Tossal de Baltarga

The archaeological excavation in extension at Tossal de Baltarga began in 2011, under the co-direction of archaeologist Jordi Morera, in the framework of a research project led by Professor Oriol Olesti of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Since that year, excavation campaigns have been carried out every year, in a confluence of interests by the Departament de Ciències de l’Antiguitat i de l’Edat Mitjana of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the municipal council. Arqueòlegs.cat co-directs and collaborates in the archaeological investigation of the site, which has become a training and learning place for students of the Degree in Archaeology and History.

Up to now, two great phases of occupation have been identified. The first corresponds to the Ceretan period (4th-3rd centuries BC) and would be defined by the presence of some structures including several houses. Three of these buildings were violently destroyed by fire at the end of the third century BC. The second phase would correspond to the Republican period of the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. At this time, different buildings were built, some of them fortified like a watchtower. This aspect, together with the discovery of some significant objects, suggests the establishment of a military Roman garrison. The settlement was abandoned in the third quarter of the 1st century BC, coinciding with the abandonment of Castellot de Bolvir and with the founding of the new city of Iulia Lybica.