New sections of mosaic unearthed at Salar Roman Villa in Granada

The town of Salar in Granada is home to the remains of one of the most important Roman villas on the peninsula. In the last excavations archaeologists have uncovered new scenes of a great mosaic.

Credit: Villa Romana Salar Granada

The latest campaign of excavations, recently concluded, has revealed the figure of the dominus or owner of the majestic house. The patrician appears in a hunting scene spearing a wild boar and accompanied by his dog.

In addition, two equally interesting scenes have emerged. The first is that of a servant attempting to throw a stone at a lion, the face of which is the only thing not well preserved. And a little further back, almost below the excavated edge, there is a second horse being attacked by a lioness; the rider is on the ground and seems to be trying to attack the beast.

Credit: Villa Romana Salar Granada

Campaign director, Julio Roman, said "it is an exceptional and unique mosaic; in size and conservation there is no other like it in the Iberian Peninsula."

In the excavation trenches at the peristyle, there is evidence of another colossal mosaic in the great monumental entrance hall to the villa, flanked by those two large columns that have already emerged.

Credit: Villa Romana Salar Granada

"We hope it will be a room almost symmetrical to the triclinium. We sensed that there was a monumental vestibule with a tripartite entrance", say Roman.

This finding is part of the decorative art usual in the early centuries of the Christian Era, at the height of the Roman Empire, when the Mosaicists carried a kind of album or 'book of samples' with images that were reproduced in a similar way and adapted to the case of each town. These are stereotypes that are used in other mosaics and are seen in other Roman decorative scenes in the Mediterranean.

Credit: Villa Romana Salar Granada

In addition to the excavation in the peristyle with the hunting mosaic, excavation trenches have also been dug at the nymphaeum and at the monumental access area to the dwelling. The work in this last area, in the 'tubis' room, serves to identify its functionality and its relationship with the baths.

A mosaic has also been found that, although very deteriorated, will enable one to reconstruct what that room was like, probably the 'balineum' or private spa of the 'dominus'. In addition, inside the peristyle landscaped space, a kind of canal with a semicircular fountain has also been found.

Credit: Villa Romana Salar Granada

The archaeologists estimate that only a tenth of the estate, built between the first and fifth centuries of our era, has been excavated. The Salar Town Council has asked the other local authorities for help in order to continue with the surveys. What has been discovered so far makes this Roman villa one of the most important on the peninsula along with that of Noheda, in Cuenca.

Source: Ideal [trsl. TANN September 08, 2019]