Campbell Martin #590015581

Friday, 4 November 2011

The Archaeology of Celti Identifying Private and Social Spaces

History of Area
The Roman City of Celti is situated on the banks of the River Guadalquivir, a major route of trade and communication in the area and a source of gold. The surrounding plateau boast supremely fertile soil perfect for both large or small scale production of cereals, olive trees and animal husbandry. The hills in the area are rich sources of metals such as silver, copper, lead and iron (Keay. 1988). Recent archaeological discoveries could suggest that the first humans in Europe originated from the south of the Iberian Peninsular possibly as early as 1.8 - 1.4 million years ago (Arribas and Palmqvist. 2002; Roe. 1995). The rich history of prehistoric occupation along with its abundance of natural resources makes Southern Spain an ideal area for long term habitation. The first complex settlements in the region appeared around 1500 B.C., growing from the smaller family communities of the Lower Palaeolithic into tribal towns. By 800 B.C. the Phoenicians had settled in this area, known as Turdetania, and had set up trade links with many tribal settlements along the river system. By exploiting the extensive mining and farming that were already taking place and introducing iron and the pottery wheel to the region, the Phoenicians and the native Turdetanians were able to grow economically (Semmler. 2002; Escacena and Beln. 1998). The Phoenicians were a prominent economic force in the area for many generations but their power and presence ebbed away from 570 B.C. and onward due to the troubles in their homeland. This allowed the Carthaginians to take over and the more aggressive stance to trade and diplomacy saw cities grow in size and fortification (Curchin. 1991). The Roman conquest of Spain started with a second series of battles with Carthage between 218 - 206 B.C. including the famous campaign into Rome by Hannibal. Rome eventually expelled the Carthaginians from Spain, however the violence was not over, indeed Curchin (1991) states that from 218 to 16 B.C. Spain was a war zone (p.7). To try to quell these uprisings, Rome divided Spain into provinces as well as encouraging Romanisation by implementing better road networks and introducing more considered town planning. In 16 B.C. the Province of Baetica was created (Fig. 1) which flourished and became an important player in the Roman economy (Keay. 1988).

Types of Spaces
Distinguishing between public and social spaces from the excavations was difficult as a lot of evidence had been destroyed over time through the development process. However, from the surface surveys an idea of the town layout was deduced, this consisted of 3 different zones, each with differing private and social status. A selection of public buildings took a key position at the highest point near the forum. A large percentage of the town was made up of residential areas, these would have been private buildings with entertainment and social areas within. The final area in the town was concerned with producing and exporting amphorae (Keay and Creighton. 2000).

Residential Spaces
Figure 1: This shows the Roman Province of Baetica in relation to Spain. Source: Wikipedia. 2010.

The main residential zone in Celti is defined by the irregularity of the street grid, this could suggest that the houses were Roman reincarnations of much older housing and that roads were built around them so as not to encroach on land ownership. One of the most interesting and well documented structures was the possible forum which was later transformed into housing (Fig. 4). These two houses are of particular interest because they clearly encompass private parts of the house and social parts such as gardens and dining rooms. The fragmentary evidence suggests that the social rooms were lavishly decorated both with painted wall plaster and mosaic floors, the gardens had pools and fruit trees. From these houses and how they develop through time we can understand what was important to the residents, for example the addition of water features in the garden area of House B tells us the importance of drainage but could also show that the pools were focal points of the garden and as such a status symbol (Keay, Gibson and Wilson. 2000).

Figure 4: Reconstruction of the houses built upon the forum. Source: Keay, Gibson and Wilson. 2000, Fig.9.14.

