Archaeological heritage
Research in progressThe site catalogued since 1994 that no one has ever excavated
On a hill above Estepona's western coast there is, according to the municipal catalogue, a watchtower with an ashlar wall. Two archaeological interventions — in 2008 and in 2020 — have surveyed its slopes for the developments around it. Neither has touched the summit.
Ubicación
Cerro sobre la costa oeste de Estepona, cerca de la CN-340 y de la urbanización Arena Beach, margen derecha del río Guadalobón
Catalogación
Plan General de Ordenación Urbanística de Estepona (1994), adaptado a la LOUA en 2010 — grado de Protección B, «yacimiento arqueológico pendiente de estudio»; código 290510016 en la Base de Datos de Patrimonio Inmueble, según el informe de 2020
Altitud de la cima
68 metros sobre el nivel del mar, según la ficha del Estudio Arqueológico
Superficie estimada
Unos 300 m², definida como atalaya con amplio dominio visual
Lo que se ha visto bajo la vegetación
Un perímetro amurallado con sillares dispuestos a hueso, sin excavar
Cronología
Sin cerrar: cerámica medieval documentada en el estudio original; hipótesis actual, prerromana (ss. III–I a. C.), por el tipo de sillar
Intervenciones conocidas
2008 (Sector SUNP-01, resultado negativo) y 2020 (Sector SUP-02 «La Gaspara», material disperso en las laderas)
Estado
La cima del cerro, donde se ubicaría el yacimiento catalogado, no ha sido excavada en ninguna de las dos intervenciones conocidas
Cerro Patraina is an archaeological site catalogued in Estepona's urban planning since 1994, on a hill above the municipality's western coast, between Corominas and Arroyo Vaquero. According to the municipal Archaeological Survey record, it occupies the hilltop, 68 metres above sea level, with an estimated area of about 300 m², and is defined as a watchtower with wide visual command: under the vegetation that covers it, a walled perimeter of ashlar blocks has been made out. The chronology remains open — the original survey documented medieval-period pottery at the site, though a pre-Roman hypothesis (3rd–1st century BC) is also proposed today, based on the type of ashlar, with a parallel cited at Alcorrín (Manilva). Two preventive archaeological interventions, in 2008 and in 2020, surveyed the area around the hill for two separate development projects (Sector SUNP-01 and Sector SUP-02 "La Gaspara"); both focused on the slopes and access routes, not the summit, and both conclude that the site itself, if it matches its catalogue description, remains untouched.
Full article
The complete article with all sources and detail is available in Spanish.
Full translation into English is planned for a future phase.