Objectives

The project is based on a comprehensive research and heritage valorization program, that is, a work where archaeological and historical research must be accompanied at all times by a coherent policy of dissemination, contextualization, preservation and, where appropriate, enhancement and museumization of the exhumed archaeological remains.

Precedents

Our research group has been working for more than 35 years on the study of the forms of occupation and exploitation of the Ceretan territories throughout Antiquity. This research has gone through several stages of work:

  1. The analysis of the resources and productive forms of the Ceretan world and its integration into the Roman orbit (Mercadal-*Olesti 1994, 2005 and 2010), with the extensive excavation of some emblematic sites such as the Castellot de Bolvir (2006-2022), the Tossal de Baltarga (2011-2022) and more recently the Serrat del Castellar (2017-2022).
  2. The study of the territory of the Roman city of Llívia and the exploitation of its natural resources (excavations at Guilleteres de Ajo, 2014-2022, and Prat Llong, 2019-2022).
  3. Participation in international heritage dissemination projects (Action Coste G2, 1998-2002, and A27, 2002-2008).
  4. The creation of the “Ceretània Space”, a museum interpretation center dedicated to the study of Cerdanya in Antiquity (2012-2021).
  5. The holding and publication of the two ArqueoPyrenae congresses and the publication of the History of Cerdanya in the encyclopedic work Historia de las Comarcas Gerundenses, vol. VII.


In addition to these activities, in the area of heritage enhancement, the aim is to continue collaborating with local institutions (town councils, museums, county councils, cultural companies, etc.), following the model successfully developed at Castellot de Bolvir, and more recently at the Talló Interpretation Center (Bellver de Cerdanya). Among other initiatives, we want to take advantage of the impact that the experience of the “Campus of Archaeology and Paleontology UAB” has had in several territories, including Bolvir. The new collaboration with the museum of Llívia (G. Cunill) is also along these lines. We will also continue to collaborate with other national and international research groups.

A story yet to be written

The recent publication of the History of Cerdanya. History of the Counties of Girona (2021) has made it possible to change the vision of a marginal territory, little occupied in ancient times and far from the focus of Romanization, for that of a fairly dynamic territory, open to influences from the south of Gaul as well as from the Catalan area and the Ebro Valley. In the light of the latest discoveries, we wish to contrast the different models of territorial occupation of the Pyrenean area throughout Antiquity. For this reason, we study the forms of settlement and production of the Ceretans and their process of integration into the Roman provincial structure through a whole battery of historical, archaeological, bioarchaeological and paleo-environmental analysis, fundamental to understand the forms of urban organization of these communities, identifying their various productive activities and ways of life, as well as analyzing their changes throughout the ancient period.


We are also promoting the application of new archaeological techniques and analytics in the study of the Landscape, such as bioarchaeology (with the application of new study techniques and specialized archaeological analytics), carpològiques analysis, antracològiques analysis and studies of woody materials supply (A. Berrocal), studies of phytoliths and micromorphology (M. Portillo, IHMF), studies of metallurgical residues (I. Queralt, EADA), studies of fauna (L. Colominas, ICAC), and even more recently analyses of organic and inorganic residues in ceramic vessels. We are also implementing new absolute dating methodologies (Thermoluminescence and ArchaeoMagnetism (Lluís Casas), and OSL (J. Sanjurjo). Some first results of the implementation of these techniques have been the identification of an Iberian stable at Tozal de Blaltarga, a unique case in the peninsular Iron Age. We have also developed studies mitjantçant the surface survey technique, various remote sensing techniques and geophysical prospecting applied to archeology, radiocarbon dating and thermoluminescence, the use of GIS as a research tool and data management, etc.

Asset management

Our concept of integral management of the archaeological heritage implies not only the study of the different sites and recovered objects, but also the development of different applied heritage research projects, which allow the valorization and profitability of those assets that are susceptible of being enhanced through their adaptation and/or museumization, in order to be presented and enjoyed by society as a whole. Our project has participated and continues to do so in 3 heritage projects: the creation and implementation of the “Espacio Ceretània” (Bolvir de Cerdanya, FEDER, 2015), which has meant not only the enhancement of the Castellot site, but also the construction of a point of historical and heritage dissemination of regional scope (http://www.bolvir.cat/govern-obert/museu-espai-ceretania/museu/). A new reform of some of the contents of the musealization of the site, in collaboration with the company Stoa and the Municipality of Bolvir (2021). And, finally, in the genesis of the “Information, Interpretation and Research Center of the Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park”, where we participated with the musealization of the site of Tozal de Baltarga (again in collaboration with the company Stoa, 2021). We hope that in the near future we will be able to help develop such initiatives in some of our areas of study.