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 ritually) 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 amphorae. 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 Rebanadilla. As a whole they define the most ancient horizon of the Phoenician colonization in Central and Western Mediterranean.