The Territory of Ancient Tipasa, Algeria: Archaeological Survey, Material Culture, and Connectivity in Central Maghreb

Abstract

The territory of Tipasa, an iconic UNESCO landscape that comprises the ancient city of Mauretania and its Royal Mausoleum, has never been systematically investigated. The exception may be Gsell’s archaeological atlas of Algeria, compiled more than a century ago (Gsell, 1911). Since 2021, the TIPASA Project, a Spanish-Algerian survey program, was organized to shed light on this ill-studied ancient city and its territory. The survey approaches the subject from both the “site” and “off-site” perspectives, using tools such as remote sensing, field survey, and material culture, as well as an education program for Algerian students. This research is essential to understanding the part played by Punic, Hellenistic, Mauretanian, and Roman agents in creating the territory. The research methods and conceptual framework emphasize the particularities of North African cities and the creation of African-led networks in Antiquity across the Mediterranean, particularly the connections with the Iberian Peninsula before and after the imposition of Roman administrative structures.