Historical Heritage promotes the sixth excavation campaign in Tossal in La Cala

The councilor of Historical Heritage, Ana Pellicer, has announced today that next Monday, September 3, will start the sixth campaign of archaeological excavations in the Tossal de La Cala. The works will end on day 14 and will focus on the western part of the enclave. Pellicer, who has appeared before the media accompanied by the professor of Archeology at the University of Alacant (UA), Feliciana Sala, and the director of Hotel Bali (collaborating entity in the project), Jerónimo Llinares, has indicated that the performance will allow to excavate and consolidate the western part and musealize the totality of the site.

Ana Pellicer said that the excavation will be directed, like the previous ones, by the Chamber itself and also by the archaeologist and professor of the UA Jesús Moratalla. The councillor made a tour and checked the discoveries made since the first of 2013 that confirmed "after the suspicions of Feliciana Sala" that it was a Roman 'castellum' from the 1st century BC, instead of how it was previously believed, an Iberian settlement , how the wall appeared and how the area was outlined and confirmed that the construction corresponds to "typical Roman forts".

The head of Historical Heritage referred to the many discoveries made on the ground. "It has appeared - Pellicer said - a multitude of Roman pottery, coins, a plumb line used in the construction of walls, or a key", among other objects. However, the most important finding so far has been the street that communicated the entrance to the 'castellum' "which was described by various media as the 'first street' of Benidorm."

In her speech, Feliciana Sala emphasized that Tossal in La Cala is "a field of work and learning" in which this year students from the Complutense University of Madrid and Valencia will participate along with those of the UA. The archaeologist advanced that "in the near term" a monograph is going to be edit based on the excavations "with spectacular scientific results". Precisely, work in the laboratory will begin in October at the university and "will provide a huge amount of information," the specialist said.

Feliciana Sala ensured that Tossal in La Cala is going to become "a reference of late Roman military constructions in Hispania" for specialists and that in the work that will begin next week "it will be possible to recover what devastated the road because it has recovered the documentation of the 1956 excavation "that Alejandro Ramos and Miguel Tarradell carried out. This will allow to "reconstruct and return to visitors the town planning of the fort," Sala finished.

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With the realization of the different campaigns the areas that have been excavated presented the problem of conservation. Climatic changes, rain or dryness of the environment could affect the stones and produce some deterioration. "This situation," Pellicer underlined, "forced the realization of a second action: the consolidation of its structures, its conservation and the beginning of musealization." The head of Historical Heritage recalled that the efforts made by the City Council have allowed obtaining a grant from the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF), which will allow to "excavate and consolidate the western part and musealize the entire site, which will allow the visit in its entirety. "