Zegota, Volubilis region

Project name:

Tingitana Frontier Project

Website and social media:

Facebook: Tingitana Frontier Project
Type of site:

Roman watchtower

Location:

Morocco
9.5 km north of the ancient city of Volubilis, outskirts of Zegota village

Dating:

Roman period, 1st–2nd century AD

Most interesting finds:

Denarius of Juba II and Cleopatra Selene, (kings of Mauritania);
Trajan’s denarius;
Hadrian’s as;
An iron pilum spearhead;
Several iron nails from military sandals;
Fragments of Corbridge-type banded armour (lorica segmentata);
Ceramics of the sigillata hispanica type;
Architectural relics that are the remains of two phases of a Roman outpost on the border between the Mauritania Tingitana province and Barbaricum. Foundations of a circular defensive wall (Phase 1), part of the foundations of a watchtower (Phases 1 and 2).

History of research:

Dates of PCMA mission’s work:

2023–2024

Type of research:

Archaeological excavations

Directors:

dr Fadwa Benjaafar, Prof. Aomar Akerraz (Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine, Rabat)
Assoc. Prof. Radosław Karasiewicz-Szczypiorski (Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw)
Deputy director: Maciej Czapski

Co-operating institutions:

– Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw
– Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine, Rabat

Addidtional information:

1982–1998 – Mission de Sabou – surface research;
2018–2019 – surface research under TFP (UW);
2023–2024 – excavations, Polish-Moroccan Mission: INSAP (Rabat) and PCMA UW.

Description of the site and research:

The site, located on a hill about 500 meters above sea level, served as a Roman observation post, controlling the pass leading from the east, to the ancient city of Volubilis.

Other materials about the project:

Conferences:

– 02-2024 PCMA Seminar: Tingitana Frontier Project – The role of Roman watchtowers
– 12-2023 Conference in Rabat, Table ronde “Tingitana Frontier Project”, Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine
– 2023 EAA Belfast, Maciej Czapski et al. “The Hills Have Eyes – Reconstructing the Roman Watchtowers’ System in the Volubilis Region”
– 2022 Limes Congress, Nijmegen, Maciej Czapski, “Roman watchtowers’ system in the light of works of Polish-Moroccan mission Tingitana Frontier Project”

Project bibliography:

Czapski M., Kaniszewski J., Karasiewicz-Szczypiorski R., Akerraz A., Es-Sadra L., Benjaafar F. Mazurek S., Bartczak K., Lockley N., and Marciniak M., (2024). Roman watchtowers in Mauretania Tingitana, in: H. Van Enckevort, M. Driessen, E. Graafstal, T. Hazenberg, T. Ivleva and C. Van Driel-Murray (eds), Strategy and Structures along the Roman Frontier. Proceedings of the 25th International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies 2, Leiden, Sidestone Press, pp. 411-418. DOI: 10.59641/ll634ox
Czapski M., Atki M., (2020). Tingitana Frontier Project. Rapport préliminaire de recherche de la mission polono-marocaine dans la région de Volubilis au Maroc pendant la saison 2018. Polish Archaeololgy in the Mediterranean 29(2): 431-446 DOI: 10.31338/uw.2083-537X.pam29.2.18