Walter Finch
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have unearthed a spectacular Roman forum that they believe was used to help integrate new tribes into the empire.
The discovery was made in the mountain town of Ubrique, Cadiz, by researchers and students from Granada University.
It has revealed an impressive complex of public buildings dating from the 1st to 5th centuries AD on the town’s Cerro de la Mora hillside.
The excavation has uncovered a central square’s wall stretching 16 metres in length, along with what experts describe as a ‘monumental altar’ decorated with elaborate architectural features including column bases, shafts, and statue pedestals.
The discovery vindicates 18th century local scholar Juan Vegazo, who first suggested that the central terrace of Ubrique’s hill concealed an ancient Roman forum – a gathering place that would have been the heart of social and political life.
The team believe the complex played a key role in what they term ‘hybridisation’ – the process by which Rome absorbed and integrated local communities that had already settled in the area.
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Researchers also uncovered evidence of religious practices centred around water, along with a mediaeval defensive structure that formed part of a network of fortifications across the region.
And in a groundbreaking find, archaeologists have discovered a coin bearing one of the earliest Christian symbols ever found at the site – a Christogram – alongside North African ceramics that prove the settlement was continuously inhabited until the late 4th century AD.
The site’s location helps explain ancient trade routes connecting the Gibraltar region to the Roman Empire, with the forum serving as a crucial hub for both commerce and cultural exchange.
