Resumen de The Roman Republican and medieval quarry of Sant Miquel d'Olèrdola (Olèrdola, Barcelona)

Núria Molist i Capella, Pedro Otiña Hermoso

• The Roman Republican fortification of Sant Miquel d'Olèrdola, nestled among the foothills just south of the Garraf Massif, some 50 km north of Tarragona, preserves an imposing wall, constructed in "opus quadratum" with a tendency towards polygonal masonry and, on the upper section, in "opus incertum", along with a tower erected in "opus quadratum", on the hill's summit. To raise these military constructions, the Romans excavated two open-pit quarries, one located within the fortified compound's central area and the other outside the walls, near the "vallum". The interior quarry was reopened during the Early Middle Ages and mining resumed, as the emerging "civitas" Olerdula's demand for stone, needed to construct the wall, churches and castle in particular, increased. This work will detail the quarrying systems used in the Miocene limestone quarries during the Roman and Medieval periods, along with the principal stone-cutting characteristics evident in the Romans' public works, which clearly follow Italic traditions. It will analyze, furthermore, the abundant stone waste generated as a result of the in-place extraction system, and the scarce material elements recovered that relate to the stonemason' labour.