JIMENA DE LA FRONTERA, SPAIN—A major Roman settlement is being excavated in a town near Spain’s southern coast that has been continuously occupied since the eighth century B.C. Its hilltop location overlooks the surrounding arable countryside and inland routes from the Mediterranean Sea. “At first sight the impression is of visiting an Arab castle, slightly altered in the nineteenth century. But the moment you take a critical look and analyze what you are actually seeing you quickly realize that this is nothing other than the remains of a very important Roman city,” Miguel Angel Tabales of the University of Seville told BBC News. Construction during the Islamic period was more pragmatic, according to Tabales. “At a construction level, what we’ve found is little more than removing sediment and recycling Roman materials,” he explained. Then the town was moved to the other side of the hilltop, which helped to preserve the Roman remains, including the walls of the fortified town enclosure, its original entrance, and a large temple. Researchers are now working to preserve the site and protect it from looters. To read about a discovery in Spain dating back more than 18,000 years, go to "The Red Lady of El Mirón."
