Nora nel V secolo: dall’emporio fenicio alla colonia cartaginese

Abstract: This paper stems from research carried out in Nora over the past decade and presents new evidence that sheds light on the life of the settlement during the 5th century BC. Archaeological evidence shows that the Phoenician emporium that thrived between the 7th and 6th century was substantially transformed at the beginning of the 5th century. In that period, new masonry buildings and ritual structures appeared, as well as the tofet and rock-cut inhumation chambers. These devel-opments are clearly matched by the detailed analysis of the huge amount of pottery collected during the excavations that have been dated between the end of the 7th and the 3rd century BC. The numbers point to a dramatic decrease of pottery in use in Nora at the beginning of the V century. Both the settlement and the ceramic evidence can be connected to the development of the Phoenician center after 550 BC, which involved structural and functional changes in the transition from a small trading post to an urban centre with agrarian interests.