Three lead ingots, about 45 centimeters long and weighing approximately between 24 and 32 kilograms, were discovered years ago during the construction of the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline at the Los Escoriales de Doña Rama site, located in Belmez, Córdoba (Spain). They are kept at the Belmez Museum and in private homes. These ingots, which are […]
Spain
Posted inArchaeology, Science
Evidence of 6 Climate Changes Due to Variations in Earth’s Axial Tilt One Million Years Ago, Found in Southern Spain
A team of researchers has identified up to six climate episodes that occurred about a million years ago at the Quibas site, located in the town of Abanilla (Murcia, Spain). These findings, published in the journal Quaternary International, reveal a significant climate alternation for that period in Europe, marking the first time this pattern has […]
Posted inArt, History
The Impregnable Fortress of Vilars d’Arbeca, Built in the Iron Age with 5-Meter Thick Walls
The Fortress of Vilars d’Arbeca is a unique archaeological site in Iberian and European protohistory due to its impressive defensive features, which was discovered in 1975. Located in an alluvial plain about 4 kilometers from the town of Arbeca in the Catalan province of Lleida (Spain), the fortress was founded around 775 B.C., during the […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
A 5th-Century Roman Shipwreck off the Coast of Mallorca Came from Cartagena and Carried “Liquaminis Flos”, a Fish Sauce
Recently, a team of archaeologists and researchers studied the remains of a late Roman shipwreck off the coast of Mallorca, one of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The Ses Fontanelles shipwreck, discovered by chance in 2019 near one of the island’s busiest tourist beaches, has proven to be an exceptional find due to the excellent […]
Posted inAncient Rome
The Disastrous Defeat that Led the Romans to Never Again Fight on that Day and to Change the Date of the Start of the Political Year
In the year 181 B.C., Rome undertook the conquest of Celtiberia in a series of wars that lasted for almost half a century, with perhaps the most famous episode being the siege of Numantia. This occurred in a later phase of the conflict, as a result of what the Romans considered a violation of the […]
Posted inModern Era
When France Transferred the Foreign Legion to Spain
Although Spain founded a Foreign Tercio in 1920 imitating the French Foreign Legion, later renamed Spanish Legion, there were some years in which France transferred theirs to the Spanish government. That curious episode took place in 1835 and the cause was to participate under the Spanish flag in the First Carlist War defending the liberal […]
Posted inArchaeology
Copper Age Elites in Southern Iberian Peninsula Ritually Ingested Mercury, Poisoning an Entire Community
Nowadays, mercury is a cause for concern for health and environmental authorities in practically every country. Laws have been passed and programs implemented for its complete elimination from human activities. But it wasn’t always this way: mercury and its compounds have been highly prized and used since ancient times worldwide for various purposes ranging from […]
Posted inCulture, Middle Ages
Rare Andalusian Astrolabe Discovered in Verona Reveals Islamic, Jewish and Christian Scientific Exchange
An old astrolabe was recently discovered in a museum in the Italian city of Verona. It dates back to the 1100s, which makes it one of the oldest astrolabes ever found. Astrolabes are early scientific calculators that could measure time, distances, the position of stars, and even make horoscopes predicting the future. The newly discovered […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
The Roman Theater of Guadix, Spain, was Buried by Successive Extraordinary Floods Coinciding with Warm Climatic Periods
Scientists from the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME) have confirmed that the sediments found in the excavations of the Roman theater in Guadix, Granada (Spain), record the occurrence of large floods every thousand years, coinciding with warm climatic periods during the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages. It was in 2007, during the […]
Posted inAncient Rome, Art
The Mausoleum of Centcelles in Tarragona (Spain) Houses the Oldest Dome with Mosaics from Roman Times
Located just 7 kilometers from the city of Tarragona in Catalonia, stands the majestic Villa-mausoleum of Centcelles, an exceptional Roman monument that houses the oldest mosaics of early Christian art in the Iberian Peninsula, dating back to the 4th century AD, as well as the oldest Roman dome with preserved mosaics. For centuries during the […]