Proyecto Utica. Excavaciones en la ciudad fenicio-púnica. Campañas de 2013 y 2014

Se presentan los resultados preliminares de las campañas de excavación de 2013 y 2014 en la antigua ciudad de Utica (Túnez), en dos áreas al norte de la ciudad, denominadas zonas I y II. En la segunda se ha localizado en los cortes 20 y 21 un edificio del siglo ix a. C. al que se vinculan hornos domésticos y un pozo cegado, con un importante conjunto de cerámicas fenicias, griegas, sardas nurágicas y locales. En la zona I se ha continuado la excavación de las áreas de los cortes 10 y 11. En el primero se han excavado varios sectores que han permitido precisar la datación de los sistemas constructivos fenicio-púnicos y romanos, localizar un área relacionada con un horno de producción y una calle romana de época imperial. En el área del corte 11 se ha podido conocer mejor la planta del edificio monumental y precisar la datación de las dos fases del edificio monumental fenicio-púnico.In the paper are presented the preliminary results of excavation seasons of 2013 and 2014 in the city of Utica (Tunisia) in two areas named zones I and II. In the last one have been localized in the sondages 20 and 21 a building of 9th century BC associated to domestic kilns and a to well filled with Phoenician, Greek, Nuraghic and local pottery. In Zone I the excavation of sondage areas 10 and 11 has continued. In the first one different sectors have been excavated allowing more precision in the date of the Phoenician, Punic and Roman building systems. A production area with a kiln and a roman imperial street have been localized too. In the area of sondage 11 the excavation conducted to a better knowledgment of the plan of a monumental Phoenician and Punic building and the datation of its two phases

Proyecto Utica. Excavaciones en la ciudad fenicio-púnica. Campaña de 2015

La campaña de 2015 en Utica ha tenido objetivos limitados pero resultados interesantes. Se finalizó el pozo 20017 del corte 20, confirmando su carácter de hallazgo cerrado del siglo ix a. C. En el corte 21 se amplió la superficie de excavación en el edificio anejo al pozo, localizando estratos y estructuras de adobe fenicias que confirman un uso posterior a la clausura del pozo. En el corte 10 se profundizó en el sector 14 para datar fases constructivas localizadas en campañas anteriores y se documentaron construcciones del siglo vii a. C. En el corte 11 se efectuaron ampliaciones en el área monumental y se descubrió una estancia con muros de sillares paralela a la gran escalera romana, así como estructuras medievales adosadas a estructuras fenicias del Edificio B, cuyo propósito fue la instalación de una noria. En los cortes 10 y 11 los trabajos se interrumpieron al alcanzarse el nivel freático.The campaign of 2015 in Utica has had limited aims but interesting results. The excavation of the well 20017 in the square 20 was concluded, confirming its character of closed finding of the 9th century B.C. In the square 21 the surface of excavation was extended into the attached building to the well, locating Phoenician strata and structures of mudbrick that confirm its later use to the closing of the well. In the square 10, sector 14 was deepened to date constructive phases located in previous campaigns. Construction remains of the 7th B.C. century were documented too. In the square 11 were executed some extensions in the monumental area, discovering a room with walls of regular stones oriented with the big Roman stairs, as well as medieval structures attached to Phoenician structures of the Building B, which intention was the installation of a waterwheell. In squares 10 and 11 the works were interrupted after reaching to the groundwater level

The economic resilience of Carthage during the Punic Wars: Insights from the sediments of the Medjerda delta around Utica (Tunisia)

While the Punic Wars (264–146 BC) have been the subject of numerous studies, generally focused on their most sensational aspects (major battles, techniques of warfare, geopolitical strategies, etc.), curiously, the exceptional economic resilience of the Carthaginians in the face of successive defeats, loss of mining territory, and the imposition of war reparations has attracted hardly any attention. Here, we address this issue using a newly developed powerful tracer in geoarchaeology, that of Pb isotopes applied to paleopollution. We measured the Pb isotopic compositions of a well-dated suite of eight deep cores taken in the Medjerda delta around the city of Utica. The data provide robust evidence of ancient lead–silver mining in Tunisia and lay out a chronology for its exploitation, which appears to follow the main periods of geopolitical instability at the time: the Greco-Punic Wars (480–307 BC) and the Punic Wars (264–146 BC). During the last conflict, the data further suggest that Carthage was still able to pay indemnities and fund armies despite the loss of its traditional silver sources in the Mediterranean. This work shows that the mining of Tunisian metalliferous ores between the second half of the fourth and the beginning of the third century BC contributed to the emergence of Punic coinage and the development of the Carthaginian economy

