Woman and child: The singular testimony of a Punic tomb in the necropolis of Monte Sirai (Carbonia-Sardinia, Italy)

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 29 (2020) 102095

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Woman and child: The singular testimony of a Punic tomb in the necropolis of Monte Sirai (Carbonia-Sardinia, Italy)

T

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Giampaolo Pigaa,b, , Rosana Pla Orquínb, Michele Guirguisb, David Gonçalvesa,c,d, Carlos Pimentac, Joao Pedro Teresoe,f,g, Antonio Brunettih a

Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal DISSUF–Department of History, Human Sciences and Education, University of Sassari, Italy c Archaeosciences Laboratory, Directorate General for Cultural Heritage (LARC/CIBIO/InBIO), Portugal d Research Centre for Anthropology and Health (CIAS), Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal e Centre for Archaeology. UNIARQ. School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon, Portugal f MHNC– UP –Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto, Portugal g InBIO– Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology (Associate Laboratory), CIBIO – Research Center In Biodiversity and Genetic Resources/University of Porto, Portugal h Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, Italy b

A R T I C LE I N FO

A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Punic period Funerary rites Combusted infant Turdidae family birds

In this paper we present a case of a double burial (T.310/326) from the Phoenician Punic necropolis of Monte Sirai (Carbonia, Sardinia, Italy). This peculiar tomb, which comprises the inhumation of a woman, presents unique constructive features, namely a big stone cover that confers a high visual reference to the necropolis. Furthermore, a cooking pot with two handles was laid on the tibias during the final closure of the tomb which included remains from at least three birds of the Turdidae family. Strikingly, these remains were mixed with those from a perinatal infant who could possibly constitute the progeny of the woman buried in the tomb. The combined XRD/FT-IR analysis showed that the infant remains underwent intense heat treatment, while the adult and bird remains remained unburned. This urned infant burial involving perinatal and animal remains has close analogies with practices of infant depositions in the contemporaneous Phoenician and Punic tophet sanctuaries of the central Mediterranean.

1. Introduction 1.1. Archaeological setting The archaeological site of Monte Sirai comprises a hill-top settlement located in the South-Western part of Sardinia near the city of Carbonia (see Fig. 1a and b). Excavations at the site were conducted for the first time between 1963 and 1966 and then again from 1980 to the present time. Archaeological evidence indicates that Monte Sirai was founded by Phoenicians in the last quarter of the 8th century BCE, and was totally abandoned during the 1st century BCE when Sardinia was already under Roman nomination (Bartoloni 2000; Guirguis 2005; 2010; 2012; 2013). The habitat (so-called acropolis), which corresponds to the main sector of the settlement, is located in the southern portion of the hill. The site comprises two other sectors: the tophet sanctuary, located in the northern part of the site, and the large necropolis located in the valley ⁎

separating the settlement from the tophet sanctuary (see Fig. 2). The necropolis of Monte Sirai was one of the largest Phoenician and Punic burial sites in Sardinia and was used between the end of the 7th century BCE and the first half of the 4th century BCE. The period for which more burials are recorded coincides with the Carthaginian hegemony in Sardinia (from the second half of the 6th century BCE). Currently, a large part of the necropolis has been excavated and the different areas brought to light so far, which are separate from each other, point to a somewhat long diachronic use of this large burial area. During the early development of the necropolis (i.e., from the end of the 7th century BCE to the first half of the 6th century BCE), some variety in funerary rites was adopted among which primary cremation was predominant. By primary cremation we mean cremation used as the first funerary practice. The rite of inhumation started to be adopted early in the 6th century BCE in concurrence to cremation, later becoming the prevailing funerary rite (Guirguis 2010; 2011). A recent study proposed the existence of a peculiar rite involving incomplete

Corresponding author at: Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal. E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Piga).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.102095 Received 16 September 2019; Received in revised form 5 November 2019; Accepted 11 November 2019 2352-409X/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Fig. 1. a) The location of the Sardinia island; b) Main Phoenician and Punic sites in Sardinia; Monte Sirai is indicated as a red dot.

