Preliminary Results of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Geophysical Prospection at the Neo-Punic/Roman Period Site of Zita, Tunisia

Summary

During the summer of 2016, preliminary geophysical prospection survey using ground penetrating radar (GPR) was conducted at the Neo-Punic and Roman period site of Zita, Tunisia. Since the time available for the fieldwork was limited to two weeks, the survey focused on examining specific areas of the site to document certain architectural features, and in several locations where industrial activities were known to have occurred based on previous limited excavations. Additionally, a region identified as a "tophet", a sacred burial precinct for infants, was examined during the survey. Goals for the GPR survey were different in each area examined, and the results will aid in future excavations and paleoecological reconstructions.

Results from all survey areas will be briefly mentioned, but the paper will emphasize two main target areas. Two industrial sectors were surveyed, where iron metallurgy was practiced, and total slag volumes are estimated to assess the ecological legacy of the industry. A second area of emphasis was the "tophet" burial precinct, for which the GPR survey produced unexpectedly clear results that enable analysis of the mortuary landscape. Implications of all the results will be briefly discussed, and directions for future GPR survey and excavation will be presented.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20478