Written in Valenciano by Isabel Català Arbona ( 10 years old) Primary 6, Graüll College, Xàbia . Isabel has written a concise and easy to understand account - complete with pictures Congratulations Isabel !
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On Wednesday 7th November a story of an important archaeological find hit the regional press. AMUX members were pleased to see that Xàbia's Municipal archaeologist and President of AMUX was a member of the discovery team.
An English version of the press release is printed below:
Source:
http://www.levante-emv.com/comarcas/2012/11/07/hallan-pinturas-grabados-20000-anos-cueva-pedreguer/950038.html   

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La Cova del Comte, in Pedreguer, is hiding a treasure in her depths that may become one of the jewels of the prehistoric cultural heritage of the Mediterranean. That, at least, is the assertion of  a group of five expert archaeologists, who in recent months have conducted a preliminary study sponsored by the Foundation Cirne of Xabia, a foundation dedicated to research and the dissemination of heritage.

The "treasure" is in the interior of a large gallery which is accessible only by crawling for about 30 metres through a crack in the rock from the first chamber. Archaeological remains have been found as well as several examples of Paleolithic art made between 16.000 and 18,000 years before the current era. Among these are paintings.

The relevance of the discovery inside the cave lies in several factors. Firstly "the existence of cave paintings inside dark cavities," is something without precedent in the Mediterranean, since Levantine rock art is always found in shelters open to the outside, according to archaeologist Juan de Dios Boronat.

"We are not talking about a case of Levantine rock art, of which we have hundreds of examples, this is an extremely rare case, and even more so in the Mediterranean area, in addition, it is almost triple the age of Levantine art," remarked archaeologist Josep Casabó.

Another peculiarity which makes this cave unique is that it combines pictorial art with the art of engraving, as the president of Foundation Cirne, Enric Martinez noted. He stressed that now is when the research work is really going to start. Archaeologists suspect that with some further work the cavity can bring even more positive surprises. "The cave is very large, and now we'll turn on the light and survey every inch of the walls," he said. "this is not the end, it is the beginning."

On this occasion, the Foundation Cirne found a collaborator in the Pedreguer Town Council, but the project would not have been possible without the collaboration provided by the Ministry of Culture, the Alicante Fire Consortium, and contributions made by several Pedreguer companies such as Rolser, Masymas and Manufactures Miralles.

The study of the cave has been promoted by Cirne and carried out by archaeologists Josep Casabó, Juan de Dios Boronat, Ximo Bolufer, Marco Aurelio Esquembre and Pasqual Costa.

Pedreguer Mayor, Ferrús Sergi said yesterday that his government would not hesitate to "use all means" at the service of this investigation, "having seen the enthusiasm of the team" of archaeologists before the challenge of bringing to light all that the Cova del Comte is hiding.

Presentation notes for the talk entitled "From Life to Death" given by Municipal archeologist Joaquim Bolufer on October 31st 2012.See also the previous summary report on this talk which includes links for further reading
http://amuxabia.weebly.com/1/post/2012/11/from-life-to-death-evidence-and-funeral-rites-in-xbia.html

1. - The Cova Foradada.
Remains of early humans that lived in this area.
Evidence: 22 different fragments of at least two individuals, one adult and one immature. However, the only reliable contexts found are from level 2 Sector B:

• Right femoral neck and proximal epiphysis of Adult
• Immature right parietal fragment
• Second phalanx of foot (finger 2-3 left?) of Adult
• Adult right distal tibial epiphysis

Timeline: Approx. 30,000 years. Aurignacian tool industry.

2. - Burial caves of the end of the prehistoric age
Cave of the Ravine of Rabosa
Skull of an adult young man.
Timeline uncertain. Presumably prehistoric (Chalcolithic, Bronze ¿?)
Covetes of the Solana (sunny side) of the Montgó
Burial caves of prehistoric chronology undetermined

Montgo Cave
Cave of multiple burials, probably of the Chalcolithic (Copper), with sufficient assets (all the remains come from “excavations” or "diggings" of Father Belda in the 1930’s)

Recent study by Maria Paz de Miguel. Remains of at least 9 people: Skull of male mature adult (40-45 years), Skull of adult male (40 years), Skull of 9-10 years, Adult, + - 12, Adult, + - 7, + - 9, Male Adult?, Adult.

