Cotta or Cotte was an ancient town built by

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

in the 1st century AD, in the province of

Mauretania Tingitana Mauretania Tingitana (Latin for "Tangerine Mauretania") was a Roman province, coinciding roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco. The territory stretched from the northern peninsula opposite Gibraltar, to Sala Colonia (or Chellah ...

, intended to function primarily as a

garum Garum is a fermentation (food), fermented fish sauce that was used as a condiment in the cuisines of Phoenicia, Ancient Greek cuisine, ancient Greece, Ancient Roman cuisine, Rome, Carthage and later Byzantine cuisine, Byzantium. Liquamen is a si ...

factory. The town was likely abandoned in the 3rd century AD. Its ancient ruins are now located on the Atlantic coast of modern-day

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

a few kilometers south of

Cap Spartel Cape Spartel (; ; ) is a promontory in Morocco about above sea level at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, 12 km west of Tangier. It is the northwesternmost point of the African continent. Below the cape are the Caves of Hercules. De ...

, and include the garum factory, an olive press, a temple, a villa and a bath complex.

Name

Some researchers have identified Cotta with "Gytte" from Hanno's voyage. highlighted the similarity of the name of Cotta to the ancient name of

, ''Kotes'', which is related to "grapes".

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

mentioned in his

Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

that beyond the

pillars of Hercules The Pillars of Hercules are the promontory, promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. The northern Pillar, Calpe Mons, is the Rock of Gibraltar. A corresponding North African peak not being predominant, the identity of ...

, there existed formerly two settlements Lixus and Cotte. Bochart suggested that the name "Cotta" or "Cotte" may be derived from Hebrew "quothef" meaning "vine-dresser".

History

The factory at Cotta was established in Mauretania Tingitana after the annexation of the Kingdom of

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean in the ...

in 40 AD. It is one of several other factories established on both sides of the Mediterranean (

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

and

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

), and was intended to be a self-sufficient complex, given the presence of farming land nearby. It is uncertain if Cotta is the same settlement mentioned by Pliny the Elder which, according to him, had been destroyed before the Roman period. The findings at the site point to an active exploitation no older than the 1st century AD. The site was excavated by archaeologists and Miquel Tarradell in 1965. It is the most thoroughly excavated site of its kind in ancient Tingitana. Its structure is no different from other sites found for example at Lixus and

Baelo Claudia Baelo Claudia was an ancient Ancient Rome, Roman town in Hispania, located outside of Tarifa, near the village of Bolonia, Spain, Bolonia, in southern Spain. Situated on the shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, the town began as a fishing village a ...

. Since the 1990s, the site has been integrated in the palace complex of a Saudi prince.

Description

Cotta is located on the Atlantic coast, 14 kilometers southwest of

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

, and 5 kilometers south of

. The site is 56 meters long and 40 meters wide. It contains 16 basins of various sizes, surrounding a water reservoir. Along the basins, there are long halls for receiving and preparing fish, and on the other side there are ovens. There's also a space for producing oil, which contains oil presses and 3 basins. Ponsich also mentioned the presence of a 7 by 4.4 meters building, which he identified as a temple for

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

. He also identified 15 graves (already excavated by ) which go back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Photos of Cotta كوطا
from the Manar al-Athar Digital Photo Archive Archaeological sites in Morocco Roman towns and cities in Mauretania Tingitana