Alcune riflessioni sulle più antiche testimonianze dai santuari fenici in Andalusia.

Abstract

Through the analysis of new published data from Southern Spain contexts, this paper presents an in-depth view about early phoenician’s sanctuaries in the area. Carambolo’s sanctuary, near Seville, and Gorham’s Cave in Gibraltar both provide traces as early as the end of the IX century b.C., showing that at these times the Phoenician’s presence in the area was not that sporadic as it was thought. Meanwhile, some context in Cadiz, Huelva and La Rebanadilla near Malaga, show the same chronology for the early phases of the urban settlement, even though there is no proof at the moment, of religious contexts from the same age. To sum up, it is underlined how information about the sanctuaries and the studies about the findings suggest that these religious places were used by both Phoenicians and Tartessian; is also proposed that the genesis of the typical taurodermic altar could be the result of the collaboration between the two ethnicities, as a symbol of their agreements.