RESUMENSe presentan los primeros resultados del proyecto de investigación tunecino-español en Utica (Túnez). En concreto se estudia un complejo formado por un pozo de agua vinculado a un edificio excavado en parte. El pozo posiblemente fue clausurado y cegado de forma ritual. El contenido de su interior ha aportado, además de abundantes restos faunísticos, un depósito de cerámicas fenicias, griegas geométricas, sardas, libias, villanovianas y tartesias, principalmente formado por vajilla de mesa y ánforas, que testimonian tempranas redes de intercambio fenicias en el Mediterráneo Central y Occidental así como un temprano asentamiento fenicio. Las dataciones de C14 obtenidas con semillas del interior del pozo aportan una cronología hacia 925-900 cal AC al conjunto material, idéntica a las de tempranos asentamientos fenicios en la Península Ibérica como Huelva, El Carambolo y La Rebanadilla. En conjunto definen el horizonte más antiguo de la colonización fenicia en el Mediterráneo Central y Occidental. ABSTRACT This paper presents the first results of the TunisianSpanish research project in Utica (

In the paper are presented the results of a faunal set from the recent excavations at the Phoenician colony of Utica (Tunis). The set is composed by 536 fragments of bones found in an abandoned Phoenician water pit, filled intentionally with bones of consumed animals, drinking cups, plates, and bowls, as well as amphorae of Phoenician, Geometric Greek, Sardinian and Lybic productions. The hypothesis is that the well possibly was filled with the remains of a ritual banquet in which oxen, caprinae, pigs, horse and domestic dog were consumed. Another species such as turtle and African elephant complete this ancient faunal set. C14 dating samples from the deposit points to the last quarter of cal 10th century BCE to the middle of cal 9th century BCE, as the initial period of Phoenician presence in the Western and Central Mediterranean. So the faunal remains are for the moment the oldest in a Phoenician settlement in North Africa and Central Mediterranean area.

The initial Phoenician presence in the Iberian Peninsula dates to the ninth century bce with the foundation of small settlements along the southern coast. During the eighth and seventh centuries bce, the number of colonial settlements along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of Iberia began to increase rapidly. Phoenicians traded with indigenous populations, exchanging high-quality artisanal products for metals from Iberia. In addition, colonial settlers exploited their surrounding territory for agriculture and animal husbandry. They also took advantage of marine resources such as fishing. The colonial population was socially stratified and included individuals of indigenous origin who worked in the various industries, as well as women who intermarried with foreigners. Around the beginning of the sixth century bce, the colonial population was restructured: the western Phoenicians organized themselves into city-states, a process that is recorded in the ancient written sources. They maintained commercial relations with the indigenous Iberians and with Carthaginians, Greeks, and Etruscans. In the final part of the third century bce, these cities allied with Carthage in the fight against Rome. Following Rome’s success in the Punic Wars and conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the cities were required to pay tribute to Rome, except the city of Gades/Gadir (Cádiz), which maintained a foedus. The elite Phoenician citizens underwent a process of integration with the Roman Empire, eventually obtaining municipal status for their cities, some under Julius Caesar and others later during the Flavian period.

Resumen: Cortijo Riquelme es un depósito arqueológico del Bronce Final e inicios de la Edad del Hierro del Sureste de la Península Ibérica asimilable a los denominados "fondos de cabaña": una interpretación tradicional recientemente rechazada en diversos estudios críticos. Siguiendo estas propuestas, en el artículo se efectúa un análisis del contenido del depósito mencionado, formado principalmente por cerámicas locales y fenicias importadas de gran antigüedad, que muestran la introducción del vino fenicio y del servicio para consumirlo, como resultado de las relaciones entre autóctonos y colonizadores fenicios. Se efectúa una comparación con otros contextos similares que se distribuyen por el Sur de la Península Ibérica desde finales de la Edad del Bronce, aunque la mayoría datan de los primeros siglos del i milenio a. C. coincidiendo con la colonización fenicia. Otros depósitos mediterráneos de Creta, Chipre, Sicilia y el Norte de África relacionados con banquetes colectivos ayudan a proponer una interpretación para el depósito de Cortijo Riquelme y otros del mismo tipo en los que la amortización ritual de los recipientes usados en banquetes contribuirían a la formación de los depósitos, en un contexto de incremento de la competición de las élites autóctonas en procesos de diferenciación social.Palabras clave: i milenio a. C.; se de Iberia; contextos de depósito; banquetes rituales; población autóctona; colonización fenicia.Abstract: Cortijo Riquelme is a Late Bronze and Early Iron Age's archaeological dump in the South East of the Iberian Peninsula which belongs to the so called pithouses. This traditional interpretation has been rejected by recent critical studies. Following this positions, the paper analyzes the mentioned dump, which mainly contained Late Bronze and very ancient Phoenician imported pottery, showing the introduction of Phoenician wine and the service for its consumption. A comparison is done with other similar dumps distributed in the South of the Iberian peninsula from Late Bronze Age, though the majority are dated during the early centuries if the 1 st millennium bc, coinciding with the Phoenician colonization. Another Mediterranean dumps from

Long characterised as merchants in pursuit of metals, the Phoenician settlers on the Iberian peninsula are here given an alternative profile. The author shows that a new aristocracy, visible in the archaeology of both cemeteries and settlements, was engaged in winning a social advancement denied it at home in the east. In particular, the Egyptian alabaster vases found in Spain, far from being the products of pillage or trade, were appreciated as prestige objects which often ended their days as receptacles for high status cremations.