The UB site in Raval opens to the public
Last year, the edition took place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this summer there will be a new face-to-face edition of ArqueUB, the dissemination project to bring the world of archaeology closer to citizens. The activities revolve around the excavations in the site located in the current Faculty of Geography and History of the UB, in the neighbourhood of Raval, where the remains of Antoni Tarrés (an important potter from the 19th century) workshop are as well.
Last year, the edition took place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this summer there will be a new face-to-face edition of ArqueUB, the dissemination project to bring the world of archaeology closer to citizens. The activities revolve around the excavations in the site located in the current Faculty of Geography and History of the UB, in the neighbourhood of Raval, where the remains of Antoni Tarrés (an important potter from the 19th century) workshop are as well.
The site will be open to the public on Fridays, July 9, 16 and 23. Visitors can take a guided tour by archaeologists and students of the bachelorʼs degree of Archaeology and will discover several aspects of the life of people who lived in Raval centuries ago. Registration is free and available through a form on the website of ArqueUB.
Also, the site will welcome six pre-university students who can spend a week there to discover the world of archaeology. During this experience, the high school students will conduct tasks related to the excavation under the supervision of teaching staff and students of the bachelorʼs degree on Archaeology.
Moreover, the pedestrians that walk around the site can see posters with texts and illustrations on the archaeological value of the place and the activities carried out there as well as photographs of pieces that were previously found in the site.
The ArqueUB Project is jointly organized by the Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit (UCC+i) of the UB and the Department of History and Archaeology of the Faculty of Geography and History of the UB. It counts on the support from the Barcelona City Council and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) - Ministry of Science and Innovation.
The site has the old workshop of the potter Antoni Tarrés, whose works are still visitble in different buildings in Barcelona. Although he made bricks, vessels, ornaments for facades, Tarrésʼ great talent was seen on the sculptorical decoration in terracotta. His workshop became the first factory to produce ornamental elements to be applied to the cityʼs architecture. The site has building phases prior to Antoni Tarrésʼ workshop, although the excavations of those periods have to be made carefully in order not to damage the remains of the workshop.
Having such a site in the Faculty of Geography and History provides the chance, almost exceptional, for the students of the bachelorʼs degree of Archaeology to conduct their internship in the same centre where they study, thanks to an agreement between the University of Barcelona and the Barcelona City Council, the entity that owns the site. The agreement has been renewed this year, involving a new boost in the field of archaeological practicals. The archaeological site in Raval is one of the different places where the students of Archeology of the UB can course their mandatory practical subjects.