1 General information:
Author profiles: Jasone Ayerbe Garcia and Fco. Javier Ruiz Recco are architects by ETSA Seville in 1986. Since then, building projects, restoration projects, and urban and space planning projects have been realized in their architect’s office. ayerbereccoarquitectos.blogspot.com
Data of interest : Location: Trigueros (Huelva, Spain) Promoter: Department of Culture, Junta de Andalucia Schedule: Start work: 2010 Work end: 2013 Teamwork: Project & building management: Ayerbe Recco Architects Technical Architect: Rafael Tejada Punta Biologist: Fernando Sancho Royo Chamber restoration: CresArte S.L. Director of archaeological research: José A. Linares Catela
General contractor: Tragsa Total investment: 535.000 € 2 Project: The Dolmen de Soto, dated between 3000 and 2500 BC, is in Trigueros (Huelva) and is one of the most important megalithic monuments in southern Spain. Discovered in 1923, has been the subject of several interventions both archaeological research and restoration. A. Territorial scope
The dolmen is situated on the northern slope of the fertile plain of Tinto river. It is located inside a fenced plot of rectangular shape. Access is made by a local road. The topography of the plot shows a gentle slope eastward, overlooking the valley of Candon stream. It is this one the visual basin that you have from the burial mound: two gentle slopes that form the watershed of the stream, going down and opening up gently to the south.
Now the scenery surrounding the dolmen is a slightly transformed rural environment, with remains of a pasture wooded area which is already very light and provides relatively broad prospects. Few built elements alter the landscape: the nearby local road, the fence bounding the property and the small interpretation center built underground.
Graphic documentation: File jpg.: SOTO memoria 01 Footer text of this image: Images above: orography, the Tinto river-in east/west direction -and its tributary Candon stream-in north/south direction. Images below: Orthophotos 1956 and 2004 in green the dolmen site B. General objective of the intervention
It is the conservation of significant heritage values that, even with the changes that it has undergone since its discovery, the monument still maintains, as well as the enhancement not only of the dolmen but also the environment. These five criteria are been established:
- Ensure the preservation, retention and transmission of the symbolic and historical and archaeological values of the dolmen.
- Keep the particularities of the rural landscape in the plot. This intervention should be discreet. New plantings will be carried out with native species of Mediterranean forest.
- Avoid earthmoving that cause the loss of prominence of the tumular form.
- Refunds and / or restorations inside the chamber and in its access, to help the recovery of lost or altered qualities.
- Allow and sort public visits to the monument by designing the necessary infrastructure. There is already an interpretive center that will offer visitors information about the monument
C. Project description
Four types of actions are included in the project:
1º Setting up a new space for access to the site with parking for private cars as well as the management of itineraries to visit the monument.
2º Performances on the whole of the plot like the necessary earthmoving to restore the perimetral ring of the dolmen. Planting of trees and scrub of native species and low-growing in specific areas is also considered.
3º Actions on the corridor and chamber for the recovery of the characteristics of the dolmen, for its conservation and to allow public visits: earthen compacted pavement with a set of LED lights buried in it
4º Outdoor actions on the tumulus. Its volume has been lost by erosion. Therefore a slight increased in its height is projected. The perimetral ring is also restored by a neutral element. The ring was formed at the time by pieces of stone of which only a few are in place. Graphic documentation: Files jpg.: SOTO sections 04 and SOTO general plan 05
3 Work phase
As in any work of restoration of cultural property the process has been complex. The whole team has been coordinated by the Provincial Delegation of Huelva of the Department of Culture.
Due to budget problems the actions planned in the first point of the previous section were not executed and, the planting described in the second point were partially implemented. Once the work is finished and seeing the overall result, we still think that in the future these actions should be taken up in a later phase.
