0000000001192839
AUTHOR
Cynthianne Debono Spiteri
Phoenician maritime pioneering and Punic expansion: reconstructing trade and dietary patterns
Perhaps the most significant legacy attributed to the Phoenicians was their mastery of the seas, which led them to establish the first grand commercial Mediterranean network, expanding from Lebanon to beyond the Pillars of Hercules between the 8th and 6th centuries BC. The Punic culture, which flourished in the central and western Mediterranean from Phoenician colonies, maintained the exceptional navigation skills of the Phoenicians, but developed into more settled and structured territories that allowed the communities to intensify their exploitation of Mediterranean resources. Their rise to prominence can be measured by the threat they posed to the Roman Republic, while the salvage of the…
New insights into Early Celtic consumption practices: Organic residue analyses of local and imported pottery from Vix-Mont Lassois
The rich Mediterranean imports found in Early Celtic princely sites (7th-5th cent. BC) in Southwestern Germany, Switzerland and Eastern France have long been the focus of archaeological and public interest. Consumption practices, particularly in the context of feasting, played a major role in Early Celtic life and imported ceramic vessels have consequently been interpreted as an attempt by the elite to imitate Mediterranean wine feasting. Here we present the first scientific study carried out to elucidate the use of Mediterranean imports in Early Celtic Central Europe and their local ceramic counterparts through organic residue analyses of 99 vessels from Vix-Mont Lassois, a key Early Celti…
Integrated novel applications for dietary reconstructions in Prehistory
A broad range of biogeochemical techniques encompassing a wide array of disciplines is successfully being used to address key questions in archaeological research, including chronology, migration, trade, palaeopathology and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. The aim of the session was to focus particularly on the developments in palaeodietary studies, which inform about population dynamics and socio-cultural characteristics of different communities over space and time. Biogeochemical techniques in particular have shown a remarkable adeptness at acquiring data from a variety of archaeological substrates, such as ceramics, lithics, textiles, sediments, plant remains, and human and animal ti…