The tophet is a special type of necropolis, destined for the burial of cremated remains of stillborn children or babies who died shortly after birth. The ashes were kept in urns and also vases can be found that contain the ashes of small sacrificed animals.

The tophet was characteristic of Phoenician and Punic cities in the west, and has been interpreted as a sign of the city’s status. They were created in the Phoenician Age, with the urns deposited in the bare earth, sometimes gathered together in small area fenced-off with slabs or stones, but with no elevated structures. In the Punic age, from the end of the 6th century B.C. onwards, stones began to be placed with symbols or images of divinities.

The Tharros tophet stands on the top of the Su Muru Mannu hill, exploiting the remains of the huts from a previous Nuragic village (figs. 1-3).

Fig. 1 - The area of the Nuragic village on which the tophet stands (photo by Unicity S.p.A.)

Fig. 2 - The tophet during the dig (by ACQUARIO, FINZI 1986)

Fig. 3 - The tophet during the dig (Cagliari and Oristano Archaeological Superintendency)

The tophet was investigated by an archaeological mission from the Rome CNR Study Centre for Phoenician and Punic Civilisation from 1974 to 1998, bringing about the recovery of hundreds of urns that showed the extent of the population on the one hand and the incidence of infant mortality on the other.

In Roman Times, the tophet fell into disuse, and many stones were reused as building materials; in one case, the form the podium for the erection of a building that was rather important (fig. 4).

Fig. 4 - the podium of a Roman building built with stones from the Punic tophet (photo by Unicity S.p.A.)