Exploration of the maritime façade of Utica: the potential location of the Phoenician and Roman harbours

peer reviewedAccording to ancient literary tradition, Utica is considered to be one of the first three Phoenician foundations in the Western Mediterranean, supposedly founded in 1101 BC by Levantines from Tyre. In the Phoenician and Roman periods, it was an important merchant coastal town, on a promontory facing the sea. Over the centuries Utica lost its access to the sea, and its ports silted up as a consequence of the activity of the wadi Medjerda, which flowed to the south of the city. Despite over a century of investigation by archaeologists and associated researchers, the location of the city’s harbour structures from the Phoenician and Roman periods remains unknown, buried under sediments resulting from the progradation of the Medjerda. Based on the study of sedimentary cores, the research presented here highlights the existence of a long maritime façade to the north of the Utica promontory in Phoenician and Roman times. A deep-water marine environment is attested in the former bay from the 6th mill. BC and the depth of the water column along the northern façade was still 2 m around the 4th – 3rd c. BC. Another core to the east of the Kalaat El Andalous promontory showed the possibilitythat this sector was a sheltered harbour during the Phoenician and Roman periods. This paper illustrates the contribution of geoarchaeology to address this archaeological problem and to understand the relations of this important port city with the sea

Exploration of the maritime façade of Utica: the potential location of the Phoenician and Roman harbours

According to ancient literary tradition, Utica is considered to be one of the first three Phoenician foundations in the Western Mediterranean, supposedly founded in 1101 BC by Levantines from Tyre. In the Phoenician and Roman periods, it was an important merchant coastal town, on a promontory facing the sea. Over the centuries Utica lost its access to the sea, and its ports silted up as a consequence of the activity of the wadi Medjerda, which flowed to the south of the city. Despite over a century of investigation by archaeologists and associated researchers, the location of the city's harbour structures from the Phoenician and Roman periods remains unknown, buried under sediments resulting from the progradation of the Medjerda. Based on the study of sedimentary cores, the research presented here highlights the existence of a long maritime façade to the north of the Utica promontory in Phoenician and Roman times. A deep-water marine environment is attested in the former bay from the 6th mill. BC and the depth of the water column along the northern façade was still 2 m around the 4th – 3rd c. BC. Another core to the east of the Kalaat El Andalous promontory showed the possibility that this sector was a sheltered harbour during the Phoenician and Roman periods. This paper illustrates the contribution of geoarchaeology to address this archaeological problem and to understand the relations of this important port city with the sea

Exploration of the maritime façade of Utica: The potential location of the Phoenician and Roman harbours

International audienc

Palaeogeographical and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Medjerda delta (Tunisia) during the Holocene

International audienceThe progradation of the Medjerda delta has been the subject of many studies since the 19th century. Thescale and the rapidity of this phenomenon interested researchers in various fields early on, such asgeomorphology, geology, palaeogeography, history, archaeology, or geoarchaeology. Indeed, the deltaprograded by around 10 km over 3 millennia. At the time of its foundation supposedly at the end of the12th century BC, the Phoenician city of Utica was located on a promontory bathed by the sea, but thesediments carried by the Medjerda progressively sealed the bay, leaving the tip of the Utica promontorynow 10 km inland. This area is therefore an exception to the general pattern along the Tunisian coast,since as over the same period everywhere else there is a regression of the coastline, owing to a sea levelrise of several decimeters. Based on multi-proxy analyses of two coring transects, this paper aims toreconstruct the palaeoenvironments and the palaeogeography of the Medjerda delta’s progradation sincethe mid-Holocene, some aspects of which are described in ancient sources. The results highlight inparticular an episode of high-intensity flooding around the 4th century AD, which is consistent withepisodes of high floods and an increase in sedimentation rates recorded in the watershed at the end ofthe Roman period. The gradual abandonment of the city of Utica can certainly be related to the activity ofthe Medjerda River, but our results show that it is because of an increase of fluvial sediment contributionin connection with an erosive crisis in the headwaters, and not because of the change of course of theriver, which had occurred long before

Geoarchaeology and palaeoenvironment of the Medjerda delta (Tunisia) during the Holocene: Evolution of the maritime façade of Utica and potential location for the Phoenician and Roman harbours

International audienc

Economic resilience of Carthage during the Punic Wars: Insights from sediments of the Medjerda delta around Utica (Tunisia)

International audienceWhile the Punic Wars (264–146 BC) have been the subject of numerous studies, generally focused on their most sensational aspects (major battles, techniques of warfare, geopolitical strategies, etc.), curiously, the exceptional economic resilience of the Carthaginians in the face of successive defeats, loss of mining territory, and the imposition of war reparations has attracted hardly any attention. Here, we address this issue using a newly developed powerful tracer in geoarchaeology, that of Pb isotopes applied to paleopollution. We measured the Pb isotopic compositions of a well-dated suite of eight deep cores taken in the Medjerda delta around the city of Utica. The data provide robust evidence of ancient lead–silver mining in Tunisia and lay out a chronology for its exploitation, which appears to follow the main periods of geopolitical instability at the time: the Greco-Punic Wars (480–307 BC) and the Punic Wars (264–146 BC). During the last conflict, the data further suggest that Carthage was still able to pay indemnities and fund armies despite the loss of its traditional silver sources in the Mediterranean. This work shows that the mining of Tunisian metalliferous ores between the second half of the fourth and the beginning of the third century BC contributed to the emergence of Punic coinage and the development of the Carthaginian econom