image: Utica. North view from the promontory to the Great Baths and the ancient marine bay. view more
Credit: Elisa Pleuger
Researchers report evidence of lead-silver mining in Carthage during the Punic wars, which may have conferred economic strength during and after the wars. The Punic wars, in which the powers of Carthage and Rome battled for the Western Mediterranean between 264 and 146 BC, are well-documented. However, the factors that allowed Carthage to display economic resilience against the Romans are poorly understood, in particular the role of mineral resources available in Carthage during the wars. Hugo Delile and colleagues analyzed sediment cores from Utica, Tunisia at the outflow region of the Medjerda watershed. Around half of the 147 samples taken from the eight cores contained elevated levels of lead, linked by multiple lines of evidence to tailings likely derived from lead-silver mining. Mining activity appears to have begun in the middle of the 4th century BC, around the time of the Greco-Punic wars, and coincides with the first minting of Punic coins at Carthage. The mining is probably linked to the development of Punic coinage and the increasing monetization of the Carthage economy. According to the authors, the availability of lead-silver mines within Carthage's North African territory enabled Carthage to pay massive war reparations and support further warfare against Rome even after the loss of its silver-rich territories in southern Spain.
Article #18-21015: "Economic resilience of Carthage during the Punic Wars: Insights from sediments of the Medjerda delta around Utica (Tunisia)," by Hugo Delile et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Hugo Delile, Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon, FRANCE; tel: +33 (0)4 72 71 58 44, +336 82 73 66 53; e-mail: hugo.delile@mom.fr
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Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences