LA GESSERA: AN IBERIAN BUILDING FOR WORSHIP? (TARRAGONA, SPAIN)

Abstract

In the fourth century, a new settlement was built over an ancient pre-existent building (eighth century BC), situated in the top of a hill and associated to an emerging aristocratic system which is presumed to have disappeared at the end of the Early Iron Age. This new settlement is, nowadays, kwon as La Gessera and was first excavated over a hundred years ago . Located in the western side of the modern day province of Tarragona, this building, with a hexagonal floor plan, covers the entire rocky surface, making it an unassailable fortress, and allowing it to control a vast amount of the surrounding area, especially from and to the Ebro River. Nevertheless, the unusual floor plan of this building, combined with the lack of water and the inability to collect basic resources, suggests that this construction was more than just a simple house. In that case, it could be seen as a special place, even though we still do not know what the building was used for. Perhaps, the astronomical orientation could lead us to think it is remarkable. The well-known preference for orientating significant buildings towards significant astronomical events is also to be found here. The orientation of the main axis points unambiguously to the Equinoctial Sunrises, and it also coincides with the corridor that goes through the building from east to west. Besides, the biggest and most remarkable room in the building looks to the west. What is more, the seemingly unnecessary thick wall could easily have been used as an altar. The apparent lack of straightness of the corridor could be perfectly explained by observing the sunlight of the Equinoctial dawn. Only on those two particular days does the winding corridor allow the sunlight to illuminate the room to which it leads.