08 November 2022 : João Bernardes & Celso Candeias
 
                Balsa, Maritime city of Roman Lusitania : recent data from ongoing research

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Since Estácio da Veiga, at the end of the 19th century, identified the ruins of the Roman city of Balsa with Quinta de Torre d'Aires (Luz de Tavira – Portugal) and its surroundings, the scientific questions about this Roman city have not stopped increasing. Despite the historical importance of this city, referred to in classical literature, the archaeological knowledge about it is very low, as it has been difficult to implement a durable scientific research project. Thus, much of what has been written about the topographical features and configuration of the city has no unequivocal scientific support.

Since 2017, geomagnetic and geo-radar surveys have been carried out on several hectares, identifying many traces of the Roman city and discarding the supposed existence of others in certain locations.

Finally, as of 2019, it was possible to implement the ongoing project : "Balsa, searching the origins of Algarve". This project aims to find out the main features concerning the city’s extension and configuration, mainly through non-invasive methods.  In the last two years, the geo-radar surveys have been intensified and, in addition to other geophysical anomalies confirmed by diagnostic pits, it has allowed us to know the Roman city limits, as well as parts of the city plan and traces of buildings. 

In this presentation we intend to present the main results of the geophysical surveys and excavations carried out in recent years.

Fortuna

Coins from Balsa

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João Pedro Bernardes is graduate in History (Variant in Archaeology) by the University of Coimbra (1985) and post-graduate (M Phil in1996, PhD in 2002), with a dissertation about the Roman Settlement in Leiria region (Portugal). Since 1997, he teaches at the faculty of History of the Classical Culture and Classical Archaeology at the University of Algarve, where he is associate professor. He has published papers in national and international journals, most of all on Roman Archaeology. He has developed and coordinated National and international Research Projects. Currently he is coordinating the project “Balsa, Searching the Origins of Algarve”.

Celso Candeias is graduated in Cultural Heritage and Archaeology by the university of Algarve. He is currently a senior technician in the Tavira municipality, working as an archaeologist in the municipal museum. He has, within the scope of his work, published some scientific works, focusing on the municipality of Tavira and he is currently one of the coordinators of the excavations in Balsa.