Spain : the discovery of an ancient settlement burned by Hannibal's army

Archaeologists in Spain discovered an ancient settlement that they believe burned suddenly, and that the fire was not spontaneous but rather organized.

The magazine журнала Frontiers in Environmental Archeology indicates that archaeologists recently discovered this settlement on the outskirts of the city of Bellver di Cerdanha, and that it was burned at the end of the third century BC by the Carthaginian army during Hannibal’s campaign against Rome.

Oriol Villa, a researcher at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​says: “It was not spontaneous, but rather it was very effectively organized, and this fire destroyed all the buildings, and also killed the pets.”

Experts reached this conclusion while studying the remains of an Iron Age settlement recently discovered on the outskirts of the city of Belver de Cerdanha. It turned out that after the settlement was destroyed, an ancient Roman fort was built in its place.

Researchers have recently studied in detail the ruins of the buildings built in this settlement during the fourth and third centuries BC, that is, before Roman rule over the entire Iberian Peninsula. The attention of the experts was drawn to a two-story house that was partially burned, inside which they discovered the remains of animals, work tools, household utensils, and jewellery.

Under the collapsed roof of the house, researchers discovered many bones belonging to six pets, including a horse, sheep and goats. In addition, inside the house they found parts of textile industry tools, a pickaxe, kitchen utensils, and a gold earring inside a small clay pot.

“Our reconstruction showed that this house, and the entire settlement, was destroyed so suddenly that its inhabitants did not even have time to open the door and rescue the animals,” says Oriol Villa. “Of course, the fire may have been unexpected, but the hidden valuables indicate The inhabitants of this settlement were expecting an enemy invasion.” This belief is supported by the presence of a large number of animals in this small fenced area.”

Radiocarbon measurements have shown that the fire occurred at the end of the third century BC, when Hannibal's army crossed the Pyrenees and moved towards Rome from the north. Therefore, archaeologists believe that this settlement was burned by the army of Carthage during this campaign, because it was located on a hill and was not fortified. The Romans took this deficiency into account and built a fortress in its place after their legions took over the Iberian Peninsula.