Torre Velha de Castro de Avelãs (Bragança). Resultados arqueológicos e novidades epigráficas

Abstract

Abstract - The Torre Velha (Old Tower) of Castro de Avelãs, in Bragança, Portugal, first appears in the archaeological literature in the late nineteenth century. Several contemporary researchers have associated this archaeological site with the ciuitas Zoelarum, which in antiquity was included within the conuentus Asturum (prouincia Hispania citerior). The results of the first excavations, carried out in the late nineteenth century under the sponsorship of the Martins Sarmento Society, are only vaguely known, because of missing field sketches detailing the archaeological activity as well as the missing excavated materials. It was only in 2012-13 that further archaeological excavations were performed at the site, as part of a partnership between the Municipality of Bragança and the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Coimbra. This paper presents some of the archaeological results from the recent campaign and some epigraphic news resulting from the identification of unpublished inscriptions, which support the corpus related to this archaeological site, located in the tectonic depression of Bragança.