New discoveries at Alcoutim castle
A month of excavations at the Roman ruins of the Castelinho dos Mouros castle – or the Alcoutim castle, as it is known – have surfaced new and exciting discoveries which help to give a more in-depth idea of the place and its function.
This was the fifth excavation that took place on the side and it helped to shed new light on the monument which covers a whopping 600 square meters. The campaign was made in partnership with the Innsbruck Institute and it relied on help from volunteers from both the University of the Algarve as well as the Algarve Archaeologists Association.
According to a press release, the artifacts found have confirmed the timeline previously established in regards to the site. The castle was occupied for four generations for a period of about 100 years, and parts of the outer walls were destroyed when the region’s municipal road was built.
This fifth excavation surfaced more object than the previous ones, one particular find which deserves special mention is the top half of a Punic amphora made in the Cadiz region of Spain, which was later reused in the castle. Further tests will be conducted to see what its function was.
The Punics were a group of western Semitic-speaking people who are thought to have descended from Phoenician settlers and North African Berbers.
The data that was retrieved as a result of the excavation will be thoroughly analyzed in the months to come and it is expected to offer archaeologists a deeper understanding of this important and ancient monument. The overarching aim of the research is to make it possible to publicly present the Roman building, which dates back to the first or second century BC.
The municipal authority also hope that this research will help put the Castelinho dos Mouros on the region’s cultural map so as to attract more visitors.
Those who want to get there can easily reach the place with Algarve car hire services.
