Search results for "Phoenician"
showing 9 items of 29 documents
Differential Greek and northern African migrations to Sicily are supported by genetic evidence from the Y chromosome
2009
The presence or absence of genetic heterogeneity in Sicily has long been debated. Through the analysis of the variation of Y-chromosome lineages, using the combination of haplogroups and short tandem repeats from several areas of Sicily, we show that traces of genetic flows occurred in the island, due to ancient Greek colonization and to northern African contributions, are still visible on the basis of the distribution of some lineages. The genetic contribution of Greek chromosomes to the Sicilian gene pool is estimated to be about 37% whereas the contribution of North African populations is estimated to be around 6%. In particular, the presence of a modal haplotype coming from the southern…
Estudio sobre la presencia y el uso de las urnas Cruz del Negro en las necrópolis fenicias de Andalucía
2006
En este trabajo presentamos un análisis de las urnas Cruz del legro descubiertas en las necrópolis fenicias de Andalucía. Allí son escasas, lo que contrasta con el uso que se hace de esta forma en las necrópolis tartesias. Creemos que el continuo flujo comercial entre las dos poblaciones motivó un tráfico de mercancías que favoreció la adopción de elementos funerarios en las mismas.
Punic Amphorae at Entella (Sicily): Archaeometric Characterisation of this Possible Consumption Centre
2015
This paper reports the archaeometric characterisation of a number of Phoenician-Punic amphorae from the ancient site of Entella in western Sicily. Entella lies in the Sicani Mountains, along the left bank of the Hypsas-Belice river, approximately 40km from its mouth (Fig.1a). It is considered to be one of the most important indigenous settlements of western Sicily, dominating the main terrestrial and fluvial commercial routes between the south-western and northern shores of the island (Nenci 1988/89; Vaggioli 2001; Moggi and Gulletta 2001). Ancient historians first cited Entella for the unfaithful behaviour of Campanian mercenaries. During the first Punic War, Entella was a flourishing urba…
Phoenician maritime pioneering and Punic expansion: reconstructing trade and dietary patterns
2015
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…
Phoenician and Punic Sites in Sicily
2013
A survey of Phoenician and Punic archaeological sites and monuments in Sicily. An update of recent excavations and finds.
New investigations in the North-East quarter of Motya. The archaic cemetery and Building J
2017
In June 2013 the University of Palermo excavations on Motya were resumed. The main goal of the new project is to investigate the north-east quarter of the Phoenician settlement and its urban development since the time of its foundation. Two main areas of excavation were opened. In the early cemetery sixteen cremation burials of the archaic period were uncovered. The most striking discoveries, never attested before, were a tomb containing Hellenistic offerings, and the occurrence of archaic infant cremations. The second excavation was conducted east of Zone K in Building J, which is characterized by its use of a fine ‘pier and rubble’ construction technique. Two rooms have been partially cle…
The Archaic Cemetery at Motya. A case-study for tracing early colonial Phoenician culture and mortuary traditions in the West Mediterranean
2016
The burial ground, roughly dating from the late 8th cent. BC onwards, is characterised in its earliest major phase by the almost exclusive practice of cremation, a rite that was introduced and largely attested in the Levant during the Iron Age1 . The same rite was inherited from the Phoenician homeland and became widespread in the western colonial world, where it eventually survived until the Hellenistic period. The purpose of the present paper is to re-examine briefly the archaeological evidence so far retrieved in the early island cemetery, stressing its main features and reviewing some of the current scholarly views and interpretations.
L’iconografia religiosa fenicia nelle emissioni puniche della Sicilia: il caso di Cossura
2002
The themes of the Phoenician-Punic religious tradition occupy a secondary place in the monetary typology of the Punic cities of Sicily, while, outside the borders of the region, especially in the areas closest to Africa, they retain a prominent place: the case of Cossura, today Pantelleria, is emblematic. The emissions of the island, in fact, still in Roman times, present religious symbols of Phoenician-Punic tradition, demonstrating the persistence of the original cultural and religious identity even after the Roman conquest (217 BC)
Ceramic Production in the Indigenous Settlement of Entella (Western Sicily) During the Archaic Age
2010
Indigenous fine tablewares (both plain and with painted geometric patterns/decorations) were widely diffused in western and central Sicily between the seventh and the fifth centuries BC (Gargini 1995; Spatafora 1996; Trombi 1999; Campisi 2003 However, the considerable recurrence of shapes and decorative subjects inhibits the identification of specific production centres merely on the basis of stylistic and morphological analyses. Therefore, the extent of the distribution of objects manufactured in different workshops cannot be fully appreciated, and the network of ceramic trade in Archaic Sicily is acknowledged only in terms of the relationships between the Phoenician and Greek colonies and…