This municipal district, located north-east of the Alicante region, occupies an area of 36,74 square kilometers. It is very mountainous terrain, with a trapped valley that makes communication very difficult across the district, most particularly in the north. A naturally more accessable route would be along the course of the river towards the southwest, where the Torremanzanas Valley converges with the Jijona Valley. In fact, Torremanzanas and Jijona are the most rugged areas as they are part of the first mountain barrier wich marks the north region of the province. This municipal district is one of the least urbanized, with its natural environment the least affected by anthropic activity. For these reasons, in 1999-2000 we decided to survey the area.

Since the beginning of the twentieth century there have been many archaeological activities carried out by Father Belda, then serving in the parish. In his works Father Belda managed to locate almost all sites registered in the archaeological records of the Culture Department, although no settlement of the Bronze age has been found. He did not develop any other archeological work later in his life.

Now we have applied both an extensive and selective survey of the isolated hills, their small size, with visual domain, with its own water resources, with arable lands, etc., keeping the general characteristics of the established model in the Bronze Age. Furthermore some slopes of the larger and higher foothills and the plain have been surveyed. The prospected area represents 20 per cent of the municipal district.

In order to survey the district, the work was oriented to the identification of the Bronze Age sites, taking their settlement pattern into account. As a result of these efforts, an unpublished Bronze Age site has been discovered in the southern zone of the municipal district of Torremanzanas, on an isolated hill (Els Arrendadors), very close to the river La Torre.

(translation by Esther Casares Carmona)