World Archaeology: Excavating a Punic-Roman port city on Sardinia

World Archaeology spotlights a UC-based excavation at Tharros by UC archaeologist Steven Ellis

a man wearing a blue shirt and tan pants stands in front of roman ruins

An archaeological project in the Punic-Roman city of Tharros on the western shores of Sardinia led by Steven Ellis, an associate professor of classics at the University of Cincinnati, is highlighted in the current edition of World Archaeology magazine. The project, based out of UC’s Department of Classics, involves excavations targeting the underexplored city’s residential and retail quarters in search of what the once bustling port town can reveal about the socio-economic fabric of Punic and Roman life at the time. The team is especially interested in identifying the town’s diet and urban consumption, social stratigraphy and the motivations behind urban investment, as well as civic infrastructure.  

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