Los Palacios Site
A Roman wine production center in Villanueva del Pardillo
Description of the deposit
It is located north of the urban area of Villanueva del Pardillo, on the left side of the Los Palacios stream, tributary of the Guadarrama river. It is a landscape characterized by an undulating orography in the fertile plain of the stream, dedicated to the cultivation of olive trees and cereal.
A first phase of archaeological surveys and surface clearing of the land within the temporary occupation band of the project was carried out, documenting the presence of walls and tile collapses associated with the enclave. Next, the systematic excavation of the area affected by the project was carried out.
The localized structures appear apparently arranged around an open-air patio, generating a U-shaped plan. The main nucleus has been called Enclosure 1. It is a large building located in the western sector of the excavated area, divided into three rooms that were once dedicated to winemaking.
Estancia 1 is a quadrangular room with an interior surface of 22 m2, sealed by the level of collapse of the roof tiles. Once the levels that filled the interior of the room were removed, an irregular circular pit was found that contained a fixed counterweight of granite, trapezoidal in shape and weighing approximately 675 kg. It would form part of the drive mechanism of the press. It was located at the front of the beam and served to raise or lower it, allowing control of the pressing force. It is a counterweight for a manual lathe press with dovetail shaped lateral fittings and a transverse groove to secure the winch, a variant of the Brun type 13.
The two buildings located to the south correspond to the pressing rooms. They are compartmentalized by a wall and partially preserve a pavement of opus signinum. The north room is interpreted as a space for the grape to be stepped on before being pressed or Calcatorium. It presents the mortar pavement in a very poor state of preservation due to agricultural work. The adjoining space is interpreted as the pressing room. It maintains a lower level than the north room, which allowed the must to be transferred by gravity to the sink. It is an elevated space compared to the other rooms, which would ensure an increase in the pressing capacity and facilitate the discharge of the liquid obtained into the sink, located at a lower level. It is common in these production sites that the spaces for pressing are located at different levels to ensure the circulation of the finished product. Thus, in Room 1 the drive mechanisms of the wooden beam or praelum, and in Room 2 the product collection pool or lacus. The maximum storage volume would be 2.920 liters.
To confirm the use for which this enclave was destined, chemical analyzes were carried out on four samples of the mortar that covered the pool, carried out by the Nicolas Garnier Laboratory. The analysis has confirmed its use as a wine container, highlighting the high concentration of tannins, which indicates the use of red grapes in the production of wine in these facilities and discarding its use as an oil mill.
The collapse of the roof of Room 2 sealed the remains of the last occupation of the building. Abundant ceramic and metal materials have been documented, highlighting among them utensils for agricultural use such as iron sickles, cauldron handles or acetres, iron tips and nails from the roof beams, as well as the finding of nine bronze coins minted between the years 375 and 395.
Abundant ceramic remains have been recovered in the site, among which productions of Hispanic terra sigillata, late Hispanic terra sigillata, brilliant Hispanic terra sigillata, and African African terra sigillata. The most common Hispanic ceramic forms are well represented in the formal spectrum from the end of the 27st century after Christ to the end of the 24rd century, through the Drag. 25, Drag. 15/17 (very rare) and Drag. 37/XNUMX for smooth shapes and Drag. XNUMX for the decorated forms, designating this form the link of union and continuity between the High and Low Empire. Only one potter's stamp was found corresponding to Tritium Magallum, which indicates that at least a part of this ceramic material comes from the potters of La Rioja. Another part of the production must have come from other potters not yet identified from the Plateau.
The material record documented in the site has allowed the construction of the settlement and its most intense development to be dated between the middle of the XNUMXst century and the end of the XNUMXrd century after Christ, with a residual occupation in the XNUMXth century concentrated solely in the building of the torcularium.
Counterweight study
The stone counterweight found in Room 1 is a reused 3st century AD funerary feature that featured a long-lost inscription on one side. For this reason, a photogrammetric study of the piece was commissioned, which was carried out by archaeologist Miguel Fernández Díaz, from the Virtua Nostrum society. An exhaustive high-resolution photogrammetric documentation was carried out with XNUMXD part modeling. In addition, various tests were carried out with light beams, as well as the application of false color filters in order to improve the reading of the heading. Thanks to these techniques, the inscription could be reconstructed, the epigraphic study of which was carried out by Diana Gorostidi of the Catalan Institute of Classical Archeology.
The text is spread over five lines within the tabula ansata and its reading has been very difficult due to the strong erosion that currently affects the epigraphic field.
[-] AELIO P +
[c. 2] ONI ++ PA
[c. 2] N LX
STTL
[------?]
[-] Aelio · P (ubli) f (ilio)? / [-] oni (c. 2) pa (tri?) / [an] n (orum) LX / s (it) t (ibi) t (erra) l (evis). [Name of a second deceased and years?].
The use of gray granite and the arrangement of the text around a cartouche with handles or tabula ansata, Remember the type of some documented inscriptions in the nearby municipality of Villamanta. The analysis of the granite of the inscriptions of Villanueva del Pardillo and Villamanta carried out by the researcher Ana de Mesa, from the Archeometric Studies Unit of the Catalan Institute of Classical Archeology, concludes a common origin for these, which would be speaking of a lapidary workshop located in the region.
The archaeological site of Los Palacios constitutes the first example of the Community of Madrid of a torcularium complete that strictly corresponds to the Roman canons both in architectural design and in the technology used. Lathe and screw girder presses widespread by the Romans have continued to function until very recently.
The wine production attested in Los Palacios should be interpreted in terms of self-sufficiency in a nearby settlement not yet identified, with specific surpluses dedicated to supplying regional markets. Its location on the variant of route 24, would place this enclave as the northernmost before the passage of the mountains towards the North Plateau, so that part of its production could be derived from supplying this northern region.
Reason for excavation
The construction works of the Canal from Valmayor to Villanueva de la Cañada promoted by Canal de Isabel II and carried out by Acciona Infraestructuras. During the execution of the project, different archaeological intervention campaigns were carried out in the area affected by the works.