The findings include different chronological phases ranging from the 1st to the 4th century, from the 4th to the 5th century and up to the 14th century
The scientific investigation of the archaeological findings at the Ca la Madrona site provides new information and confirms that the remains do not date from the Visigothic period.
Although the first hypotheses suggested that they could be from the Visigothic period, the studies led by the archaeological director of the site, Jordi Ardiaca, confirm that the remains include different chronological phases:
– 14th century: a good number of ditches have been documented, used for planting vines arranged in rows and bounded by a wall that acts as a plot for crops.
– 4th, 5th and perhaps the beginning of the 6th century -late Roman period- a street has been found, delimited by a large building that preserves an entrance door and a parallel wall. A necropolis has been documented on both sides of the street, from which 88 tombs have been excavated. Studies indicate that the building was an open-air construction without a roof. In Catalonia, very similar buildings have been found in the Monastery of Santa Caterina and in the Monastery of Sant Cugat with surrounding necropolis; therefore, current hypotheses lead us to believe that this building is a funerary hall.
– 1st-4th century -Roman period- From this period, a building is documented that was constructed around 70 AD and which would correspond to rooms in the rustic part of a villa or an isolated establishment for agricultural or industrial purposes. Several alterations have been made to this building and it lasted until the Late Imperial period, when it was configured as a building with five distinct areas. It was abandoned at some point in the 5th century. Two torcularium, cellars for making wine, have also been found from this period.
The scientific research process is slow and it will take months of study before the findings can be dated with greater precision. At present, an inventory of the ceramic remains has begun and an anthropological study of the individuals found in the necropolis has begun, and we are awaiting the laboratory results of the carbon-14 tests on the remains.
Maresme Circular, the brand of the Maresme Waste Consortium together with the Mataró City Council confirms its willingness to transfer the findings to a museum in a future Interpretation Centre to be located in the Bon Recés area, a green area located just 250 metres from the original site of the findings.
This proposal, which allows both the construction of the Mataró-Maresme Circular Park and the conservation of the remains, adds qualitative values to the museum project. The fact that it is integrated into a green area that forms part of the Mataró green belt generates an attractive point of socio-cultural interest in this space. Above all, it maintains its proximity to contextualise the discoveries.
A disruptive project
The Mataró-Maresme Circular Park is a unique and disruptive public infrastructure project in Europe, of high environmental, economic and social value, whose aim is to change the current model of production and consumption towards the circular economy model.
The Park will offer free services such as advice on self-repairing small household appliances, furniture or bicycles. It will have a Library of Things, which will lend out objects that we use occasionally, such as a drill, a tent or a car seat. You will be able to borrow reusable crockery, shop in a large second-hand shop or attend reuse cooking workshops to avoid food waste.
The main innovative and disruptive component of the Park is the fact that it unifies in the same space initiatives aimed at the general public with private initiatives aimed at implementing business activities in the field of the circular economy. This will visualise the urgent need to change the production and consumption model that has led us to the current climate and environmental emergency.
The new Circular Park will have a high socio-economic impact on Mataró and the Maresme region. It is estimated that 381 jobs will be created during the construction phase and a further 211 jobs will be created during the operation phase.
The project has already been granted 11 million euros in subsidies from the Catalan Waste Agency and the Next Generation fund, and involves an investment of more than 20 million euros from the Maresme Consortium Town Councils and private financing.
Archaeological excavation of the Ca la Madrona site / Maresme Circular
