Archaeological dig on Isla del Fraile in Aguilas reveals Bronze Age occupation

The picturesque islet off the coast of Águilas was home to human beings 3,500 years ago

The latest archaeological dig on the Isla del Fraile, the small islet a few metres off the coast a couple of kilometres to the east of Águilas, has revealed findings dating from the Bronze Age which completely alter the known history of the location.

The key discoveries have been fragments of pottery dating from the Bronze Age which date the first known occupation of the Isla del Fraile to approximately 3,500 years ago. This is prior to the occupations which were already known about by the Romans and then in medieval and relatively modern times.

In relation to the Roman occupation in the latter part of the Empire, around the 5^th century AD, new storage rooms have been found containing amphorae from north Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, some of them still holding remnants of their original contents (such as wine and salted fish). In addition, a surprising number of hooks, pieces of glassware and millstones have been unearthed alongside the fish salting installations found during previous digs.

All of this strengthens the suspicion that there was a strong Byzantine element to the settlement on Isla del Fraile, following the invasion carried out by the Emperor Justinian in the 4^th century, and those taking part in the 2023 campaign also found a medieval home next to the 12^th- and 13^th-century Moorish burial ground in which there were various glass plates.

Furthermore, specialists from universities in France, Madrid and Jaen have identified food remains from Roman times which show that goats, pigs, chickens, cows and even possibly seals were consumed by those on the island.

The 2023 dig was carried out under the direction of specialists from the Museo Arqueológico de Águilas and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and financed by the Town Hall of Águilas. Various private concerns are also providing funding, including Viñas Familia Gil, Panaderías Clendy, Fundación Cajamurcia, Muebles Montalbán, Pozo Sur and Transportes Cucaleras.

Participants included students from the universities of Murcia, Navarra, Jaén, Granada, Sevilla, Córdoba, Barcelona, Complutense and even Oxford, and joining them were specialists in underwater fauna and flora from Spain’s Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, their objective being to learn more about the ingredients of the prized “garum” fish sauce which was produced along the Murcia coastline by the Romans 2,000 years ago.

Among the installations already uncovered on the Isla del Fraile is a former garum production centre.

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