The Roman villa two excavators read in two different ways

Beside the Guadalmansa watchtower, two early-20th-century excavations uncovered a Roman villa with mosaics and marble columns. One excavator read it as a bath house; the next, as a fish-sauce factory. Almost a century later, academic archaeology confirmed its chronology without settling which reading is correct.

1st – 5th century AD4 min read

Ubicación

Junto a la Torre de Guadalmansa, costa este de Estepona

Primera excavación

1915-1916, dirigida por José Martínez Oppelt

Segunda excavación

1929, dirigida por José Pérez de Barradas

Hallazgos

Unas 18 edificaciones y 5 mosaicos geométricos, columnas de mármol, monedas, fragmentos de escultura y un busto de bronce

Datación de la construcción

Finales del siglo II - inicios del siglo III d. C., según el Decreto 122/1996

Interpretaciones

Termas romanas (Martínez Oppelt) o fábrica de garum, salsa de pescado (Pérez de Barradas) — el propio decreto BIC describe el conjunto como las dos cosas a la vez

Confirmación académica

Ocupación continuada de la zona entre los siglos I y V d. C., campaña de 2001 (Junta de Andalucía)

Reutilización posterior

Sondeos de 1990: tras su abandono, la zona se empleó como necrópolis

Protección

Bien de Interés Cultural, Decreto 122/1996 (modificado por el 181/1999, BOE-A-1999-23246)

The Villa Romana de las Torres is an archaeological site next to the Guadalmansa watchtower, on the eastern coast of the Estepona municipality. It was first excavated in 1915-1916, led by José Martínez Oppelt, and again in 1929, led by José Pérez de Barradas. Between the two campaigns, around 18 structures and five geometric mosaics were recorded, along with marble columns, coins spanning the reign of Emperor Vespasian (69-79) to that of Maximinus (235-238), and a bronze bust identified as Gordian II (238). Martínez Oppelt interpreted the complex as Roman baths; Pérez de Barradas concluded its wealth came from producing garum, the most prized fish sauce of the Roman world. The official decree declaring the site a Cultural Heritage asset, summarising the 1929 findings, describes the complex as "a Roman villa and salting factory" and dates its construction to the late 2nd or early 3rd century AD; the same decree records that soundings carried out in 1990 confirmed the site was later used as a necropolis, after being abandoned. In 2001, an academic campaign led by Ana Arancibia Román for the Junta de Andalucía — combining geophysical survey and a test excavation — confirmed continuous occupation of the area between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, and noted that only a small part of the site has been excavated so far. It has been protected as a Site of Cultural Interest since Decree 122/1996, amended by Decree 181/1999 (BOE-A-1999-23246). It is a different site from El Torreón, the Phoenician-Punic settlement in the same Guadalmansa area.

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Full translation into English is planned for a future phase.

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