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Aging cremated infants: the problem of sacrifice at the Tophet of Carthage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

P. Smith ,
G. Avishai ,
J.A. Greene  and
L.E. Stager
P. Smith*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Bio-anthropology and Ancient DNA, Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry, Hadassah-Ein Karem, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91120, Israel (Email: [email protected]; [email protected])
G. Avishai
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Bio-anthropology and Ancient DNA, Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry, Hadassah-Ein Karem, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91120, Israel (Email: [email protected]; [email protected])
J.A. Greene
Affiliation:
Semitic Museum, FAS Near Eastern Languages, 6 Divinity Avenue, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA (Email: [email protected]; [email protected])
L.E. Stager
Affiliation:
Semitic Museum, FAS Near Eastern Languages, 6 Divinity Avenue, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA (Email: [email protected]; [email protected])
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Extract

The Greeks and Romans reproached the Phoenicians for the sacrifice of infants, and the excavation of cremated infants at ‘Tophets’ (named after the sacrificial site in Jerusalem mentioned in the Bible) seems to bear this out. However, the argument for infant sacrifice depends largely on a skewed age profile, and age is not easy to determine. The authors approach this problem with a battery of new techniques, showing that in the Tophet of Carthage the majority of the infants died between one and one and a half months. Sacrifice was thus very probable.

Keywords

CarthageTophetcremationinfant burialsage estimationsdeciduous teeth
Type
Debate
Information
Antiquity , Volume 85 , Issue 329 , September 2011 , pp. 859 - 874
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2011

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