The tower is named after the Guadalmansa river
which runs close by.
In common with the majority of such towers,
its
one
entrance is high up on its side and the only method of entrance
and exit would have been by ladder or rope. Most of the towers
along
the coast are mediaeval and post-date the Christian reconquest.
This may be true of Torre de Guadalmansa, but it is unusual
in that
it is square rather than round, which suggest it may be Moorish.
Easily
visible from the spot, just a little way inland and lending
weight to the assumption, is the commanding Montemayor,
on top
of
which still stand the impressive ruins of a Moorish castle.
Immediately beside the tower, excavations in 1915-16
and 1929 revealed an extensive Roman villa complex. The first excavation
uncovered the remains of a large building and several pools, which
led the leader of the dig, José Martinez Oppelt, to conclude
that it had been a termas, or bath house.
The building had been richly ornamented with geometrical
mosaics and marble columns. Five excellent mosaics were found and
recorded at the time. Other items discovered included the shaft
of a marble spiral column and adjoining building materials, as well
as pottery and a small bronze bust of a woman.
Approximately 18 buildings were ultimately discovered,
three of which had underground water depositories. The site was
certainly wealthy, as coins, anchors, bronze and iron keys; clay
vessels and brass needles were also unearthed.
Archaeologists should be eternally grateful for
our age-old propensity to lose our money. Many a site has received
it first tentative dating from loose change left lying around by
those who had clumsy fingers or holes in their purses and pockets.
On this particular site, which became known as Las Torres, the coins
uncovered ranged from the era of the Emperor Vespasian (69-79) to
that of Maximus (235-238).
The surrounds to the tower
Initially, the mosaics were left in situ, but by
the time that Pérez de Barradas came to carry out the second
set of excavations in 1929, he found the site in a pitiful state.
Little, it seems, changes. Shocked by what he saw, he ordered their
removal to prevent their inevitable destruction by thieves and vandals.
The astonishing thing is that no-one in authority appears to have
noticed this wholesale looting of a valuable archaeological site
in the intervening thirteen years. Clearly, with so many pieces
of the past littering the Andalucían landscape, it would
be impractical, even undesirable, to attempt to preserve and protect
every one. The past must give way to the present if we are not to
stagnate. Living space is not infinite. Nevertheless, it seems astounding
that sites as rich and important as Las Torres should simply be
abandoned after excavation and left to the mercies of nature and
the unscrupulous.
Peréz de Barradas unearthed a great many
more items of interest: yellow and black ceramic pots, pieces of
glass and crystal, more coins, a lamp and intriguingly, a large
bronze bust of Gordian II. Since Gordian II was Emperor for only
three weeks in 238 and even then only jointly with his father, Gordian
I, the making of the price can be dated with some confidence to
that year. If it took more than 21 days to make, it is doubtful
that the sculptor got his fee. If he was a freelancing entrepreneur
he probably cursed his luck, shouted a few obscenities about the
fickleness of politics and sought out a new career.
The extent and variety of Pérez de Barradas finds revised the original opinion that the site was merely a
termas.
Barradas concluded that it was an extensive complex, perhaps
even
a small town, dedicated to, or certainly made wealthy by, the manufacture
of garum, the much prized and ever popular fish paste. Since
this
was made from the intestines of fish macerated in vinegar, we may
wonder today at its universal popularity in all parts of the
Roman
Empire, and its apparent ability to make millionaires of its most
skilled manufacturers. But that is what it was, and that is
what
it did. Had Macdonald's existed in Roman times, its success would
have been founded on the Double Whopper Quarter-Pounder Garumburger.
Since Pérez de Barradas removed the mosaics
to the safety of a museum only the tower of Guadalmansa remains
to be seen today, and a wide shallow pit is all that is left to
make the site of the excavations. The visitor can, however, find
a poignant reminder of the previous richness of the site simply
by taking a walk by the adjacent shoreline. An examination of the
cliff face is almost certain to yield a few fragments of pottery,
if nothing else.
The surrounds to the tower and the excavations have
been restored as a landscape feature in a communal part of an urban
development. The area has been grassed and landscaped and makes
for a pleasant stroll. The excavation have been left open and can
be viewed at close hand from a rustic wooden bridge.
The above text was reproduced from the the book
"In Search of Andalucia" by kind permission of the authors
David Wood and Chris Wawn. Click
here to order your copy from our online book store.
