Consolidation of

AGIT SERRANO

Consolidation of La Tartana

THE WEALTHY AND LUXURIOUS LIFE ENJOYED BY CAIUS VALERIUS AVITUS AND HIS

WIFE FAUSTINA in the villa required the storage of large amounts of water, in order to cover the needs of the residence. La Tartana is the popular name given to the remains of the water cistern, as it is reminiscent of a carriage cover. This is what remains of a construction with a barrel vault and a quadrangular floor plan, which was possibly part of a complex with more tanks. It is relatively secluded from the residential area and is built with irregular stones and pebbles grouted with lime mortar. This construction is very peculiar and identifies the site, especially because the entire vault is still preserved.

Of the four full walls that formed the alleged quadrangular structure, two are whole, which support the barrel vault; the other walls vary in height depending on the preserved segment, of maximum 90-100 cm. These walls have lost all the exterior cladding.

As is well known, the Romans used opus signinum as a waterproofing coating. We find it inside, on the flooring and in fragments on the walls. Outside, the remains are very thin, but we can find them on the wall opposite the sea and in much of the perimeter covered by earth from the land that has protected it. These exterior remains give clues to the fact that it could be part of a series of annexed tanks.

In the walls that support the vault there is an old intervention made during the second half of the 20th century with stones and cement, which does not meet current restoration criteria, but which most likely has allowed the vault to be preserved today as we see it.

As for the state of conservation of the vault, externally the joint mortar vastly disappeared, to the point that there were areas where the lack of it had caused the stones that form the roof to detach. In many cases, this loss has resulted in the partial collapse of the vault. The inside of it was very deteriorated: there was joint mortar

Remains of the old cistern (popularly known as La Tartana). Photo: Agit Serrano

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View one of the fragments of opus signinum from inside “La Tartana”, already consolidated on the perimeter. Photo: Agit Serrano

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State of the stones inside the vault. Photo: Agit Serrano

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missing and what remained was extremely eroded. The stones’ composition was so severely altered, that when touched they broke and fell. They required urgent consolidation.

Our action has focused on consolidating the perimeter of the opus signinum remains and re-grouting with lime mortar, to reinforce the weakened structure that sustains an extremely deteriorated vault. This action has been the previous step to restore and consolidate the entire volume built, which still preserves the vault.

DETAILS

GENERIC CLASSIFICATION: archaeological and palaeontological material | OBJECT: remains of a water cistern | MATERIAL/ TECHNIQUE: stone and lime mortar with some previous intervention made with cement | TITLE / TOPIC: popularly known as La Tartana | AUTHOR: unknown | DATE/ERA: 2nd century AD | SIZE: quadrangular floor plan: 6 × 5 m (exterior dimensions) with walls about 0.40 m thick | LOCATION: Roman villa of Els Munts, Altafulla (Tarragonès) | CRBMC REGISTRY NO.: 14038 | COORDINATOR: Pere Rovira | RESTORATION: Manuel Domínguez and Agit Serrano (A&M PATRIMONI, SCP) | YEAR OF THE RESTORATION: 2020 | CATALOGUING: Archaeological ensemble of Tàrraco declared a UNESCO Human Heritage Site. 2000. Cataloguing BCIN 2044-ZA