Ivory pot. Funeral use?. Between 2nd and 1st millennium BC

Cova del Barranc del Migdia
Cave of multiple burials from the chalcolithic (Copper)

The anthropological study material consists of 500 fragments of bones and teeth, the age of death doesn’t exceed 40 years of age for adult individuals, whereas infant death is placed between one and five years of age. So far, we have identified the remains of at least eight individuals collected in four packages. 2671 - 2256 years old - exact Carbon Dating, with grave goods.

3. - Iberian Culture
Plana Justa
Period with practice of cremation

4. - Romanization
Inscription from la Riba The Muntanyar. The large Roman necropolis burial
Punta de la Fontana. Sarcophagi. Marble plaque of the Dioscuri
Past discoveries (tosqueros – tosca cutters, excavations in 1920’s-1930’s)
Tombs discovered: 83
Rituals: graves dug on the rock, with two dominant orientations – east-west and north-south. The graves generally have a trapezoidal form.
The funeral rites were always burial, placing the corpse in supine position inside the pit. In some cases shrouded corpses have been documented, it was usual to reuse graves with multiple burials.
Only eight had artifacts or other items to accompany the deceased. In general, they were materials of minor importance, notably a perfume glass bottle, a possible bronze censer or other materials of ornament as a bracelet and a ring, also of bronze or a bead of vitreous paste.

The Muntanyar was the great necropolis of the settlement of Punta del Arenal, which has about 900 graves on an area of approximately 6,000 m². Its extensive chronology embrace about 600 years, between the 1st and 6th centuries AD.

Portitxol Island.
Two graves covered with slabs that appeared, according J. Segarra Llamas (1947) at the highest and flattest part of the island, near a marble pavement. The graves contained human remains and some grave goods at the headboard, such as lamp and "several shiny objects".


5. - Islamization
Changes in ritual and new beliefs. Orientation of tombs north to south and the head looking east. The corpses lying on their sides, on virgin soil, without ostentation.

• Necropolis: Cansaldes, Cap de Martí, Atzubia and Rebaldí Rebaldí: Forty graves covered with slabs oriented (looked) to east. Described by Sebastià Xolbi in 1770.
• Cap Marti: Destruction of 6 or 8 graves. Two funeral inscriptions of the 45 known in Valencia. Dating at the end 10th, beginning 11th C AD, dedicated to Ibn Nasrum 29 April 1199 (1 the day of the rayab of 595)

6. - The feudal Conquest

Changes in rituals: In the villages, near churches, supine burials, east-west (to the west). Coffins and shrouds.

Burial places: Graves in the Plaça and the Hospital and Churches (St. Bartholomew and Loreto) and convents.

Tombs in the Graveyard of la Plaça: 29 graves, this was  a trapeziodal space of 180 m² surrounded by a sturdy wall of formwork mortar lime and stone, in which the burials were made. A section of it is preserved under the floor of the tourist office, with more than twenty trenches dug into the natural soil with an east-west orientation. The burials were fmade in a supine position with the head pointing west. We have documented the use of shrouds on the corpses and the presence of boxes or coffins made of wood. The cemetery was in use during the fourteenth century and much fifteenth century until the extension of the church led to the remodeling the square and the destruction of the cemetery.

7. – Cemetery of San Juan (John)
With new ideas of hygiene prevalent In Valencia, some institutions and individuals had tried to bring forward these new approaches. This is the case of early and progressive proposals made in 1776 by Pasqual Garcia, councilor of Valencia, who wanted to ban burials made within the walls of the city (M. Català, 2007). But it was not following the enactment of the "Real Pragmática" (a Royal decree) made by King Carlos III in 1787, the local authorities began to consider this problem. The "Pragmática" said that cemeteries are encouraged to build outside towns while the burial was prohibited in churches with a few exceptions. The same document also said : "...to take advantage of chapels of the cemeteries of the hermitages which already existed outside the villages....” an instruction which was followed in Xàbia, using the old Gothic chapel of St. John as a funeral chapel.

Cemetery of Xàbia: 12 March 1817. Opened the current Sant Joan Cemetery, with the corpse of Burial of Ana Maria Moll daughter of Amaro and Teresa, according to death certificate signed by Fr Jose Cruañes Buigues Vicar. (BP).

