The forthcoming construction of a residential building in Avda. Ciutat de Requena nº 17 in Villajoyosa by the developer Oriolana Villas S. L., has led to the location of the remains of one of the oldest industrial areas documented to date in Villajoyosa, dating from between the last third of the 3rd century and the first quarter of the 2nd century BC.
A section of the road that linked the urban centre of La Vila with its territorium (Roman municipal district) along the coast, towards the coves of Benidorm and Altea, has also been excavated. This road dates later than the industrial area, between the 1st century BC and the beginning of the 1st century AD, and is possibly fossilising an earlier road. The archaeological excavation was directed by José Rafael Martínez Alpuente and Sonia López Melón.
The remains located in the artesian zone correspond to the foundations of two walls, a cistern with an elliptical floor plan measuring 3 m in length and 1.20 m in width, which was up to 2.20 m deep, and two small circular basins (0.90 and 1.25 in internal diameter), all three lined with mortar for waterproofing. The complex is completed with the remains of a badly washed-out water channel associated with the ponds and which connected them to each other.
The remains tell us of an industrial belt surrounding the pre-Roman town centre. The craft establishments were concentrated in the vicinity of the three roads that led from Allon to the areas of Alicante, Alcoy and the Marina Baixa coast, in order to have easy access to the communication routes for the commercial distribution of their products.
The presence of abundant Carthaginian material in the sanctuary of La Malladeta, at the same time, or of these rafts, suggests a significant Carthaginian presence in the pre-Roman city of Villajoyosa just before the Second Punic War, as has also been confirmed in the Tossal de Manises in Alicante, where a similar cistern was found.
After the excavation and documentation of the remains, work will continue as normal. As it is not necessary to destroy them in order to continue with the works, the remains found buried under the building will be preserved.
The study of the materials exhumed during the excavation process is currently underway, and analyses of the levels documented inside the cisterns will be carried out in order to determine the function of this artisanal area, which has not yet been determined.
The study of the materials exhumed during the excavation process is currently underway, and analyses of the levels documented inside the cisterns will be carried out in order to determine the function of this artisanal area, which has not yet been determined.