Abul
Besides the island of Ilha do Pessegueiro, Abul is the only Phoenician trading post to be discovered on the west coast of Portugal . It is located in the estuary of the Rio Sado , near Alcácer do Sal , in the Setúbal district, southeast of Setúbal .
The excavations that have been going on since the 1990s produced the floor plans of a two-phase building complex. The course of the wall of the oldest system could not be determined. In the second phase, an area of around 500 m² was surrounded by a 1.0 to 1.5 m thick wall, to which smaller rooms adjoined. In their center was a probably roofed courtyard with a large central building measuring 7.4 × 7.7 m. In each of its walls there were openings about four meters wide, so that only the corner areas were closed. In contrast to the outer walls, which were all made of uncut limestone , the corners of the central building were made of green slate .
F. Mayet and MC Tavares da Silva interpret this building complex as a Phoenician marketplace. Storage rooms or shops surrounded a courtyard with a free-standing hall in which business was conducted.
In the second construction phase, the complex was expanded, whereby the basic pattern was retained. In the middle of the hall, however, a square installation measuring 1.4 × 1.25 m can now be seen. A heap of rubbish from Roman times was found above the Phoenician settlement, as the finds from Terra Sigillata Italica show.
The establishment has links to the Gades colony based on ceramic finds . According to the finds, the building complex was in the first half of the 7th century BC. Founded and abandoned at the beginning of the 6th century. Mainly ceramic fragments were found, which are typical for Phoenician places on the Spanish south and the Moroccan Atlantic coast. The amphorae represent the 8th to the 6th century BC. Common goods. There was also pottery with a characteristic red coating, including wide-rimmed plates.
See also
literature
- F. Mayet, C. Tavares da Silva: L'établissement d'Abul (Portugal) In: CRAJ 1994 pp. 171-188.
- F. Mayet, C. Tavares da Silva: Le site phénicien d'Abul (Portugal) : Comptoir et sanctuaire 2001
- F. Mayet, C. Tavares da Silva: L'atelier d'amphores d'Abul (Portugal) . Paris 2002.
- Thomas G. Schattner (Ed.): Archaeological guide through Portugal (= cultural history of the ancient world . Vol. 74). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1998, ISBN 3-8053-2313-1 p. 158
Web links
Coordinates: 38 ° 25 ′ 42 " N , 8 ° 40 ′ 54.3" W.