THE GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF A SANCTUARY DESACRALIZATION DURING ROMAN TIMES
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 24/10/2020

The archaeological excavation carried out in Cova dels Jurats of Calescoves (Alaior, Menorca) identified a cave-sanctuary dating from Post-Talayotic to the Roman era. The cult developed during the Post-Talayotic period is, to a large extent, little known. However, a series of inscriptions located at the entrance of the cave reveals the divinity that was worshiped as well as some specific rites developed during the Roman chronology: the cult to the Dea Roma, the festivity of the Parilia and the Ludi Ceriales. The excavation
allowed the identification of a very complex finely stratified sequence as well as the recovering of different elements involved in the cult: mainly ceramic vessels and bone remains of the animals sacrificed. It is highlighted the wide range of ceramic imports from the island of Ibiza, black glazed ware from Italy or Hellenistic bowls from the Ionian area. Recently a multiproxy study of geoarchaeological nature has been carried out in order to identify the site formation processes involved in the genesis of the archaeological record.
Soil micromorphology and geochemistry have shown that the chronostratigraphic sequence is closely related to a seasonal occupation of the cave for animal penning. Maintenance activities of this space, such burning, have been evidenced. We can conclude that the studied sequence corresponds to a fumier. These activities were developed once the ritual space was desacralized. Our study explores the following question: To what extent did the ritual activities developed in cave-sanctuaries leave sedimentary evidence?


Author(s): Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, Mario - Orfila Pons, Margarita (Universidad de Granada) - Goldberg, Paul (Boston University; Eberhard
Karls Universität Tübingen; University of Wollongong)