Scouring for Queen’s Baths

ENCROACHING vegetation and the passing of time are the Baños de la Reina’s principal challenges.

Experts from Alebus Patrimonio Historico, who began surveying the site in January, finished their assessment last month and recently detailed their findings in a talk at the Casa de Cultura’s Salo Blau (Blue Room).

The team’s main objective was maintaining the archaeological site and preventing further deterioration, they explained.

The first challenge was the “disproportionate and uncontrolled” vegetation, said restorer Carolina Mai.

To check its advance the team used herbicide, gravel and weed-control fabric combined with weeding by hand, while protecting walls where weeds were likely to spread.

The experts also found that anthills had destroyed some small structures and it was necessary to replace the geo-textile fabric and sand used in the past to cover and protect the archaeological zones.

Equally pressing was the need to evaluate the site, and the protection needed to maintain each zone in the best-possible condition.

“The idea is to alleviate the structures’ deterioration, which is almost an emergency,” said the director of the Baños de la Reina remains, archaeologist Alicia Lujan.

“We only open the site in the summer, and time is a great enemy. Although some zones are covered over it’s still necessary to maintain infrastructure,” she said.