Hannibal’s troops, linked to a burned stable found in the Pyrenees

May 17. () –

Remains of a stable burned 2,200 years ago, found at a site in the Pyrenees, have been associated with the passage of Hannibal’s Carthaginian army during the Second Punic War.

Building -framed in the archaeological site of Tossal de Baltarga (Lérida)- It had two floors and the fire caused the roof, support beams and the upper floor to fall, and archaeologists have also found remains of six burned animals – a horse, four sheep and a goat -, along with valuable objects. like an iron picket and a gold earring hidden in a pot, according to a statement from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​who led the research.

Published in ‘Frontiers in Environmental Archaelogy’the study has made it possible to reconstruct the economic patterns of these inhabitants of the Iron Age, with an important livestock ranch where transhumance was practiced.

From what the researchers, led by Professor Oriol Olesti, have inferred, the upper floor seemed to have been divided into warehouse and textile production space, finding numerous tools that could have been used to spin and weave sheep wool.

Archaeologists have also found cereals such as barley and oats and some whole kitchen containers, with residue showing that people using the building had consumed milk and cheese and eaten pork and lamb stews.

Olesti has assured that the discovery has made it possible to “reconstruct the economic patterns of these inhabitants, probably dedicated to transhumance”, since the isotope analysis indicates that some sheep had previously grazed on other pastures, possibly in agreement with other communities.

The study, in which researchers from the Institut Català d’Arqueologia Clàssica, the CSIC, the University of Heidelberg (Germany) and the Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, have also participated, has highlighted that these mountain communities were not closed, but rather they were connected with neighboring areas, exchanging products and, probably, cultural knowledge.

Olestí has ​​stressed that this economy with livestock, agriculture, forest management and mining shows “an Iron Age society adapted to its environment and capable of taking advantage of its resources.

STRATEGIC POSITION

The destruction of the Tossal de Baltarga, which occupied a strategic position in the Pyrenees, could have been related to the passage of Hannibal’s army through this region to fight against the Romans in the Second Punic War.

Olesti has pointed out that “the chronological precision in archeology to talk about the Punic War is not enough to affirm it with complete certainty”, but that they are sure that it happened at that time in history.

In your opinion, “violent destruction of the site is likely” is related to this war, since it suggests that it was an intentional and effective fire, since all the buildings were destroyed, and in an adjacent one they found a burned dog.

The researcher explained that Hannibal crossed the Pyrenees fighting against the local tribes and the Tossal de Baltarga was a place of residence and surveillance point for the Ceretans: “Not many archaeological remains are preserved from this expedition, and Baltarga’s Tossal is probably one of the best examples.”

SUDDEN DESTRUCTION

He has said that the reconstruction implies “a sudden destruction, without time to open the stable door and save the animals,” but that the hiding of an earring indicates anticipation on the part of the population of some type of threat.

Archaeologists do not know what happened to the population that lived in Tossal de Baltarga, but it was finally reoccupied and used by the Romans. The most significant element of this new occupation being a watchtower.