Punic Amphorae
(Punic Age)
The term "amphora" indicates a terracotta container with a tapered or globular shape, provided with two handles, used in antiquity to transport liquid (wine, oil) or solid (wheat or other grains) foodstuffs.
The Punic amphorae found in the area of the cliff and the old town of Posada are attributable to the Ramon T-4.2.1.10 type, probably produced in Sardinia and, for this reason, they can be dated to the late fourth and early third centuries B.C. They were presumably intended to contain and transport wine (fig. 1).
Two fragments of amphora, which cannot be included in precise categories, have a stamp on the handle: in the first example it is sub-quadrangular in shape with two positive imprinted letters and may be compared with those from Lilybaeum and Carthage (fig. 2).
Based on the characteristics of the mixture, it is possible to hypothesise that this amphora was produced in North Africa. The second fragment instead has a cruciform stamp and may be compared with specimens from Carthage and from the Iberian and Sicilian areas (fig. 3).
Bibliografia
- J. RAMON TORRES, Las ánforas fenicio-púnicas del Mediterráneo central y occidental, Barcelona 1995.
- A. SANCIU, Nuove testimonianze di età punica da Posada e dalla Sardegna centro-orientale. Sardinia, Corsica et Baleares Antiquae, IX, pp. 51-58.
- A. SANCIU, Posada. Centro storico. Recupero di materiali archeologici. Erentzias. Rivista della Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici per le province di Sassari e Nuoro, I, pp. 376-377.
- A. SANCIU, Nuove testimonianze d’età fenicia e punica dalla costa centro-orientale sarda. ArcheoArte. Rivista elettronica di Archeologia e Arte, Supplemento 2012 al numero 1, pp. 167-182.
- M.P. TOTI, Le anfore fenicie e puniche della collezione Whitaker (Museo G. Whitaker, Isola di Mozia), in Atti delle Quarte Giornate Internazionali di Studi sull’area Elima (Erice, 1-4 dicembre 2000), III, Pisa 2003, pp. 1203-1214, tav. CCIV, figg. 1-2.
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