La colonización fenicia inicial en el Mediterráneo Central. Nuevas excavaciones arqueológicas en Utica (Túnez)

Abstract

This paper presents the first results of the Tunisian-Spanish research project in Utica (Tunisia), in particular the finds recovered from a well (possibly closed ritual-ly) linked to a partially excavated building. The well’s interior is a deposit composed of bones of consumed animals and Phoenician, Geometric Greek, Sardinian, Lybian, Villanovaan and Tartessian pottery, principally formed by drinking cups and plates, as well as ampho-rae. The finds bear witness to early Phoenician networks of exchange in the Central and Western Mediterranean and to a very ancient Phoenician settlement. The dates of C14 obtained from seeds from the well’s fill indicate a chronology around 925-900 cal BC. These dates are identical to those of early Phoenician foundations in the Iberian Peninsula at Huelva, Carambolo and La Reba-nadilla. As a whole they define the most ancient horizon of the Phoenician colonization in Central and Western Mediterranean.