The municipality announced the discovery of a necropolis in Alicante during restoration work on La Almadraba beach. It was previously revealed that excavations uncovered a bust of the goddess Venus, presumably dating back to the High Roman Empire.
Discovery in La Albufereta
A representative of the government team, Cristina Cutanda, reported that the necropolis was found near La Albufereta. The municipality specified that during the archaeological intervention, a 'significant necropolis' from the Iberian period was discovered, dated to the last third of the 3rd century BCE.
Significance of the Find
According to Jose Manuel Peres Burgos, head of the Department of Integrated Heritage, this is an 'exceptional site with very interesting artifacts that deserve scientific publication and future public exhibition.'
Archaeologists Jesus Moratalla and Gabriel Segura from the company Arquealia, responsible for the excavations, are currently preparing a scientific report.
Composition of the Necropolis and Artifacts
As preliminarily known, this family cemetery consists of four tombs, with great attention paid to the burial inventory. In addition to clothing items and trade goods, weaponry holds a special place. Various types of weapons demonstrating the full arsenal of an Iberian warrior, as well as rich sets of clothing and bronze ornaments, were documented after the excavation of the graves and two ritual areas.
Among the discovered items were falcaths (a type of sword), knives, spears, shields, horse harnesses, arrows, and darts (long soliferreum or short pilum). A 'very rich collection of bronze,' including fibulae and clothing, was also found. Two of the tombs contained unusual and rare sets of weights accompanied by various shot weights.
Goddess Tanit and Dating
Among the funerary objects was an incense burner shaped like a female head, in perfect state of preservation, which can be attributed to the goddess Tanit. Additionally, a cart wheel and a fragment of Iberian sculpture identified as a carved deer antler were found. A set of about thirty small vessels used at a public feast was also found.
These findings allow specialists to date the necropolis to the time of the Barcids' conquest of southeastern Spain and link it to Tossal-de-Manises, whose foundation in the context of the Barcid War has already been established by excavators. The source also explained that the necropolis likely contained the remains of a military family of the same line or clan, collected outside the main burial area of La Albufereta, located 300 meters southwest.
