THE INTRAMURAL CHARIOT RACING STONE BARRIER AT CARTEIA (SPAIN): GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY AND VERIFICATION BY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TEST EXCAVATION

Abstract

The aim of this research is to deepen the knowledge of the urban plan of the Roman city of Carteia, in

particular its central sector. The origin of this settlement dates back to the 4th century B.C and in 171 B.C

became the first Latin colony outside Italy, getting the name of Colonia Libertinorum Carteia.

In 2005, exhaustive three-dimensional cartography at scales 1:1000 and 1:500 and a high resolution

orthophotography surveis carried out on the site. The analysis of the paleo-relief provided by the previous

images suggested the possible location of a Roman chariot racing circus inside the walls of the city. In order

to prove it, in 2016 a geophysical exploration was done over this geomorphological anomaly. We used

georadar (GPR), electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and magnetic survey to contrast the results. The

resulting anomalies were tested on 2017 with the archaeological tranches that allowed us to confirm the

existence of an intramural circus.