YouTube
Sign up

Utica Ancient City

Utica

Tunisia · Bizerte

Ancient cityIntermittent excavation
Approximate period850 BCE — 700 CEPhoenician, Punic, Roman and Byzantine periods See on the map ↓

In brief

Utica was a Phoenician and Roman city located near the area where the Medjerda River flowed into the sea in antiquity. Excavations and geophysical surveys are examining the city's settlement layout, economy and relationship with the ancient coastline.

What was found?

  • 1Enclosure wall of the Archaic Phoenician structure

    This is a wall remnant belonging to an early Phoenician building complex. It allows investigation of the boundaries of the earlier settlement beneath the Roman city.

  • 2Punic house floor

    This is a house floor that researchers provisionally date to the 3rd–2nd centuries BC. It provides a tangible trace of domestic life during the Punic period.

  • 3Foundation platform of large blocks

    This is a foundation platform constructed from large stone blocks. According to researchers, it may have supported the enclosure wall of a 4th-century BC temple.

  • 4Possible street remains

    This is a passage thought to have defined the edge of the Phoenician-Punic building block. Its interpretation as a street contributes to reconstructing the early urban layout.

  • 5Traces of metalworking and a pottery kiln

    Remains of production activities document the settlement’s economic life. The pottery production kiln is associated with the 6th–4th centuries BC.

What does it point to?

The layers at Utika reveal a long history extending from the early Phoenician settlement to Punic urban life. Houses, monumental buildings, and traces of production show that local craft activities existed alongside trade connections.

What did it teach us?

  1. It documents through archaeological finds that the Phoenician settlement dates back to the 9th century BC.
  2. It shows that urban space was organized according to principles of a right-angled layout.
  3. It shows that monumental buildings and production activities can be traced within the history of the same settlement.

Images

Floor in ancient Utica 06
Kritzolina · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Barnes Avenue - Utica, New York - 5337523870
Dougtone · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Record

Culture
Phoenician-Punic and Roman
Team / historical
Tunus Ulusal Miras Enstitüsü ile İngiliz ve İspanyol ortak araştırma projeleri
Coordinates
37.0569°, 10.0619°

Sources

  1. ora.ox.ac.uk
  2. rodin.uca.es
  3. en.wikipedia.org
  4. Fundación Palarq — Utika Kazı Projesi

Nearby excavations


—
—
12.000

From beneath the soil: latest discoveries

  • Older stone monument found beneath Viking ship burial in Norway

    A cairn bordered by large stones was uncovered beneath the Viking ship burial at Grønhaug. According to researchers, the structure may be a Bronze Age burial monument; precise dating will show how much time passed before the site was reused.

    HeritageDaily ↗
  • Teotihuacan writing signs interpreted in cave paintings in Mexico

    A reexamination of known paintings in a cave near Chalcatzingo identified signs related to place names and warfare dating to the 4th–6th centuries AD. According to researchers, these suggest that ceremonies commemorating fallen warriors were held at this sacred site outside Teotihuacan.

    HeritageDaily ↗
  • 11,000-year-old experiments with fired clay vessels identified at Çemka Höyük

    Analysis of clay fragments excavated at Çemka Höyük in Mardin showed that deliberately fired vessels, coatings and vessel attachments were produced about 11,000 years ago. According to researchers, the finds document a phase when different materials and techniques were being tried before pottery became widespread.

    Arkeofili ↗
  • Glass vessel and precious ornaments found in monumental Hun tomb in Mongolia

    A lacquered chariot, jade objects, crystal ornaments and a glass vessel were found in a large Asian Hun tomb at the Duurlig Nars cemetery. According to researchers, some objects suggest connections with the Roman world and the Korean Peninsula; the glass vessel’s place of production has not yet been confirmed.

    Archaeology Magazine ↗
  • Sanctuary of Asklepios described in ancient text located at Epidauros

    Excavations near the small theater identified a religious complex containing a fountain, a water reservoir and a portico, along with a pottery fragment bearing the name Asklepios. According to researchers, the findings identify the sanctuary within the city described by the traveler Pausanias about 1,800 years ago.

    HeritageDaily ↗
  • More than 100 Avar-period graves excavated in Romania

    Human and horse burials, spears and jewelry dating to the 7th–8th centuries were uncovered at the Vadverem cemetery in Transylvania. The finds provide important data for studying the community’s burial customs, while its relationship with nearby salt sources is being investigated.

    HeritageDaily ↗
  • Possible hunting poison residues identified on stone points in Saudi Arabia

    More than 5,500 stone artifacts and chemical residues associated with a poisonous plant on some points were identified at Uruq Aljelibah; according to researchers, these may indicate complex hunting technologies. Although the lakeshore dates to 125,000 years ago, the age of the tools collected from the surface and the deliberate use of poison have not yet been established.

    Live Science ↗
  • Metal rings used in the slave trade found in shipwreck off Sweden

    Two metal rings used as a means of payment in the slave trade and part of a carefully made leather shoe were found aboard the Danish ship Havmanden, which sank in 1683. Rare in Scandinavia, the rings provide tangible evidence of the ship’s connection to Danish colonialism and the slave trade.

    Live Science ↗

    All excavation sites (485)

    Türkiye

    Federated States of Micronesia

    Belize

    Honduras

    North Macedonia

    Sri Lanka