The old cemetery of Saint John was much smaller than that which we now know. That first site of 1817 occupied a very small area to the south of the chapel, with burials in the ground of which we have only a few panels of Valencia tiles that were conserved and placed inside the Hermitage. Of the thirteen panels recovered and restored by museum, the oldest dates back to 1823 and relates to people of high social and economic status: Mariana Prats, wife of the military governor of Dénia, died on May 28, and Jaume Catalá "Dr. in Theology and Rector of the Church of Xàbia” died on October 6. The most recent was dedicated to child Joaquim Fernando Garcia "... who died on 22 of February of the year 1862 with a tender age of 12 years and half ...".

The lack of space of that first cemetery and high standing of certain persons, led to the section west of the chapel, between the last diaphragmatic arch (behind the altar) and the back wall of the chapel, to be turned into an ecclesiastical mausoleum. This structure, out of use since the late nineteenth century, had a single door (right / NE of the altar) that had recently been sealed off




  .

The interior was occupied by a total of 31 tombs of rectangular shape with maximum dimensions of 2.40 x 0.70 m. constructed of solid brick, plaster and pebble. Eighteen had a general orientation of: south west to north east, that rest against and overlap each other forming two levels.  Meanwhile the tombs of the south east wall had a direction north west to south east perpendicular to the previous ones, grouping together and forming two rows of five tombs, plus three more which were placed during the last moments of use with this same orientation, on top of the first group of tombs.

  All graves with or without coffins corresponded to members of the clergy in Xàbia, probably vicars, and priests of St. Bartholomew parish, who were probably buried between 1817 and 1889, a date that was engraving on the fresh plaster of the tomb placed in the upper South group: “Here rested in peace / the mortal remains of / Vicar Don Jose Solano / from the Jabea Parish / died on 14 May 1889 / Pray to God for his soul.

The poor conditions of the first cemetery area were described in the monumental " Diccionario Geográfico – Estadístico - Histórico de España y sus posesiones de Ultramar" (Geographic-statistical-historical dictionary of Spain and its overseas possessions written by Pascual Madoz (Volume IX, Madrid 1847): "... the cemetery, that is small and dreadful because its ruined walls permit the entry of  foxes and other filthy animals which have eaten the limbs of the unburied corpses: its location so close to the town is detrimental to public health, mainly to the inhabitants of Convent quarter, who are very put out by the putrid stench that arrives during the summer when the west wind dominates and when days are hot: (the cemetery) should be moved to another healthy place...”

Probably to try to mitigate this bad situation, but also to increase the space of the cemetery (Xàbia was a town with a growing population rose from 3,654 in 1843 to 5,785 in the year 1857), in 1849, the Mayor of Xàbia, Antonio Catalá bought three hanegadas of land (1 hanegada = 831 square meters) from Christopher Español  to expand the cemetery (G. Cruañes, Efemérides, no. 289, 1986). With these works, the cemetery acquired the current dimensions and the first groups of niches were constructed (located on the west wall) aimed at the local bourgeois and other wealthy persons, while most of the burials would be made in the ground .

But the widening of the cemetery and the improvement of its construction did not end the problem of excessive closeness to the town, causing, along with other factors, the mortality rate in the cnearby suburbs of Baix and Convent to be the highest in the town (A. Espinós, 1988).

The years went by and the living conditions of the population were gradually improved, producing a reduction in the total deaths. However, the limited space of the cemetery compelled the construction of new blocks of niches.

However, its excessive proximity to the town and population growth forced the construction of the new Catarroges cemetery, which opened in 1986, while the old cemetery was in use until 1989, when the last burial was held there.

Nearly 70 years and five decades of history separates the youngest and oldest members of AMUX, 87-year old Claire Emery and 18-year old Edu Bisquert Buigues They are pictured here in Xàbia’s old cemetery after last week’s visit to the Ermita of San Juan.


The event was attended by around 35 people of all ages and a wide range of nationalities too – British, German, French, Dutch as well as Spanish and Xabiencs. A summary of the presentation by municipal archaeologist Ximo Bolufer has been posted on the Blog for those who could not attend.