- The funerary object, the "cuppa," which dates back to between the 2nd and 3rd century AD, is now on display on the tour
- Rehabilitation is carried out thanks to the collaboration that Fundación Cepsa has had with the Junta de Andalucía for more than two decades to conserve and enhance Carteia
The Junta de Andalucía, thanks to the collaboration with Fundación Cepsa, has undertaken restoration of a cuppa, a Roman funerary object, at the archaeological site of Carteia. The piece is now on display in the tour offered to visitors. The work has consisted of extracting, restoring, and placing thecuppa in the archaeological site.It was carried out by an external company contracted by the regional administration. The funeral object features painted stucco, under which there was a decorated lead sarcophagus.
Cuppae are a simple type of elongated-base funeral monument with a top that is half of a cylinder, similar to an arch or a barrel on its side—cuppa means barrel in Latin), which were used in some regions of the Roman Empire between the first and third centuries AD. The term can be used as a synonym for a sarcophagus.
The cuppa found at Carteia had, at the beginning of the rehabilitation, degraded jointing mortars in the masonry. In addition its coating had lost stability, showing numerous cracks, fractures. In general, the masonry was coming apart and the original coating was lost. On the surface, extensive dirt, fungus and lichen colonization, and saline efflorescence were observed.
Rehabilitation was carried out in several phases. The first was consolidation with injected lime mortar. In this phase, the main objective was to provide the piece with structural stability in order to move it to a more suitable site for work. Next, the funeral object was moved with a crane, for which the wood that supported the cuppa was replaced with a metal structure that provided greater stability.
Once in the work area, fragments were affixed to it and cracks were filled in, using reintegration when necessary to conserve the piece. After this, the funerary object was cleaned and chromatically reintegrated. Once this work was finished, the cuppa was moved to its final location at the Carteia archaeological site. The surface where it was installed was first prepared.
Cepsa's collaboration with the archaeological site of Carteia, owned by the government of Andalusia, goes back more than two decades, and is now led by Fundación Cepsa. Over this time, different actions have been carried out such as the scientific studies, conservation, and enhancement of the Roman Circus, the visitors’ trail and historiography, historical cartography, paleo-environmental studies, and paleo-topography studies, among others. Thanks to the constant support and close relationship between both institutions and the involvement of their professionals, it has been possible to carry out not only minimal restoration and maintenance on the ruins and buildings, but also archaeological research and restoration, as well as sharing information with the scientific community and society as a whole.