History of Site
Celti is situated in the centre of the Roman Province of Baetica intersecting several major trade routes (Fig. 2) and is associated with modern day Peaflor. However there is evidence for occupation on the site from as early as the 9th Century B.C., these early settlements were likely agro-towns which would explain the lack of small pre-Roman rural settlements in the area (Keay. 2000a). It is difficult to say what the early Celti layout would be because the earliest levels with any surviving structures date from 50-100 A.D, however it is reasonable to assume that it would share similarities with other Baetican towns, such as an irregular street plan, stone or mud brick houses and occasional larger public buildings (Keay. 1998). The only evidence for early Roman development is of a new wall being built sometime during the Roman expulsion of Carthage and the following uprisings (Keay. 2000a). This suggests that although the town was occupied by soldiers and used as a defensive position, the majority of the inhabitants would have been native and continue to live as they did before the conquest. Municipium status was probably granted to Celti in the 1st Century A.D. giving a strong sense of Roman identity to the town, with radical urbanisation and development reflecting this sentiment. During this time Celti thrived economically through exportation of wine and olive oil. The construction of a public building (Fig. 3) was completed c75 A.D., its prominent position and impact on the towns street plan seems to suggest it was the forum with a temple to the Imperial Cult within. However the true nature of the building is debatable due to the condition of the archaeological evidence available (Keay, Gibson and Wilson. 2000). There is minimal evidence for any more drastic change until late into the 2nd Century A.D., the building presumed to be the forum, a focal point of government and social intercourse was completely transformed. Around 200 A.D. the forum was razed and two residential structures were built in its place. These houses and the destruction of the forum are the topic of much discussion, questions have been asked about the legality of such a move. However it seems that another, possibly larger forum must have been built negating any legal problems. Urbanisation seems to have continued fairly drastically throughout the 3rd Century A.D. until the eventual decline of Celti some time in the 5th Century A.D probably due to economic decline (Keay. 2000a).

Public Spaces
The excavations that a possible forum was one of the first Roman buildings at Celti. The public building has noticeably different characteristics than the residential buildings that follow, for example a much larger central space (Fig. 5). In general the most of the rooms are much smaller suggesting that they were not used for socialising but for administration or storage, the larger rooms that do exist could have been shops. Another feature of this public building is that it was not as lavishly decorated as the residential buildings, this is because they were not used as status symbols but were owned by the community. Easy access is important for public buildings and the forum at Celti was surrounded on all four sides by road making the whole town plan revolve around this building (Keay, Gibson and Wilson. 2000a).
Figure 2: This shows a map of Roman Baetica with Celti marked in red. Source: Modified from Alonso and Oliva. 1993, p.14. Figure 5: A reconstruction of the forum with large open square. Source: Keay, Gibson and Wilson. 2000, Fig.9.9.

Locks
The fact that locks and a lot of lock paraphernalia were found at Celti show that the inhabitants put value on the distinction between social and private spaces and would go to lengths to maintain these distinctions. Some of these locks were well decorated (Fig. 6) showing that the people of Celti were very aware of how the outside of their house was perceived by others. Locks can, like any other piece of decoration, help us understand status and perception but they also tell us about the wealth of Celti, locks keep people out and valuables in (Keay. 2000c).
Figure 6: One of the decorate locks found at Celti. Source: Keay. 2000c, Fig. 5.3.

Epigraphy
The different inscriptions found at the site give us an interesting insight into how the people of Celti wanted to be perceived outside of their own private realms. Many of the inscriptions recovered were grave stelae praising the life of the individual and letting everyone know just how noble and wealth the family is. However one of the most interesting engravings was from a public structure of some kind (Fig. 7), the abbreviation shows that the building, or part of it was donated (Rodrguez. 2000). The building or monument would be public in name and function, but [serve] the public glory of the individuals who donated them. (Thomas. 2007, p.121).

History of Research
The Roman period is one of the richest in terms of archaeological research and literature, however archaeological research looking at urban growth in Southern Spain is relatively sparse. The fact that the archaeological sites have become threatened by desertification and renewal of modern infrastructure from the 1980s onward has put increasing pressure on archaeologists to make progress. Indeed the excavation at Celti was partly salvage archaeology and partly an attempt to have a solid type-site that could aid further research (Keay. 2000b). One problem that archaeologists face is the fact that many of the urban sites that would be of interest have been occupied continuously right up to the present day. This means that evidence of ancient town layouts are buried under modern settlements and Muslim towns, another key problem is that many discoveries are chance finds and not subject to the scientific controls of an archaeological dig (Alonso and Oliva. 1993).
Figure 7: Inscription from a public building: D.S.P.D.D. Source: Rodrguez. 2000, Fig. 8.34.

