A time capsule in the collapsed castle

The surprise was capital, as big as the colossal rock that fell down the slope in the 15th century on the castle of Monreal de Ariza (Zaragoza).

Thanks to this, and under tons of stone, archaeologists have now been able to find a true “time capsule”.

Helmets, crossbows, protective elements of a cuirass, an inkwell, shelves, a coin, artillery pieces and even a beautiful Gothic bell are trapped in it.

It is told by José Francisco Casabona Sebastián, Javier Ibáñez González and Judit Paraíso Sánchez in two reports (

A Gothic bell discovered in the archaeological excavations of the castle of Monreal de Ariza

and

A deposit of arms in the border fortress)

, which they have already handed over to the Government of Aragon.

And where they remember that to extract the valuable medieval objects, they had to use "mechanical means for several weeks in order to remove the fallen rock inside the masonry and rammed earth structure."

• This is how a castle dies in Spain

Alfonso I e

l Batallador

built the castle of Monreal in 1128 as a frontier bastion against Islam, but the walled fortress ended up becoming, over the centuries, a battlefield between the successive Castilian and Aragonese kings, since it was located right on the edge of both kingdoms.

Since 2008 it has been on the

Red List

of Hispania Nostra due to its “progressive degradation”, although for five years it has been subjected to a process of consolidation and excavation.

And it was precisely during these investigations, financed by the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain and the supervision of the Government of Aragon, when architects and archaeologists discovered the collapse that caused “the collapse of the building, covering its ruins with large rocks”.

The fortress, architecturally, is divided into four large enclosures that include a Romanesque church, a residential space, walls, an access tower and various auxiliary areas for ovens, stables or cisterns.

"The archaeological excavation work was organized according to the needs of the restoration," explains archaeologist Juan Francisco Casabona, from the Contrafuerte consultancy.

The multidisciplinary team has already identified stables, adobe mangers, a 3.70 meter high cistern, ovens, rooms and the warehouse, where the arsenal was found.

In the warden's room, with a brick floor, there was a large continuous bench, with remains of turned wood and a wooden shelf, where an inkwell was found.

"Some of the recovered pieces would probably belong to the warden's individual equipment, given their excellent workmanship," says archaeologist Javier Ibáñez.

The expert refers specifically to two of the helmets found.

One of them is a barbuta (a helmet without a visor with only a T-shaped opening for the mouth and eyes).

The other is a helmet of the bacinete type, "of which both the main body and the mobile visor have been found that could be folded down by means of two hinges on its sides, and that protected the face and forehead in combat", he adds.

Likewise, a series of rectangular iron sheets have been found that "have small bronze appliques, remains of cloth and some steel rings."

They seem to correspond to a piece of individual body protection, a hearth.

Likewise, the remains of two identical crossbows have been exhumed, which include the metal parts of the gun carriages, the keys and reinforcement pieces for the sides, as well as the bronze frame for the nut box.

"The fact that no evidence of the arch has appeared makes us think that, at the time of being buried, they were dismantled."

Nearby have also been found "two artillery chambers corresponding to small caliber pieces."

They were made of iron, they measure 42 centimeters.

Experts date the entire arsenal to the mid-15th century, as a coin of Juan II of Castile (1406-1454) has been unearthed.

"Although not all the pieces had to be rigorously contemporary in their production, the war events between the Trastamara of Castile and Aragon reinforce this chronological hypothesis", they assert.

The reports indicate that the inhabitants of the castle, after the collapse, took the "most relevant elements", except those in the areas where they could not access.

"It must be taken into account that only that which could not be removed has been preserved, which is why it constitutes a partial, although exceptional, sample of the military material housed in castles in the 15th century," the studies indicate.

For its part, the bell “appeared lying down, cracked and still had the iron clapper.

It measures 30 centimeters in diameter by 42 in height.

It has a small epigraphic band, which can be read in Gothic letters: "Ave Maria / Me / IHS".

In the middle part it shows three scenes: Saint Michael, the Virgin with the Child and the Crucifixion.

the conversation state is good.

The piece was hidden in the warehouse area, “forming part of a set of military-type metal elements, in a closed space of restricted use.

This room, like the adjacent one, collapsed, leaving the archaeological record perfectly sealed, and no doubt they were not used again due to the magnitude of the large broken block ”.

And what was a hood doing in the storage area?

The experts give two options: "that, once cracked, it would have been removed for conservation with other pieces of value, such as weapons" or that it be struck in case of danger given its indisputable "military function", since the castle always was in dispute between Castilians and Aragonese.

It is said that when Pedro I of Castile snatched it from Pedro IV of Aragon, he assured that "he would have preferred its destruction rather than loss."

The bell did not warn him.