Important Roman finds in the works of the Seville glass factory.
Some very important findings. The work carried out on the sites occupied by the Trinidad Glass Factory, between Avenida de Miraflores and Carretera de Carmona, has revealed a very relevant set of intact Roman tombs. Among them, the so-called compartments stand out, funerary monuments with an elongated plan and a cylindrical lid, examples of which have so far been few in Seville. The Provincial Delegation of Culture is aware of all these discoveries, which are being analyzed and studied to determine how to proceed.
Among the findings that archaeological work brings to the Trinity story through the works, those linked to the Roman funerary world stand out in an important way. In this sense, it should be remembered that in the area of the current Carretera de Carmona there was an important necropolis, which has been documented in various previous excavations, such as those carried out in Calle Jabugo or in the Trento building on the Carretera de Carmona itself.
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In the case of the current intervention, various types of burials were discovered, among which the so-called cupas stand out. These are simple funerary monuments with an elongated plan and a cylindrical lid, resembling a recumbent tank in shape, from which they got their name. The ones found so far on the site of the old glass factory correspond to the typology of structil cupa, that is, they are made using masonry (brick, masonry …) and covered with plaster. In ancient Hispalis, these cupas have so far been almost undocumented, so these finds represent an important novelty for the study of the funerary traditions of this stage of the city of Seville.
One of these cups was found to have a marble funerary tombstone embedded in it, which, pending further study by the company’s management, apparently bears the name of the deceased: Calliope. Other tombs were also found to contain funnels, or cylindrical ceramic channels, through which various libations were made in honor of the deceased buried in them.
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The work began on May 29 last year and is carried out as usual under the supervision of inspectors from the cultural delegation of the Andalusian government. All of these findings are being studied, documented and evaluated, but the next steps have not yet been determined because the challenges have not yet been resolved.
Other Roman finds in the area
This is not the first time remains of Roman burials have been discovered in the area. At the beginning of 2022, the remains of a Roman necropolis were found in Via Santa Maria in Fontanale, which was built in the 1st century after Christ and was used until the 2nd century. Among the elements that attracted the most attention were those that belonged to the triclinium, a room intended for funerary banquets and of which nothing like it had so far been found in the capital of Andalusia.
This discovery is also linked to the burial structures that appeared many years ago at Carretera de Carmona, 6, next to the church of the former monastery of La Trinidad. This necropolis remained a burial place until the 7th century. The processes of stratification have allowed us to distinguish between different levels and uses. It was a burial space between the 1st and 7th centuries. From the 5th century onwards, the burial landscape changed with the appearance of a large monument, a building whose actual size is unknown. Some archaeologists have noted that it could be a martyrium, a basilica or simply a funerary monument linked to a very important figure in the Christian community of Seville, as evidenced by the high density and number of burials found concentrically around the building.