The Algarve Archaeological Association (AAA) will be presenting two lectures, in English, by Maria João Valente and Cristina Tété Garcia on Tuesday, December 4. The first lecture will be at the Museu do Traje in São Brás (2.30pm) and the second at the Convento de São José in Lagoa (6pm).
Maria João and Cristina will be talking about their recent excavations at Cacela Velha, near Vila Real de Santo António.
This was the first season of a new archaeological research project entitled “Muslims and Christians in Medieval Cacela: changing territories and identities”, which runs from 2018 to 2021.
The project focuses on an understanding of the transition between the Medieval Islamic and Christian occupations of the territory, and on the identification of continuities and changes that occurred within this transition period between the 10th-15th centuries AD.
In essence, it examines who made up Cacela’s Islamic community and how they responded to the rise of new political and religious powers in the region, the arrival of new residents, changes in exploitation of natural
resources and the architectural evolution of the settlement.
In order to achieve this, the project will be investigating the Islamic quarter of Poço Antigo, which is located outside Cacela’s walls and is comprised of buildings and streets connecting it to the probable medieval harbour.
After its abandonment, the same site was occupied by a post-Islamic Christian necropolis within which the excavation work has identified 66 graves so far.
The Cacela project continues the work undertaken in 1998-2001 and includes the excavation of new areas in order to clarify the structural organisation of the Islamic quarter and to establish the limits of the medieval Christian funerary space.
Supported by the University of the Algarve, Direção-Regional da Cultura and Vila Real de Santo Antonio Municipality, the project also includes several national and international partnerships.
The project is being coordinated by Maria João Valente, a Professor at the University of the Algarve and a researcher for CEAACP (Centro de Estudos de Arqueologia, Artes e Ciências do Património), and Cristina Tété Garcia, a Senior Technician at Direção Regional da Cultura and a researcher for CEAACP.
Non-members are welcome to attend AAA lectures for a €5 admission.
algarvearchass@gmail.com
Facebook: Algarve Archaeological Association
By JANE ROBERTSON
