Chimtou Ancient City and Marble Quarries

Chimtou / Simitthus

Tunisia · Jendouba

Ancient cityIntermittent excavation
Approximate period800 BCE — 1,200 CEFrom approximately the 8th century BC to the Middle Ages See on the map ↓

In brief

Simitthus is an ancient city investigated together with the quarries where yellow Numidian marble was extracted. Excavations have also documented houses and production activities that developed around the Roman buildings in later centuries.

What was found?

  • 1Marble extraction traces

    Extraction traces preserved on quarry surfaces show how Numidian marble was worked. This yellow stone was sent to different regions of the Mediterranean.

  • 2Quarry camp

    The barracks and enclosed work area on the northern slope of the quarries document the organization of labor in the Roman period. The source mentions enslaved people and people sentenced to labor in the mines who worked here under military supervision.

  • 3Votive reliefs to Saturnus

    The votive reliefs on the sacred hill are tangible traces of worship of the African-Roman god Saturnus. They show the quarry area's connection with religious life.

  • 4Medieval houses and silos

    Single-story houses and storage silos were built in the former forum and temple-basilica area. These remains show that ancient public spaces were reused by the later settlement.

  • 5Polychrome glazed ceramics

    The lead-rich glazes of the ceramics examined were colored with copper, iron and manganese. Analyses reveal the different methods potters used to color and opacify glazes.

What does it point to?

Şimtu was a center where stone production was intertwined with imperial administration, forced labor and worship. Medieval houses and ceramics show that the site later continued to be inhabited within a different pattern of settlement and consumption.

What did it teach us?

  1. They showed that marble production involved more than cutting stone; it required labor, accommodation and military supervision.
  2. They revealed that the ancient forum and religious buildings were converted into housing and storage areas in the Middle Ages.
  3. They showed that similar appearances in glazed ceramics could be achieved through different production techniques.

Latest news / selected archive

The 2022 excavations revealed stratified medieval settlement remains northeast of the forum and in the temple-basilica complex.

Record

Culture
Numidian, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic-period Ifriqiyan cultures
Team / historical
Philipp von Rummel and Moheddine Chaouali; DAI and Tunisia's National Heritage Institute
Coordinates
36.4919°, 8.5761°

Sources

  1. whc.unesco.org
  2. link.springer.com

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12.000

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