Moret Park is today one of the main green areas of the city of Huelva. In addition, it is part of the necropolis of the orientalizing period of Huelva. Archaeological investigations have shown the presence of burial mounds, which means that some of the small elevations found in the park are of artificial origin, made as funerary monuments that mark the burial place of prominent members of the Tartessian society (VII-VI centuries BC).
The importance of Moret Park as a Tartessian burial place was made known by Juan Pedro Garrido Roiz, who continued the work of the famous archaeologist Jorge Bonsor, who in the 20s of the last century carried out a small excavation, pointing out the discovery of the tomb necropolis, which would later be protected by the Sector A-2 of the Archaeological Zone of Huelva.
The project to adapt Moret Park, aimed at providing it with a series of paths and services for recreation and consolidating it as one of the main green areas of the city, also included among its objectives the research and incorporation of archaeological heritage into the contents of the park, as a way of showing the history of Huelva to citizens and visitors. This made archaeological research part of the remodeling work of the park, seeking then the diagnosis of the archaeological remains already known.
The work was carried out between September 3, 2003 and September 30, 2004, by the Municipal Urban Planning Department of the Huelva City Council, in collaboration with the main protohistoric research centers, the University of Huelva, the National University of Distance Education, the Complutense University of Madrid and the Center for Phoenician and Punic Studies.
Tumulus 1 and 2, which were the object of previous interventions that were scarcely documented, were reopened to study their condition, their potential for enhancement and the contribution of new data of interest.
The intervention was also oriented towards the detection of other possible burial mounds in the remaining elevations of the park through geotechnical analysis as well as paleoenvironmental reconstruction, through the collection and analysis of various samples, or the general monitoring of the works, controlling the possible appearance of new findings.
From the monitoring of the works, Structures D, E and F were the most interesting findings, allowing the extension of the historical periods detected so far in the Park towards the Roman (d) and Almohad (f) periods, through the study of archaeological remains of agricultural facilities in the immediate surroundings of the city of Huelva.
From the monitoring of the works, Structures D, E and F were the most interesting findings, allowing the extension of the historical periods detected so far in the Park towards the Roman (d) and Almohad (f) periods, through the study of archaeological remains of agricultural facilities in the immediate surroundings of the city of Huelva.
The monitoring of the works allowed the detection of an alteration, in the sandy substratum of the headland, called Structure E, cylindrical in shape with almost a meter in diameter, formed by an orange sediment with some ceramic fragments. When proceeding to its excavation, and after over eleven meters deep, the appearance of the water table prevented reaching the bottom of the structure, so its functionality is not confirmed. What is certain is that it provided an interesting set of materials from the second half of the seventh century B.C. Although it may be a burial of the type called “shaft tomb”, typical of the Canaanite and Phoenician environment, it could also be a clogged record of the protohistoric aqueduct of the city, and in any case belongs to the same time of operation of Moret Park as a necropolis. Currently, the unexcavated part of the structure is preserved under the artificial lake.
Tumulus 1 is a structure built with adobe bricks forming a series of walls with radial disposition and intentional fillings in the intermediate spaces, which make it a solid circular construction, with an approximate diameter of 25 meters and a preserved power that exceeds 1.30 m, continuing in depth. We do not know the original height and it is possible to suppose the wear by erosion of all the high part of the same one. It is not clear its funerary function, not even finding the burial chamber. The special coloring of the materials used, clays of different origin in red, green or yellowish tones, points to a marked visual function, as well as the elevated place chosen for the location of this construction.
The ceramic fragments collected in the cleaning and diagnostic campaign, which are small in size and out of context, as they were discarded in the previous action, clearly point to the seventh century, handmade pots and red engobe dishes, similar to those documented in the Cabezo de San Pedro or the necropolis of La Joya. The crumbly nature of the adobes made it difficult for them to remain outdoors and they were covered to prevent their deterioration.
The excavation confirmed the presence of an artificial elevation as it is related to a burial pit made in the natural terrain and also consists of a series of sedimentary packages of different types, rich in archaeological material. We have studied the composition and arrangement of these deposits, geologically formed by gravels of the fluvial terrace itself, with high iron oxide content, but which also include certain elements of natural origin such as plant remains and pollen or animal bone fragments -cow, deer, goat-, as well as human-made elements in the form of small ceramic fragments made by lathe and by hand. All of them belong to the time when the burial mound was built and provide information about that historical period.
From this evidence it can be concluded that a single funeral took place at this site, which we can place, after ceramic analysis, in the second half of the 7th century BC. The construction of the burial mound may have been accompanied by certain rituals related to the burial, such as the funeral feast and the handling of certain ashes that seem to have been intentionally poured into it.
The grave goods, consisting of bronze and iron objects, with similar features to those recovered at La Joya, were extracted by Juan Pedro Garrido, its excavator in the 1990s.
The timetable is:
Monday to Sunday from 7:00 to 22:00 h.
