18 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists have discovered another exceptional find in Mérida

In Mérida, Spain, archaeologists recently discovered an “enormous” Roman bath. But it is that inside these baths, in the area of the apodyterium or changing room, archaeologists have discovered yet another surprise: an almost intact iron bars on a window.

Mérida is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site that contains the remarkably well-preserved remains of an ancient Roman colony, Augusta Emerita.

According to the Roman historian Cassius Dio, the emperor Augustus, (27 BCE – 14 CE) founded Augusta Emerita after the end of the Cantabrian War, in 25 BCE and was the capital of Lusitania.

It soon became one of the largest cities in Hispania, with a territory of some 20.000 square kilometers, to which the emperor Otho added even more in 69. The well-preserved remains of the old city include a large bridge over the Guadiana River, an amphitheater, a theater, a vast circus, and an “exceptional” water-supply system.

Now, within these baths, archaeologists have found a crisscrossed set of iron bars that are “practically intact”, the Consortium of the Monumental City of Mérida said in a statement.

The well-preserved iron bars found in the remains of changing rooms at a bath complex in Mérida, Spain. The iron bars would once have covered a window, archaeologists said. Photo: Consortium of the Monumental City of Mérida

“Another exceptional find,” the consortium said.

The iron bars, which would once have covered a window, were found in the apodyterium or changing room of the baths.

The researchers reported that these bars were part of the deployment of the walls and the roof of the structure, hence the presence of other materials such as bricks, tégulas, and tiles. A similar iron grill was found during the work of the archaeologist García Sandoval, between 1962 and 1963, in the kitchen of the Casa del Anfiteatro.

The house of the amphitheater, dating from the 1st century AD. It is located outside the walls of Augusta Emerita, very close to the space used for gladiator combat and the theater.

“There is still a lot of archaeological heritage under the subsoil of our two-thousand-year-old Mérida that… awaits to be excavated,” the consortium said.

The Casa del Anfiteatro had a courtyard, a kitchen, and a mosaic floor depicting scenes of the grape harvest.

The iron bars will now be cleaned and restored so that they can be put on public display.

Related Articles

The excavation, which started in a cave in Turkey’s Mardin, turned into a huge underground city

19 April 2022

19 April 2022

In an underground city known used as a settlement in the early Christian era, in the Midyat district of Mardin,...

The Latest Surprises Revealed by Investigations Inside the Tomb of Cerberus in Giugliano

24 July 2024

24 July 2024

The latest surprise revealed by investigations at the Tomb of Cerberus in Giugliano: The remains of a corpse covered with...

Unsolvable Megalithic Mystery of ancient Greek “Dragon Houses”

8 January 2025

8 January 2025

The Dragon Houses of Euboea, which probably dates to the Preclassical period of ancient Greece, are one of the historical...

3D virtual reconstruction of the Celtic city gate

2 May 2022

2 May 2022

A new 3D virtual reconstruction of the Celtic gate has been made in Staffelberg, in the German state of Bavaria....

Army Museum Worker Discovers Early Medieval Sword While Swimming in a Polish River

19 December 2024

19 December 2024

The collection of the Army Museum in Białystok, Poland has been enriched after renovation with a unique relic of great...

Mythical Viking stronghold Jomsborg could be on Hangman’s Hill near Wolin, archaeologist say

14 July 2023

14 July 2023

A new hypothesis about the location of the mythical Viking stronghold on Hangman’s Hill near Wolin (West Pomerania) has been...

New fibula types discovered at prehistoric Kopilo graves in Bosnia

26 August 2022

26 August 2022

An archaeological dig at Kopilo, a hill settlement founded around 1300 BC about 70 miles west of Sarajevo, has discovered...

5,500-year-old Menhir discovered in Portugal

28 August 2023

28 August 2023

A 5,500-year-old (that is around 3500 BC) menhir has been discovered in the town of São Brás de Alportel in...

A large stone monument depicting the goddess Ishtar has been unearthed in the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud

26 June 2023

26 June 2023

Archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, working with an Iraqi excavation team, have unearthed a...

Archaeologists uncovered a 3,500-year-old Egyptian Royal Retreat in the Sinai Desert

5 May 2024

5 May 2024

An Egyptian mission uncovered the ruins of a 3,500-year-old “royal fortified rest area” at the Tel Habwa archaeological site in...

Archaeologists unearthed a pot of copper coins in first major discovery at Mohenjo Daro in Pakistan, in 93 years

18 November 2023

18 November 2023

A pot full of copper coins was discovered from a stupa (a dome-shaped building erected as a Buddhist shrine) at...

Ancient Three Fortresses: Layered Defense on Egypt’s Eastern Border at Tell Abu Saifi

11 May 2025

11 May 2025

Archaeological excavations at the strategically significant Tell Abu Saifi site in North Sinai have unearthed compelling evidence of Egypt’s long-standing...

Bronze Age Wedge Tomb Discovered on the Dingle Peninsula maybe Even Older

22 April 2021

22 April 2021

A wedge tomb recently discovered on the Dingle Peninsula of Ireland was described by archaeologists as “quite unusual”. Wedge tombs...

Christians Supplied Medieval Pagans with Horses for Sacrifice for Funeral Rituals

20 May 2024

20 May 2024

In the late medieval period, pagans in the Baltic region of northern Europe imported horses from neighboring Christian nations for...

Neanderthals of the North

13 May 2022

13 May 2022

Were Neanderthals really as well adapted to life in the cold as previously assumed, or did they prefer more temperate...