery that thrilled the team was a small inkwell from Roman occupation that was used to dampen the quills people used to write with.
“This is an exceptional thing that seems to be lost somewhere and ends up in the ruins of the amphitheater,” said Virgilio Correia, foreseeing that the work could be on display in the museum.
Soundings were carried out next to the Roman wall, in the area bordering the amphitheater, which was demolished to make way for this defensive structure.
Four excavations have remains from the 3rd or 4th century BC to the Middle Ages (9th or 10th century AD).
Even found coal and burnt seeds will be further studied.
Nothing is wasted, said Vitor Diaz, noting that these elements can help determine the diet at different times of the occupation of Conimbriga, as well as the local fauna and flora and their changes over time.
Twenty or thirty years ago, no one was interested in the found charcoal, and today there are sure to be elements that the team does not collect, because there are still no technologies that draw attention to them.
The evolution of the methods involved in the study of archaeological sites makes the fact that there is an archaeological reserve in Conimbrig even more important, a space waiting for the future and different eyes to reveal a little more the history of the site using other equipment that they will still be inventing , said Vitor Diaz.
“It’s like a home library, a lot of books, and someone asks if I’ve read everything.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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