Una nueva estampilla púnica procedente de las excavaciones de la biblioteca municipal de Mértola (Portugal)

Interrogantes y perspectivas en el estudio del sellado anfórico occidental

Abstract

The excavations carried out during 2006 at the site of the Municipal Library of Mértola (Portugal) made it possible to examine for the first time unaltered deposits dating to the end of the Iron Age and the early Roman era. The latter are mostly rubbish dumps and large layers of debris associated with the city's primitive wall. A large number of remains were unearthed, mainly ceramics, which allow us to study the commercial dynamics and the lifestyle of its citizens. Among the amphorae, there is also a large unpublished set of Punic, Italic and even Greek stamps and tituli picti, including a unique example from Cadiz Bay. This stamp shows both figures and epigraphy, a unicum within the Western Punic amphora sealing habits and an exemplary masterpiece for understanding the regional development of this phenomenon.