COSTA ALMERIA NEWS: Macael dig uncovering Upper Almanzora archaeological heritage

THE first phase of what is the third excavation campaign at the ‘Macael Viejo’ site wound up this week.
The dig at the site on which different peoples settled over the centuries, among them the Romans, is not only important in terms of revealing more about the municipality’s heritage, but is also considered a major archaeological project for the whole of the Upper Almanzora.
The 2017 and 2018 campaigns, and now the third, are financed by Macael council. They form part of the PGI General Investigation Project, which is authorised by the Junta de Andalucia’s Culture and Historic Heritage department, and which aims to analyse the site and its context within the region.
The project is described as pioneering for the Upper Almanzora in that it is the first centered on one specific site and for the use of stratigraphic survey excavation methods.
The team of investigators working on the site are mainly linked with the University of Granada and the Autonomous University of Madrid under the coordination of Dr A. Santiago Moreno Perez. He personally directs activities on the dig site, in which local Macael residents also take part.
The site is believed to have been definitively abandoned at the end of the 16^th century.