El Rebollar Site in El Boalo

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Well of Cultural Interest in the category of Archaeological Zone

Located southwest of the town of El Boalo, at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama, El Rebollar constitutes one of the few vestiges of the Visigoth era in the Madrid region, whose permanence as a center of worship in its place of origin since the 7th century until the 18th century, it has been preserved in excellent condition to this day.

The Visigothic rural church presents an unaltered and perfectly recorded occupation stratigraphy of the nave, which allows dating the original phase of the building and the subsequent renovations, and the associated necropolis is providing data of great interest for the population study of late antiquity in the area. . Likewise, its importance as a place where religious character survives is supported by archival documentation.

Historic context

General view of the excavations after the 2019 campaign.

The Visigoth presence in the territory of the current Community of Madrid was evident from the first invasions, due to its condition as an important communications center in late antiquity. In the lower reaches of the Jarama, Henares, and Manzanares rivers, as well as on the banks of the Tajo and Tajuña, nuclei of agricultural and livestock exploitation linked to the ruralization of the territory were established, while in the mountain areas linked settlements were established. to livestock exploitation and control of the passes that connected the two plateaus.

The research carried out has allowed the identification and study of important necropolises from the Visigoth period, as well as numerous habitat nuclei from this chronology.

Three buildings and a Visigothic necropolis

So far, the five archaeological excavation campaigns carried out (2018-2022)
have made it possible to locate three buildings, which are associated with a set of tombs that are distributed
throughout the hill of El Rebollar. He first of the buildings It undoubtedly corresponds to a religious building formed by a nave and presbytery facing east, along with materials such as a unique glass container, which indicates a liturgical use of the place.

Along with these remains, a set of emiral coins were found, consisting of five dirhams, and a grave in the southwest corner of the interior of the building, in relation to the southern access. The building had five rooms and five construction phases, which correspond to the construction of the building in the middle of the 7th century, and successive renovations until the first third of the 18th century.

The clear relationship between the tombs and the structure of the building, perfectly oriented and arranged in rows with respect to the perimeter walls of the nave, leads us to date the rural church to the second half of the 7th century AD. c.

El second building It is interpreted as a possible church located to the south of the previous one that would date from the 17th century. It has three naves separated by three straight feet on each side that would support the roof structure.

In front of what appears to be the apse, tomb 13 is located, which typologically seems earlier, from the Visigothic period. The church is very razed, preserving only a course of walls and the foundation. Beneath the ground, the necropolis extends, having also been documented
of the tomb in the central position, a new tomb with a single gable-carved flagstone roof.

El third building with a north-south orientation, it is of a different typology than building 2, although it maintains the masonry factory and presents a high degree of destruction. The chronology of this new building would be after the phase of burials below it.

The georadar indicated the presence of at least 37 graves in lto the necropolis of the plot, of which 23 have already been documented thanks to archaeological intervention. Of different types, they contain
both children's and adult burials, and its study has allowed us to document various details of the funerary rituals of the Visigothic period. Some of the documented tombs correspond to a funerary use of the nave of the late antique church (building 1).

The studies carried out have allowed Carbon 14 dating of various bone remains, in a chronological arc between 656 and 768 AD. C. It is worth highlighting the trousseau that accompanied the deceased, such as a set of circular filiform hoop rings, one of them equipped with a square decorated chaton, also typical of the Visigothic period.

An excavation model: community archeology

The Community of Madrid, with a multidisciplinary team in which the Complutense and Autonomous Universities have participated, has developed successive archaeological excavation campaigns in El Rebollar since 2018. In addition, this site has the particularity of having applied a social archeology model , involving the inhabitants of the municipality's population centers (El Boalo, Cerceda and Mataelpino) in the work with the determined support of its town council.

The proposal does not compromise the scientific nature in any way, since the management and professional team of archaeologists carries out intense didactic and training work with the participants. Research has thus merged with society, bringing residents closer to their heritage and their past.

Between archaeologists, conservators, historians, students and volunteers, up to 40 people have worked on the excavations in a single day.