Los Berrocales archaeological site
Roman and early medieval settlement in the Vicálvaro district
Description of the Los Berrocales deposit
The archaeological site of Los Berrocales is located in the Vicálvaro district of Madrid, on the wide platforms that define the dividing line between the Manzanares and Jarama rivers. Near the current population center of Vicálvaro, several enclaves with Paleolithic industries have been documented (Virgen de la Torre Valley, Langostillo, El Cañaveral, head of the Virgen de la Torre Valley). From the Old Neolithic, the Casa Montero site stands out, characterized by the existence of numerous flint extraction wells.
From the Muslim era, the place names of Cerro Almodóvar and Ambroz (formerly depopulated, now disappeared) survive, allowing us to venture that both Vicálvaro and its surroundings were continuously populated over time.
The archaeological excavation carried out in Block 2 of Los Berrocales allowed documenting three phases of occupation.
The remains from the Roman era correspond to a town founded in the XNUMXst century that was occupied until the XNUMXnd century. The different rooms are articulated around a central patio divided in two. Around the town a fundus (Agropecuary exploitation). Remains of hearths and large container vessels, common ceramic pieces and loom weights appeared in this area. Also an omega fibula and two ssilent, (writing instruments) made of bronze, an iron knife with a bone sleeve, a lead ingot and abundant fragments of granite mills.
In the middle of the second century, the entire area was abandoned peacefully and it was not occupied again until the end of the fourth century - beginning of the fifth century. The cabins, silos, buckets and the three documented landfills belong to this period. The ceramic material that has made it possible to adjust the chronology in this period corresponds for the most part to Terra Sigillata Hispánica Tardía and Cerámicas Grises.
During the XNUMXth century there was an increase in the number of cabins and storage structures, which marks a clear change in the model of space organization, now defining the place as a village made up of single-family cabins. Some silos, wells and buckets were also identified. Several burials are also from this time.
These types of settlements were characterized by articulating around a necropolis that has been documented outside Block 2, therefore, these isolated burial cases inside the village could indicate the absence of an established pattern for the treatment and location of the deceased or be individuals socially excluded from the community.
The remains of three individuals were also found at the bottom of a silo, one in a primary position and the other two in a secondary position, and it is probable that, as in the previous cases, they were individuals socially excluded from the village structure. Regarding the documented materials, mainly ceramics of fast and slow lathe typologies were found, as well as some metal objects (two bronze buckles, a auriscalpium -medical instrument for the ears- and a bronze ring).
Around the first half of the XNUMXth century the settlement was definitively abandoned.
Archaeological performance
The archaeological excavation of the site was carried out during the development of the Urban Action Project 02.04 in the Los Berrocales area, specifically in the Manzana 2 sector.