Researchers have applied remote sensing and aerial photography to the Phoenician enclave Cabezo Pequeño del Estany of Guardamar under the project “Cultural Transfers in the Ancient Mediterranean”
The settlement, discovered by chance and partially destroyed in the late 80s by an illegal cement quarry, was rapidly excavated in several campaigns under the direction of Antonio García Menárguez, director of the Archaeological Museum of Guardamar.
The current development of joint work between the University and the Museum has certainly raised interest in this spectacular site. Recent consolidation work undertaken by the City of Guardamar, coordinated by Antonio García, now let us contemplate from the air the preserved part of an impressive 2 meter high wall.
This wall, built during the first half of VIII BC, has a structure of oriental-style compartments, perfectly modulated following Phoenician patterns. The organisation and the size of the enclave, typical of the first colonial installations, and the types of defences that have their closest parallels in the Near East (at sites such as Hazor or Qeiyafa in Israel) are observed in the aerial images.
In light of the recent archaeological materials found, the peaceful abandoning of the settlement occurred around 700 BC and, pending further research, could be due to one or more factors such as population growth, the partial clogging of the Segura navigable estuary or a succession of several seismic events. The data suggest that the population of Cabezo Pequeño del Estany moved around that date to a larger location, right on the seafront, which is now known as La Fonteta and is preserved beneath the sand dunes of Guardamar.
The recent agreement signed for the museological preservation of this neighbouring site of La Fonteta by the City Council and Provincial Government of Alicante and the drafting of its development plan, together with the spectacular Cabezo Pequeño del Estany, make Guardamar and the beautiful surroundings of the mouth of the Segura river one of the main international focuses for knowledge of Phoenician colonization.
In this sense, Guardamar along with the MARQ and the University of Alicante hosted last November a high-level scientific meeting – the VIII International Conference of the Centre for Phoenician and Punic Studies – and the conclusions will be published over the coming months. Also the Archaeology Department of the University of Alicante and the Archaeological Museum of Guardamar contemplate conducting future archaeological excavations in Cabezo Pequeño and the publication of a monograph that summarises all the scientific studies that have been carried out since its discovery.
Contributing Source : Asociación RUVID
