From Euro Weekly News:
FOLLOWING on from the recent discovery of archaeological remains in the heart of Denia, a new excavation has brought to light the structures of an ancient salting factory under the town’s modern buildings.
The remains appear to be late Roman, dating from the 4th and 5th centuries, when old Denia went under its Roman name of Dianium, and consisted of “ a set of four contiguous pools of regular ground, dug into the earth, and have a strong coating of signinum opus (a heavy lime based plaster)” said local architect and the head of Denia’s Municipal Architecture Department, Josep A Gisbert.
These structures “are related to a common type of late Roman factory, the likes of which have been well documented along the coast of the Levante, and coastal enclaves of Andalusia and Tarragona “ continued Sr. Gisbert.
Archaeological excavations in this area have not yet been completed.
And this week works are commencing on a new ‘dig’ in Denia in an attempt to expose more of the extensive factory remains and so gain better understanding of the factory and its workings.
The factories were coastal based to give easy access to salt beds, and so also were conveniently situated to offer instant salting for the locally caught fish trade.
“It’s (the salting works) special location is in an area close to the old city centre, adjacent to the forum (the main square in Roman times). This proves a strong urban regression from the classical city, which has overlapping ruins of industrial and domestic architecture, as well as fifth and sixth century cemeteries,“ said Sr. Gisbert.
The discovery “leads to another conclusion” he said, “this small salting factory which ran for almost one thousand five hundred years and was part of the fabric of Dianium, is a historical reference that confirms the presence of salted fish in the diet and work of the people’s daily lives.” In short, archaeology is not simply the study of old rocks. It tells us things. It explains life.
Here’s an interesting tidbit from the Wikipedia entry on Denia:
There is evidence of human habitation in the area since prehistoric times and there are significant Iberian ruins on the hillsides nearby. In the 4th century BC it was a Greek colony of Marseille or Empúries, being mentioned by Strabo as Hemeroscòpion. It was an ally of Rome during the Punic Wars, and later was absorbed into the Roman Empire under the name of Dianum. In the 1st century BC Quintus Sertorius established a Roman naval base here.
Despite that apparently-long Classical history, the only other item I’ve ever come across news-wise for Denia was a somewhat vague item (and so filed away) on the discovery of a lead ingot from there last June from some real estate newsletter:
Divers diving off the coast of Denia have discovered a lead ingot on the sea bed which is believed to be of Roman origin.
Recent storms have washed the ingot closer towards the shore.The bar weighs at least 30 kilos and is said to be in perfect condition.
The Denia archaeological museum has stated that this is an exceptional find and of great historic value. It is thought to have originated from Carthago Nova(Cartagena) and it bears the words Societate and T.Lucreticil,making the archaeologists think that it originated with a Roman mining firm .
There is documented evidence that saying that the Lucretia dynasty was involved in the mining of lead at the beginning of the second century BC.This ingot was possibly part of a shipment bound for the northern Mediterranean,sinking off the coast.
… never did manage to track down a Roman gens Lucretia mining family (not that I spent too much time on it ) …
rogueclassicism 