Uniformity in Tophet Ceramics?

Journal of Ancient History, vol. 11, pp. 243–258

Abstract

Abstract Burial urns and lids found in the Carthage tophet precinct play a pivotal role in our understanding of material trajectories. Significant differences in macroscopic features present problems as to where and how these vessels were made. In general, issues in sourcing north African ceramic materials stem from their compositional homogeneity, having mostly sand and calcareous fractions varying to a greater or lesser degree. In this paper we present the results of a petrographic study of ceramic materials in order to understand the different fabrics present within the tophet assemblage, with the ultimate aim of determining whether or not their production took place in Carthage itself and to trace transformations in local and regional ceramic fabric types.

Authors 4

1. Dennis Braekmans corresponding Aachen Laboratory for Material Culture Studies Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Laboratory for Material Culture Studies, Faculty of Archaeology , Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands Netherlands

2. Brien Garnand Aachen Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten

   Leiden University · Harvard University

   Affiliation as printed

   Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten (NINO), Leiden University, Witte Singel 25, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands / Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East (HMANE), Harvard University , 6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge Massachusetts 02138, USA United States of America

3. Joseph A. Greene

   Harvard University

   Affiliation as printed

   Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East (HMANE), Harvard University , 6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge Massachusetts 02138, USA United States of America

4. Patrick Degryse

   KU Leuven

   Affiliation as printed

   Geology Division, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences , KU Leuven , Celestijnenlaan 200E-bus 2408, 3000 Leuven , Belgium Belgium