Phoenician and Punic exploitation of territory and resources : agriculture as a case study

Abstract

Before the theoretical shifts in archaeology which took place during the latter half of the twentieth century, the priority of Phoenician and Punic research was focused on civic or religious centres, while debates were mostly concerned with issues of expansion and colonisation processes. The rural aspect of the Phoenician and Punic culture remained generally understudied, especially since research was mostly driven by historical documents, where the rural view hardly ever features. It is only in the last decades that the potential of Phoenician and Punic landscape studies is being re-assessed and explored by several authors. Recent archaeological research has shown how landscape is indispensable for the formation of societies since it provides for their social and economic needs Thus, a study on exploitation of territory and resources will provide better insight on cultural identity and how the environment reflects on social and political changes. Given that agriculture lies at the basis of this interchange between humans and their environment, agricultural practices may reveal different forms of exploitation of the available natural resources. The recent publication by Peter van Dommelen and Carlos Gómez Bellard presents a view on Punic landscapes based on archaeological data. Taking this publication, namely Rural landscapes of the Punic world, as a point of departure, this research will seek to identify archaeological indicators for agricultural practices in order to understand what type of agricultural exploitation was undertaken in the Phoenician and Punic world.