Figure 3: This shows plans from Phase 8 of the excavations at Celti conducted by Keay, Creighton and Rodrguez. This Phase shows the public building, possibly the forum, under the later private residences shown in bold. Source: Keay and Creighton. 2000b, Fig. 3.7

Wall Plaster
Painted wall plaster is a common feature in Roman buildings throughout the Empire and can give us insight into how people decorated their homes, and how public spaces were decorated as well. In Celti the changing designs and techniques used to plaster rooms showed the fashions seemed to conform with fashions of the wider Empire. It is also interesting to note the differences between different building types, the forum seems to have had very little plaster work and only plain designs were recovered. In contrast some of the rooms in the residential buildings had vibrant designs (Fig. 8) (Pye. 2000).

Bibliography
Alsonso, P. and Oliva, P., 1993. The Hispano-Roman Town in Andalusia. In M. Galn ed. The Hispano-Roman Town. Barcelona: Ministry of Culture. Arriba, A. and Palmqvist, P., 2002. The first human dispersal to Europe: remarks on the archaeological and palaeoanthropological record from Orce (Guadix-Baza basin, southeastern Spain). Human Evolution. 17(1-2). 55-78. Curchin, L, 1991. Roman Spain. London: Routledge. Escacena, J. L. and Beln, M. Pre-Roman Turdetania. In S. Keay and M. Beln eds. The archaeology of early Roman Baetica, Volume 1995. Michigan: Journal of Roman Archaeology. Ch. 2.

Keay, S., 1988. Roman Spain. London: British Museum Publications. Keay, S., 1998. The Development of towns in Early Roman Baetica. In S. Keay and M. Beln eds. The archaeology of early Roman Baetica, Volume 1995. Michigan: Journal of Roman Archaeology. Ch. 4. Keay, S., 2000a. Celti: An Archaeological History. In S. Keay, J. Creighton and J. Rodrguez Celti (Peaflor): The Archaeology of a Hispano-Roman Town in Baetica. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Ch. 10. Keay, S., 2000b. Background to the Site. In S. Keay, J. Creighton and J. Rodrguez Celti (Peaflor): The Archaeology of a Hispano-Roman Town in Baetica. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Ch. 1. Keay, S., 2000c. Finds other than Pottery. In S. Keay, J. Creighton and J. Rodrguez Celti (Peaflor): The Archaeology of a Hispano-Roman Town in Baetica. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Ch. 5.

Keay, S. and Creighton, J., 2000a. The Surface Survey. In S. Keay, J. Creighton and J. Rodrguez Celti (Peaflor): The Archaeology of a Hispano-Roman Town in Baetica. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Ch. 2. Keay, S. and Creighton, J., 2000b. The Excavations. In S. Keay, J. Creighton and J. Rodrguez Celti (Peaflor): The Archaeology of a Hispano-Roman Town in Baetica. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Ch. 3. Keay, S., Gibson, S. and Wilson, K., 2000. Reconstruction of the Site. In S. Keay, J. Creighton and J. Rodrguez Celti (Peaflor): The Archaeology of a HispanoRoman Town in Baetica. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Ch. 9. Pye, E., 2000. The Painted Wallplaster. In S. Keay, J. Creighton and J. Rodrguez Celti (Peaflor): The Archaeology of a Hispano-Roman Town in Baetica. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Ch. 7.

Rodrguez, J., 2000. The Topography and Epigraphy of Celti. In S. Keay, J. Creighton and J. Rodrguez Celti (Peaflor): The Archaeology of a Hispano-Roman Town in Baetica. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Ch. 8. Roe, D. A., 1995. The Ocre Basin (Andaluca, Spain) and the Initial Palaeolithic of Europe. Oxford Journal of Archaeology. 14(1). 1-12. Semmler, M., 2002. Notes on the Economy of Phoenician Settlements in Southern Spain. In M. Bierling ed. The Phoenicians in Spain. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. Thomas, E., 2007. Monumentality and the Roman Empire. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wikipedia, 2010. Baetica. [Image Online] Available at: <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ commons/6/66/Baetica.png> [Accessed 9 November 2011]

Figure 8: Showing one of the colourful and complex plaster designs from House B. Source: Pye. 2000, Fig. 7.7.