The continuation of the excavations in 2024, for their completion, co-directed by the company Alebus Patrimonio Histórico and the Municipal Archaeological Service, has allowed us to have an overall view of the intricate series of pits and walls, and to verify that they follow the veins of pebbles of the geological terrain of the area. In other words, they are tongues of alluvial gravels from the Quaternary period, alternating with sands and clays, which were formed by the erosion and dragging of the stone from the inland mountains towards the sea.
At the same time, the recent discovery of a well-preserved section of a road from the Roman city of Allon (located under the town centre of Villajoyosa) on the site of Calle Requena, 17, has provided a fundamental clue to understanding the meaning of these strange pits. The research team has been able to verify that the pebbles in the road are of the same limestone and calibre as those found in the pits; therefore, these, which are only 5 metres from the road surface, must have been a quarry for aggregates destined to pave the road. What is more, the quarries and the paving of the road coincide in date, between the 1st century BC and the beginning of the 1st century AD, in the absence of a detailed study of the materials. This public work tells us of the urban importance of Allon long before it was given the status of municipium by the Emperor Vespasian in 73/74 AD.
It must have already had the status of an oppidum latinum, with institutions capable of promoting the paving of this road, a kind of Roman regional road that linked Allon with its territory (the Marina Baixa region) along the coast. In other words, it connected the city with other known sites, such as the important Roman villas of El Albir in Alfàs del Pi or La Pila, in Altea, among many others. With a width of 3.5 m, it was suitable for the circulation of carts in both directions, and was the precursor of the current N-332 as it passes through the Marina Baixa. This Roman road ended in Altea. Until the construction of the Mascarat bridges and tunnels at the end of the 19th century, there was only a very difficult bridle path, only suitable for mules and people on foot, not for carts, through the Calpe pass.
The quarry was abandoned after the road was built and practically a century later, at the end of the 1st century AD or the beginning of the 2nd century AD, the large foundation walls were built at the bottom of the quarry pits, and then the pits were filled with earth, so that the ground would hold and so that the foundations of the new town would not move due to the existence of these large filled pits underneath. The pits were then covered with pavements and rich walls, painted with imitation architecture and landscapes of trees and animals, which are now being restored.