A team of archaeologists from the University of Cádiz in southern Spain has uncovered 57 Roman-era sites in the Sierra de Cádiz region, potentially revealing a “hidden empire,” according to British news outlet Express.
The discovery, led by Macarena Lara, Professor of archaeology at the University of Cádiz, was made using groundbreaking radar technology while the team was originally searching for a single settlement last year. Instead, they uncovered a previously unknown network of Roman trade routes along the Guadalete River.
The researchers suggest that these 57 settlements might have been interconnected through these trade routes, forming an undiscovered part of the Roman Empire.
This unprecedented find offers an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the Roman Empire’s presence in the Guadalete River valley over 2,000 years ago, Lara said.
The Romans initially invaded Spain in 218 BC during the Second Punic War to weaken Carthaginian power but eventually sought to control the entire peninsula due to its valuable resources, including silver mines.
The team heavily relied on “LiDAR” remote sensing technology, which allows archaeologists to scan large areas by using radar pulses that penetrate the ground to detect hidden structures.
LiDAR has been revolutionary for archaeology, helping to uncover sites such as a lost Mayan city hidden within the lush vegetation of South America.
Since May, following the initial scans, the archaeologists from Cádiz have begun on-the-ground excavations at some of the settlements, unearthing a Roman villa.
While it is known that the Romans settled along the Guadalete River after their conquest of Spain, the exact construction dates of these structures remain uncertain.
The data collected from these excavations could enable the team to “generate a solid base of archaeological information and documentation to continue research in the coming years,” said the univeristy professor .
In 2021, the same university discovered an ancient Roman bath preserved under the sand of a beach in southern Spain.