The Roman villa of Casa de Campo

The site is in the vicinity of the so-called Cachadizas Bridge, which spans the Arroyo de los Meaques, in the Casa de Campo in Madrid. It was discovered by José Viloria and excavated in 1933 by José Pérez de Barradas, who located animal bones, rough ceramics, terra sigillata, rough mosaic tiles, some fragment of stucco and pieces of glass and metal. A pavement formed by a cobblestone pavement and the wall of a swimming pool were also found.

In 2017, the Madrid City Council, in coordination with the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, decided to resume the research initiated by Pérez de Barradas, with current archaeological techniques. The archaeological evidence documented during the archaeological intervention carried out allowed us to confirm that in this sector of the Casa de Campo there was an archaeological site of Roman cultural ascription dated between the 1931nd and XNUMXrd centuries after Christ. Subsequently, a second research campaign has been carried out that has revealed in greater detail the characteristics of the site (typology, chronology, conservation, historical and geographical contextualization within the framework of the municipality of Madrid). The existence of trenches from the civil war in the surroundings of the Roman remains was also documented and different materials were recovered from the Casa de Campo stage as a Royal Site and as a public park (from XNUMX to the present).

The imprints of the works carried out by Pérez de Barradas have been located on the ground, identifying the pavement formed by a cobblestone cobblestone, as well as the large ash bag he documented, among which fragments of Roman ceramics type terra sigillata, a Roman coin, fragments of a possible fibula, as well as construction materials. However, what Pérez de Barradas identified as a double pool has not been located, the remains of which could be found in the trenches of the civil war.

In total, action has been taken on an approximate area of ​​about 2.243 square meters, which has been structured into two long parallel streets, from east to west, but with an irregular layout due to the presence of trees and four small areas of clearing to the north as well. of irregular layout due to the existing vegetation.

It was started by raising the vegetable level that had a power of 10 cm. Next, a yellowish loamy soil appeared with light brown streaks, loose texture and some current debris. Below that level, two color changes could be seen on the ground. In the northern half there was a grayish level with dark brown streaks in which some fragments of common pottery and terra sigillata It could be placed between the II - IV centuries after Christ and a Roman coin possibly from the III century, as well as abundant fragments of tiles.

In the southern half the grayish archaeological level ended abruptly with a longitudinal cut where there was a light brown loamy terrain with the presence of some contemporary rubble (1933th century bricks, granite paving stones and some fragments of tiles of undetermined chronology). This longitudinal cut could correspond to the footprint left by the ditch dug in XNUMX.

In another sector, the remains of a pavement of small and medium-sized riverbones joined with lime were located. This soil was limited to a narrow and elongated band of 9 meters in maximum length by 1,5 in width. The state of conservation was not good and the stones were poorly locked. This floor could correspond to the paving that Pérez de Barradas found during his 1933 works.

The archaeological materials recovered in this intervention include ceramic fragments and metal pieces. During the clearing work, a total of 31 ceramic fragments appeared. The most abundant among the Hispanic terra sigillata they are the bowls and among the common ceramics the pots with turned edge. The chronology of the located materials could be located between the end of the XNUMXnd century and the XNUMXth century after Christ.

The intervention had the objective of locating, documenting and evaluating the remains of a Roman settlement discovered and studied at the beginning of the XNUMXth century.