Abstract:

An interesting assemblage of building materials has been unearthed during the recent excavations at the Roman Republican fort of Puig Castellar of Biosca. They mostly belonged to the central building of the settlement and consist on the interior revetments of the main rooms (floors and mural paintings) as well as parts of the roof. They are especially relevant not only because of the date of this site, between 180 and 120 BC, but also due to the fact that this site was a post of military and administrative control during the earliest period of the Roman conquest of the Iberian peninsula. This paper presents a first approach to this assemblage, its materials and building techniques, provenance and parallels, to ultimately show how the models and building materials used at Puig Castellar, which display a certain luxury, a high technical level and a clear Italic tradition, could also be an indication of the origin of its inhabitants as well as the function of this establishment.