Reconstructive Proposal of the Visigothic Liturgiccal furnishing from the ecclesia in suburbio of segobriga (Cabeza de Griego, Cuenca)

Abstract

Knowledge about the late antique and Visigothic phases of the city of Segobriga has advanced in recent decades thanks to archaeological exca- vations.The conciliar sources assure the existence of a bishopric between 589 and 693, which requires an intramural episcopium for which we do not yet have conclusive archaeological data.We know of a church located in the northern suburb, which was excavated at the end of the 18th century and re-excavated in 2006, whose foundation is older than the establishment of the episcopal see.It was built in the first half of the 5th century, possibly to venerate the memory of one or two martyrs whose names we do not know.This basilica was used from the 7th century onwards as a monumental sepulchre for the bishops and a privileged burial place.It is the source of a large number of sculptural elements of liturgical furniture -pillars, plutei and transennae- which were indispensable in places of worship to separate the officiating clergy from the congregation.The typological and functional analysis of the pieces presented here allows us to know their system of placement and assembly and to raise a reconstructive hypothesis of the chancel screenin the suburban church.