The new GIAP archaeological campaign in the Pyrenees has started with archaeological survey and trial excavation tasks in new archaeological sites registered at headwaters of the Duran river and in Coll de Mulleres (Meranges, Cerdanya).
The research team wants thus to expand the number of known deposits and dated them, so they can work with more data on the history of high-mountain human occupation in this area of the Pyrenees.
Archaeological works will be carried out from July 22 and 31, under the direction of Josep Maria Palet, director of the ICAC, Lídia Colominas and Abel Gallego. There are also in the team Arnau Carbonell, Paloma Aliende and Valentina Pescini; students Jesús Martínez and Mariona Montes; and the volunteer François Ricou.
Preliminary results of the first trial excavations in Bac de Puigpedrós (Engorgs) provide early signs of pre-Roman presence in the site.
In the framework of the research project “Archaeology of cultural mountain landscapes in the headwaters of rivers Ter and Segre (Ripollès, Cerdanya)”, summer 2019 the team made six diagnostic trial excavations in two archaeological sites: Duran I and Coll de Molleres I. The works yielded very interesting results, which show how this high mountain occupation in the Meranges area began in the Neolithic era and extended to the Modern era.
Romans in the Pyrenees, at 2,500 m? Summer excavation works in Meranges give us new evidence
Primer dia de campanya del @GIAP_ICAC a Meranges (La Cerdanya).
⛏️ S’han obert tres sondejos de diagnòstic al jaciment de Bac de Puigpedrós, a Engorgs. Demà més! pic.twitter.com/6yAnJCD3Eq— ICAC, Institut Català d’Arqueologia Clàssica (@ICAC_cat) July 23, 2020
New trial excavations will allow a better outline and to specify the scope and chronology of the areas previously studied, and thus guide future spots for future archaeological excavations. There are some available options, such as Duran II and Coll de Mulleres II. These are sites located very close to those that were excavated in 2019, and that would serve to better understand the occupation dynamics of the area where each of them is located. Archaeological works have also started in other sites, such as the Engorgs one, which would allow preliminary results about the area of Meranges.
☺️ Avui hem rebut la visita de dos excursionistes encuriosits per les primeres troballes al Bac de Puigpedrós!
Us animeu a treure el cap per Meranges i el seu increïble patrimoni arqueològic?#patrimoni#landscape#arqueologiapic.twitter.com/sLqlNM8Vnw— ICAC, Institut Català d’Arqueologia Clàssica (@ICAC_cat) July 24, 2020
