Operation of the cistern well of the Iberian fortress of Els Vilars (Les Garrigues region) according to electrical conductivity measurements of water during irrigation periods of the Urgell Canal

Authors

  • Rosa M. Poch Departament de Medi Ambient i Ciències del Sòl, Universitat de Lleida
  • Emili Junyent Departament d’Història, Universitat de Lleida
  • Carles Balasch Departament de Medi Ambient i Ciències del Sòl, Universitat de Lleida

Keywords:

archaeology, well hydrology, salinity, flooded moat, fortress of Els Vilars.

Abstract

The 4th c. BCE fortress of Els Vilars is marked by its complex fortification and its conception of active defence against the risk of siege or blockade. Its system of floodable moats assured its water supply and management, strengthened its defence and accentuated its architecture of power. The hydrological operation of the exterior moat-interior cistern well system could not be elucidated on the basis of today’s geomorphological and hydrological conditions because of the levelling of the surrounding topography since the advent of its irrigation over 100 years ago and because irrigation itself has changed the dynamics of the area’s water table. Despite this, the existence of an artificial water table produced by irrigation allows the study of the connection between the water runoff from the Aixaragall torrent, which supposedly fed the moat, and the water in the cistern well. Electrical conductivity measurements of the water in the various systems at three different moments in the course of two irrigation campaigns (2012 and 2013) suggest a connection between the surface layer of the aquitard formed by Oligocene calcilutites underlying the moat, the Quaternary gravels of the Aixaragall torrent’s alluvial fan and the cistern well. Consequently, the measurements recorded are consistent with the supply of the well from the flooded moat and with the supply of the moat by surface water from the Aixaragall torrent.

Keywords: archaeology, well hydrology, salinity, flooded moat, fortress of Els Vilars.

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Issue

No. 36: juny 2014

Section

Articles

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