The City Council finds 12 new tombs in a Muslim necropolis that existed in Estepona between the 13th and 15th centuries.

The findings, which are being studied by archaeologists and anthropologists, have appeared during the works of the boulevard being executed by the Consistory. The archaeological works, which began at the end of 2024, are coordinated and supervised by technicians of the Junta de Andalucía.

The Estepona City Council reports that 12 new tombs have been found in one of the two Muslim necropolis that existed in the city during the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. The municipal archaeologist, Ildefonso Navarro, explained that this discovery has occurred during the earthworks of the works of the boulevard that is being executed in the avenues San Lorenzo and Spain.

The Consistory, before starting the works, informed the territorial delegation of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía that these works required Archaeological Control because it was known of the existence of this Muslim necropolis. In addition, this environment is considered as an archaeological area in the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU) and by the Special Plan for the Protection of the Old Town. Therefore, a team of archaeologists has been available at all times and the works were initiated and continued with the supervision and coordination of the municipal delegation of Historical Heritage of the City Council and with the authorization and inspection of the technicians in the field of heritage of the Junta de Andalucía, thus following the preventive archaeological work required by the Andalusian Heritage Law.

Mario Gónzalez, archaeologist of the company Menia that is taking care of these excavations, has indicated that, for the moment, the remains of a total of 12 individuals have appeared who were buried following the Islamic canonical ritual, that is, in the direction of Mecca, without clothes or grave goods, and directly in the ground. These remains are added to those of another 600 people who have been appearing in the ten excavations carried out in recent years in areas where the two Muslim cemeteries were located in the Medina of Istibbuna, the name by which Estepona was known during the Nasrid period.

After the completion of the archaeological works, the remains found in the tombs will be studied by anthropologists to know aspects related to the causes of death, the ages and sex of these people, as well as the diseases or trauma they had at the time of their deaths.

The archaeological works will continue during the next months as new earthworks are carried out in the works of the boulevard. The archaeologist Mario Gonzalez does not rule out the possibility of new findings because the studies reveal that one of the two Nasrid necropolis extended in what is now San Roque Street.

On the other hand, the archaeologist Mario Gonzalez has pointed out that in the first phase of archaeological excavations, which began in late 2024, other remains of interest were found as 5 bolaños, artillery pieces made of peridotite, a characteristic stone of the mountains of Estepona. These medieval weapons could have been used during the different sieges that Istibbuna suffered in the 13th and 14th centuries by Christian armies.

Likewise, during these months of work, decontextualized ceramic remains from the medieval period have also appeared. This is due to the fact that debris was also deposited in this area during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, making it very difficult to find complete pieces with an important value.

The municipal archaeologist Ildefonso Navarro has highlighted the work that has been done in all the excavations carried out in the last decade because they have contributed to have a much broader and detailed knowledge of the history of Estepona.