The archaeological excavations will return to Cacela Velha on Monday, June 17, in what will be the continuation of the research project “Muslims and Christians in medieval Cacela: changing territory and identities”.
Until July 12, researchers and university students will work at the Cacela Archeology Field-School to discover some more of the secrets buried in this small – but very old – town in the municipality of Vila Real de Santo António.
This excavation, which results from a collaboration between the Regional Directorate of Culture of the Algarve, the University of Algarve and the Municipality of Vila Real de Santo António, will involve around 30 participants, national and foreign.
This year, as Sul informação advanced in March, the idea is to continue the work that was started in 2018.
“We are still looking for the Islamic cemetery, which is what we are lacking. Last year, we just didn't go to the area where we think it exists, because it was becoming unaffordable. It was very complicated in logistic terms. We think it is a little higher up, in the Várzea area [to the north of the village]», he told the Sul Informação archaeologist Maria João Valente, who coordinates the project with archaeologist Cristina Teté Garcia, on the sidelines of the session to present the preliminary results of the first excavation campaign of this project.
"In 2019, we will return to the place where we were in 2018, to finish the excavation, and we will go to the other area, where we hope that the Islamic necropolis may be," added the archaeologist.
A Regional Directorate of Culture reinforced, in a note sent to the editorial offices, that "the areas opened in 2018 will be expanded, continuing to develop the study of the medieval Islamic quarter (XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries) and the necropolis of the Ermida de NS dos Mártires (XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries)" .
The Campo-Escola's works include excavation, recording and analysis of the different layers, sediment collection, collection and identification of materials such as ceramics, food waste, metal pieces, among others.
In addition to the excavations themselves, part of the program of this campaign is a workshop on bio-archaeology, which will take place on June 18, between 16:00 pm and 18:00 pm, and the initiative “Passos Contados”, a visit to the field with archaeologists in the venue, scheduled for July 13, at 18 pm, and hosted by CIIP Cacela.
There will also be a conference on “Funeral practices in the medieval period. What the archaeological remains tell us today”, to be held at the Casa do Pároco, on the 27th of June, at 18 pm.
As had already happened in 2018, there will be an Open Day on the 9th of July, between 10:00 am and 14:00 pm, in which anyone can «visit the excavation site, see some archaeological finds and hear the news».
Comments