A villa romana de S. Pedro do Pulgão : resultados preliminares

The Roman site of S. Pedro do Pulgão is located on the slope of Ribeira de Bensafrim while the famous pre- and early-Roman settlement of Mount Molião is 1 km away and visible from it (see Arruda 2007). Its proximity to the riverside and to its mouth in the Lagos Bay allowed this villa to profit agriculturally from fertile grounds, in addition to other resources from the marine bay. This fact probably facilitated close relations with other centers of economic activity such as the nearby enclaves of Abicada and Mount Molião. The first archaeological excavation, which took place in May 2008, uncovered the residential part of a Roman villa, apparently well preserved. Of certain importance are the polychromatic mosaic floors identified in three of the rooms. They can be stylistically defined as late Roman. It is also proven there was continuous occupation of the rooms in post-Roman times. At the moment, what has been revealed about the floor plan of the owner’s residential area (pars urbana), is insufficient for indentifying the entire architectural model, but the presence of floor mosaics in several sections signals the most public areas (triclinium, vestibulum) and the private rooms (cubicula), as these also appear in the Algarvian villae of Abicada, Cerro de Vila and Milreu (Teichner 2008). In the specific case of St. Pedro, the dimensions of the rooms and their location seemingly identify them as cubicula (bedrooms). (SC)