Natural spaces

THE ROMAN HOUSE ON ERA STREET

THE ROMAN HOUSE ON ERA STREET

In 1990, at the back of the ancient port located in an area called La Era, a necropolis and some Roman single-family homes were excavated. The most complex…
In 1990, at the back of the ancient port located in an area called La Era, a necropolis and some Roman single-family homes were excavated. The most complex houses had a hall, bedrooms, patio, kitchen and a cistern. They resembled classic Roman house models, with a central room around which the other rooms were centered. One of these houses was preserved by request of the Directorate-General of Culture, due to its scientific, historical and educational interest, and to the fact that it had been well preserved. The house mentioned has a surface of 300 m2 and is one floor, with the following structure: a large central room with a bench and plastered walls, interpreted as the triclinium, or hall. On each side of this room there are two symmetrical rooms which are entered through the main room. In the north side there is a large room with water channels or gutters wich have been identified as a possible atrium or vestibule. Around this patio the pattern of two symmetrical parallel rooms repeats, one serving as water storage with a 2 m deep pool, located next to what can be assumed the kitchen of this Roman house. The house of Calle Era formed part of the urban area of Port of Mazarrón in Roman times and was set up around another group of homes and a network of streets and small alleyways. These houses are the only clearly residential nucleus of the late Roman period studied to date. They were built at the same time that the salting factory was fully functioning and at its peak (the 4th-5th centuries A.D.). Rests of materials found in the homes, such as the high number of coins and the richness of the domestic goods indicate that the site belonged to a sector with significant acquisition capabilities. We assume that we are looking at a population nucleus dedicated to administrative or commercial activity connected to the salted fish industry, where people conserved Roman traditions, way of living and urban layout, although with a local market as indicated by materials and the structural system.