Phoenician-Punic non-funerary religious sites in the central Mediterranean : an analysis of recent discoveries and research

Abstract

This study collates and reviews research about Phoenician and Punic non-funerary religious sites in the central Mediterranean carried out over the last 25 years. It aims to highlight the criteria used to identify the religious nature of the sites and determine if such criteria reflect the use of a clear inferential process, where data at the basis of proposed hypotheses and conclusions can be clearly identified and discussed. A selected list of sites located in Malta, Sicily, and Sardinia are discussed on three levels. The first level involves a literature review of the recent discoveries at each site which were argued by scholars to imply that the site served a religious function. At a second level, this is followed by a discussion of the evidence on a site-by-site basis, in an attempt to identify features argued by scholars to be indicative of a site having been used for religious purposes. Finally, the third level of analysis involves a comparative discussion of the evidence from the sites in question with that of other supposed Phoenician-Punic religious sites throughout the Mediterranean, in order to attempt to determine their function in a more conclusive way. This study highlights recurring issues relating to the interpretation of archaeological sites as religious places without following a clear interpretative framework, but rather by relying on past understandings of Phoenician-Punic religious site features and practices through comparisons with sites elsewhere.