The Sant Agustí Vell Archaeological Project
has closed its fifth excavation campaign with a presentation today, April 8, of the latest advancements. The excavation was carried out by the Associació Arqueologia i Patrimoni under the direction of Damià Ramis, Montserrat Anglada and Ismael Moll Pelegrí; and had the support of the Consell Insular de Menorca, the Migjorn City Council and the ASMAR-Catalina Seguí Foundation. Ramis and Moll were in charge of exposing the results, with the presence of the Vice President and Conseller of Cultural Affairs, Miquel Àngel Maria; and the mayor of Es Migjorn Gran, Antonia Camps, among other authorities.
Sant Agustí Vell is located in Component 4, formed by the Talayotic settlements of the southern ravine area of Menorca. Among the nine territorial areas or components that make up the new candidacy of Talayotic Menorca, this is the one with the highest number of archaeological sites. During the months of October and November 2021, the excavation works
focused on the room attached to the South Building of the Eastern complex of the site, where we find the large talayot which still shows its original wild olive wooden beams that are more than 3000 years old.
Right now, the team can advance some conclusions about the ongoing excavation:
- It’s clear that the space around the South Building suffered a late occupation during the Iron Age, which lasted until approximately 300 BC. The archaeologists can state that thanks to the typology of the imported ceramics recovered both in the access corridor to the talayot, as in the demolished levels of the exterior room attached to the facade of the South Building.
- The character of this occupation is clearly domestic, according to the recovered materials. It seems that the corridor of the building gave access to the talayot interior, although its purpose is not 100% confirmed. Due to the large number of amphora fragments found, mainly from Ibiza, it’s possible that it became a dunghill once the space lost its original function. The other hypothesis is that the remains discovered came from inside the talayot or from other rooms in the building used as storage areas.
- On the other hand, different fragments of molons (local name for the moving parts of swaying mills) have been recovered, as well as a stone mortar. With the amount of cereal seeds recovered during the sifting of the sediment from the excavation, the archaeologist think that this space could have been related to the processing of these seeds to transform them into food, perhaps community work. The results of the analysis of both the seeds and the carbons, as well as the study of the fauna, are still missing. All these studies will provide new data that will help us better understand the human communities that inhabited Sant Agustí at the end of the Talayotic period.
- A 3D model of the excavation area is also being prepared.
The excavation of these spaces in the building, of the access corridor to the talayot and the previous room, is revealing the building’s majesty with architectural structures of great monumentality. The finishing of the facade is impressive: in the middle of it, there is a central corridor that still retains the roof. This entrance has the form of a porch, an architectural solution never seen in Balearic prehistory until now.
This year ends the
first five-year project, but the most interesting part of the archaeological excavation will be carried out in the coming years: digging inside the building, which seems to preserve the roof. First, it will be necessary to dig from the outside to be able to access and discover the possible entrances.