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Title: The Chapelle Cintas Revisited and the Tophet of Carthage between Ancestors and New Identities
Author(s): ORSINGHER, Adriano
Journal: BABESCH
Volume: 93    Date: 2018   
Pages: 49-74
DOI: 10.2143/BAB.93.0.3284845

Abstract :
One of the most interesting contexts investigated so far at Carthage is the so-called Chapelle Cintas, located within the area of the Tophet sanctuary, which comprises some scant architectural remains and two mostly ceramic assemblages. However, the relationship between this evidence and the sacred area has often been questioned, along with other issues such as the chronology and interpretation of the architecture and the finds. After exploring the archaeological data, I argue that the newcomers to Carthage deliberately chose to found this sanctuary in an area where previous architectural remains and other evidence were still visible, according to a pattern also known from the Tophets at Sulky, Motya and Tharros. On this occasion, and again later, special rituals were performed in this part of the sanctuary, where some cult instruments were also buried. This low mound not only emerges as an appropriate space to emphasize a connection with the ancestors and the homeland, but also to negotiate and build the identity of the community and its newcomers.

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