Back to the field! Start out in the archaeological works this summer at Mas dels Frares (Constantí, Tarragona)

Picture of the archaeological excavation campaign works at Mas dels Frares (Constantí, Tarragona), 2021. Photo: ICAC

The ICAC runs this summer a new campaign of archaeological works at the Roman villa of Mas dels Frares (Constantí, Tarragona).

Archaeological works will take place from June 27 to July 15, 2022. The activity belongs to the research project Estudi i difusió de la vil·la romana del Mas dels Frares (Constantí, Tarragonès), I Fase (Projecte quadriennal CLT009-18-00100), under coordination by Francesc Rodríguez, postdoctoral researcher at the Christian and Late Antiquity Archaeology research team, and technical direction by Karen Fortuny, Òscar Caldés, and Josep Maria Macias.

The 2022 archaeological campaign welcomes the participation of undergraduate and postgraduate students who want to take part in the works related to archaeological excavation, archaeological drawing, architectural consolidation, and the study of materials.

¡Sign up!

The Roman villa ‘Mas dels Frares’ is located in the municipality of Constantí (near Tarragona), 1.5 km from this town and next to the Experimental Winery of the Faculty of Oenology of the URV. Archaeological works carried out in recent years have shown the existence of a rural site between the 2nd century BC and VII AC. The central part of this period constituted an agricultural village focused on the cultivation of wine as a priority economic activity.

Mas dels Frares archaeological site provides highly relevant information on the Romanization process of the territory of Tarraco.

These signs show how the current territory of Constantí was one of the first to be established by Italian settlers. Another relevant fact has been the documentation of the durability of rural occupation during the Visigothic period. The baths of the villae and its large pool were occupied by domestic spaces, reflecting the rural occupation of the Ager Tarraconensis until the arrival of Islam.

Beyond the research project, the excavation program in the archaeological site of Mas dels Frares aims to become a stable and consolidated space for university interships. The excavation is included in the internship program of the Rovira i Virgili University.

Join us and get involved in archaeological works, archaeological drawing, architectural consolidation, and the study of materials.

⇒ Working hours will be from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. The minimum attendance is two weeks. There is no registration fee.

Registration deadline

The registration deadline is next 31 May 2022. Registrations should be addressed to activitats@icac.cat. Application form.

Archaeological works carried out in recent years at the archaeological site of Mas dels Frares have shown the existence of a rural site between the 2nd century BC and VII AC. Photo: ICAC, 2021.

Archaeological works in this Roman villa started in 2019, within the framework of the research project Estudi i difusió de la vil·la romana del Mas dels Frares (Constantí, Tarragonès), I Fase, led by Josep Maria Macias, and funded by the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya, quadriennial project CLT009-18-0102).

This project led to a collaboration agreement between the University Rovira i Virgili (URV), the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICAC), and the City Council of Constantí to foster archaeological research in the archaeological site ‘Mas dels Frares’ and place value on the patrimonial entity of this Roman site of the old territorium of Tarraco. The project also got funding from the Consejo Regulador de la Denominación de Origen Catalunya.

The core purpose of the project is the documentation of a significant deposit of the Ager Tarraconensis that is located on the grounds of the Mas dels Frares Experimental Winery, of the URV Faculty of Oenology.

This coincidence, in addition to the wine activity that the Roman villae experienced, has involved the institutions in the development of an ambitious heritage recovery project.

Funding:

Generalitat de Catalunya, Constantí City Council.

With the support of:

Faculty of Oenology of the University Rovira i Virgili, URV.

«2021 archaeological works start at the Roman site of Mas dels Frares (Constantí, Tarragona)», ICAC, July 2, 2021.

«Una visita guiada a Mas dels Frares permet conèixer la vil·la romana i el celler experimental de la Facultat d’Enologia», Ajuntament de Constantí, 10 de maig de 2021.

«La URV, l’ICAC i l’Ajuntament de Constantí engeguen un projecte integral de recuperació patrimonial a la vil·la romana del Mas dels Frares», Diari Digital de la URV.

«La URV, l’ICAC i l’Ajuntament de Constantí presenten el projecte de recuperació patrimonial a la vil·la romana de Mas dels Frares», Ajuntament de Constantí.

«Impulsen un projecte de recuperació patrimonial de la vil·la romana del Mas dels Frares», Tarragona Ràdio.

«Engeguen el projecte de recuperació de la vil·la romana del Mas dels Frares», InfoCamp de Tarragona.

«Engeguen un projecte per recuperar la vil·la romana del Mas dels Frares», Diari Més Digital.

«La URV, l’ICAC i l’Ajuntament de Constantí col·laboren en un projecte de recuperació patrimonial del Mas dels Frares», La Ciutat diari digital.