Grapes and vines of the Phoenicians: morphometric analyses of pips from modern varieties and Iron Age archaeological sites in the Western Mediterranean

The present study aims to contribute to the investigation of the role of Phoenicians in the spreading and trade of the grapevine through the morphometric analysis of grape pips. Waterlogged and charred samples were selected from three Iron Age sites in the Western Mediterranean: Motya (Sicily, Italy), Nuraghe S’Urachi (Sardinia, Italy) and Huelva (Andalusia, Spain). While only Motya is a Phoenician foundation, all three were nevertheless associated with Phoenician expansion and cultural interaction. Ten cultivars from the “Vivaio Federico Paulsen” in Marsala (western Sicily) were chosen as modern reference material. The key challenge was the comparison of archaeological pips preserved throu…

Excavaciones en la granja púnica de Pauli Stincus (Terralba, Cerdeña)

Primeros resultados sobre la excavación de Pauli Stincus.

La excavación de la granja púnica de Truncu 'e Molas (Terralba, Cerdeña)

Iron Age botanical remains from nuraghe S'Urachi, Sardinia

Excavation at nuraghe S'Urachi has yielded a wide range of archaeobotanical materials preserved through charring and waterlogging. This unusual evidence allows us to study the agricultural practices and diet of this community in the first millennium BC and to understand better the economic and cultural interactions between Sardinia and the wider Phoenician and Mediterranean world.

Land Use History and Site Formation Processes at the Punic Site of Pauli Stincus in West Central Sardinia

The site of Pauli Stincus is located near the town of Terralba, on the inland shores of the Gulf of Oristano in west central Sardinia, Italy, and was occupied between the mid-4th and the late 2nd century B.C. The site and its surroundings were the object of a joint archaeopedological and geomorphological study, which complemented the data from archaeological excavations. This study allowed us to evaluate the suitability of the different landscape and soil components for crop production in the Punic period. The discovery of a buried plow soil at the site's edge enabled us to identify a set of agricultural practices carried out by Punic farmers. These included the removal of sandy topsoil to …

La alimentación en una granja púnica de Cerdeña

La excavación de la granja púnica de Truncu’e Molas (Cerdeña) en el verano de 2007 ha permitido, a pesar de estar muy arrasado el asentamiento, la recuperación de un conjunto de materiales cerámicos y líticos, además de restos bioarqueológicos. Con todo ello se puede hacer un acercamiento a los sistemas empleados en ese ámbito rural púnico para la elaboración y preparación de alimentos en los ss. IV-III a.J.C. La aproximación a las técnicas de cocina la realizamos fundamentalmente a partir de los elementos muebles, como las ollas, las cazuelas y el tannur, mientras que el estudio de los materiales bioarqueológicos nos muestra a una comunidad que aunque está especializada en la producción de…