Novas investigações no santuário de Endovélico (S. Miguel da Mota, Alandroal): a campanha de 2002

Abstract

S. Miguel da Mota's site was related to pre-Roman deity Endovellicus, worshipped in Roman times in that place, where we thought its sanctuary was built. The great amount of inscriptions and sculptures brought to the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, in Lisbon, by J. Leite de Vasconcellos in 1890 permitted many studies on the subject. But, despite all those studies, no archaeological works have been done to put in context all that evidence. We designed an archaeological project in 2002 to fulfill the Project were: sketch the topographical plan of the site; surveying the area; and opening of some trenches at the place we thought S. Miguel da Mota's chapel was built. We also knew from Vasconcellos's works that the Christian temple reused many inscriptions and sculptures from the ancient Roman sanctuary. In the survey we have found many granite and marble building elements, geological raw materials from other places, reused in the modern farm constructions. We also found a great amount of Roman ceramic sherds in the East area of the hill were the Christian temple was built. A systematic collection of that evidence shows no signs of pre- Roman occupation, but an important Roman occupation dated from First to the beginning of the Third centuries AD. The trenches in the area of the Christian temple revealed the deep work undertook by Leite de Vasconcellos in 1890. Actually he had destroyed S. Miguel da Mota's chapel until its foundations, to collect the inscriptions and sculptures embedded in their walls. It was clear that no Roman temple exists beneath the Christian church, but we have found evidence prior to the Modern Christian temple: inhumation graves oriented E-W. Out of primitive context we have found some late Roman artefacts: two IV Th Century coins, the spike of a Lusitanian late Roman amphora, one sherd of African Red slip D and an Atlante's X lamp. The chronologies of all are very different from that of the artefacts found in the East area of the hill. In the excavations we have found a remarkable group of Roman sculptures, buried beneath the Christian church's pavement and naturally out of context. We have also found three new Endovellicus' votive inscriptions. Finally we undertook geophysical prospecting in the East area of the hill. We have found signs of buried buildings that suggest the existence of a Sanctuary of Terraces, a well known model from Roman republican period in the Lazio area, but also known in Munigua, in South Spain, where a similar sanctuary was built in Imperial times. So, Endovellicus' sanctuary should have been a monumental structure, with a Roman classical plan that we want to investigate in further archaeological campaigns.

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