Protohistoric Majorca and Minorca on the Punic Outskirts: Approaching Balearic Colonial Dialectic through Domestic Spaces

Abstract

The phenomena of colonial contact have been central to the history of research in protohistoric archaeology. The forms and results of these processes have been analysed through the material culture from tombs and large settlements, their defences, and iconographies, all of which are linked by snippets of written sources. This article deals with the problematic of the Balearic archipelago in the protohistoric period, when Punic Ibiza deployed an entire commercial policy as a spearhead for Carthage which absorbed a large part of the western Mediterranean. Meanwhile, in Majorca and Minorca, the autochthonous groups, foreseeably isolated from external influences, began to manifest a series of changes and transformations that are not understood within the traditional framework of the colonial debate. Therefore, these interactions are explored through the dialectics of everyday life, an approach that places the emphasis on individuals and domestic groups and their dwellings.