A Little Background

Today it was a bit cloudy in the morning and so we excavated first and then after lunch we took a trip around the whole site to see the extent of it all.  It is much larger than I originally realized.  Excavations went well.  I moved to a different tomb today to switch things up.  The tomb I had been working on is turning out to be very interesting.  A hip was taken out today and another is next to it so it should come out soon.  There are also long bones near it.

Here is a picture of the hip (on the right) as well as the long bones on the left:

Here is one of the long bones.  The hip that was taken out was located at the bottom right of the picture.  It belonged to a woman of about 40:

So now for a little history lesson...

The port of Sanitja is the port where all of this is located.  It is on the northern coast of Menorca and is a very protected bay.

(http://turismo.sinsopa.com/hoteles/port_fornells_mercadal_(es)_0701062.asp)

The museum is at the very end of the water and up a hill.  On the left is where the current excavations of the city of Sanisera and the necropolis are taking place.  On the right there was a roman military camp that dates to the late 2nd century BC (i.e. 123 BC) and onward.  This was excavated before the city and necropolis were started.  They have been under excavation for 3 years.


The foundation of a watch tower at the end of the bay:

This is a picture of the Roman barracks from the military camp.

Romans first came to the island in 123 BC and conquered all three of the Balearic Islands by 121 BC.  The city was inhabited from then until about 550 AD.  The city itself is probably about 60,000 square meters and in three years only about 1,500 square meters have been excavated.  This means that this site will be excavated for years and years and years.  This doesn't even include the 7 different necropolises that are located outside of the city.  Plus there are underwater excavations at certain times of the year.  The site is massive, but at the same time it is extremely unique.  There were only three Roman port cities on the island of Menorca.  The other two are located under major cities and so will never be able to be excavated.  Sanisera is fortunate to be located in farmland.

As I mentioned before, there are 7 different necropolises surrounding the city.  We are currently working on the one farthest from the city.  This is the only one that has been excavated (the other 6 are untouched).  This appears to be the latest of them.  The tombs date to the 5th and 6th centuries AD (400's - 500's).  Most are multiple inhumation and are probably family graves.  They are likely Christian graves based on their orientation (east/west) and the time period.

Anyway I know the history is probably more than any of you bargained for, but I hope it was somewhat interesting.  If I skipped over something or you would like me to elaborate a bit more on one particular aspect please let me know.

Best,
Adam