Fig. 2. Subdivision in three areas of the Monte Sirai necropolis: tophet, necropolis and a large settlement (called acropolis).

cremation and inhumation, designated as ‘semi-combustion’ or ‘semicremation’ (Piga et al., 2010). This particular rite was used in the early Punic age, towards the last decade of the 6th century BCE and the beginning of the 5th centuries BC (between the Phoenician and Punic periods), and was identified in a group of tombs located in the most peripheral sector of the necropolis. It seems to be an intermediate rite between the traditional cremation custom of Phoenician origin and the inhumation practice introduced by the Carthaginians (Guirguis et al.

2015; Piga et al. 2010). The fossae graves found so far have provided exceptional data on mortuary practices, and have placed the Monte Sirai site among the most important Phoenician and Punic sites in the central Mediterranean (Guirguis and Pla Orquín 2015; Guirguis et al. 2015; 2017; 2018a; 2018b; Piga et al. 2015; 2016; Matisoo–Smith et al. 2018).

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these tombs, and the different mortuary treatment apparently reflect a relevant social significance of these particular individuals. The objective of this paper is to confirm the diversity of funerary practices adopted in the T.310/326 burial. In order to ascertain, with objective tools, whether all the bodies were subjected to burning and, if so, to what extent, representative samples of bones recovered from the tombs were investigated both by X–ray powder diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy coupled with attenuated total reflectance (ATR–IR). These techniques are able to approximately estimate the fire treatment intensity to which bones have been subjected. Both XRD and ATR–IR techniques can be used to assess the nature of the crystal structure of burned bone, and this in turn can be related to the temperature or intensity of burning. The XRD approach correlates crystal size with maximum temperature (Piga et al., 2008; 2009), while the ATR–IR method does the same through correlation of the maximum temperature with the crystallinity index (CI) and other ratios (Piga et al., 2010; Thompson et al., 2009; Gonçalves et al., 2018). Both approaches have been used in many experimental studies and are now being increasingly applied to archaeological sites and contexts. Their application is gradually becoming more accepted and getting more sophisticated, and are currently contributing for a more comprehensive interpretation of ancient funerary practices (Guirguis et al., 2015; Piga et al., 2010; 2015; 2016). 2. Material and methods 2.1. Bone and vegetable materials The sex of the adult skeleton was estimated by using morphological criteria based on the pelvis and the skull (Buikstra and Ubelaker, 1994; Ferembach et al., 1979; Cox and Mays, 2000; Ubelaker, 1989). For the age-at-death estimation of the adult skeleton, methods based on changes in the auricular surface of the ilium (Lovejoy et al., 1985), pubic symphysis (Brooks and Suchey, 1990) and sternal ends of ribs (Íşçan et al., 1985) were applied. Secondarily, cranial suture closure (Meindl and Lovejoy, 1985) was taken into account. Stature was calculated from the physiological length of the femur of both extremities using Mendonça formulae (Mendonça, 2000). The age-at-death of infant remains was attempted via the recommendations and reference values from Scheuer and Black (2000) and Kosa and Castellana (2004) for the temporal bone and neural arches, respectively. The bird remains had been previously separated from non-bird remains. They presented an overlay composed of the original depositional sediment and partially displayed black stains possibly representing manganese oxide. The bones were washed with water and cleaned with a soft brush to enable their clear and detailed observation, in particular focusing on the proximal and distal joints which are more useful for taxonomic identification. The washing was carried out on a Petri dish and the sediment was entirely recovered after water evaporation. All the remains were observed through a binocular magnifying glass Olympus SZ 60. Taxonomic identifications were attained with the support of the bird comparative osteological collection housed at the Archaeosciences Laboratory (LARC) (Moreno García et al., 2003; Pimenta and Moreno García, 2004). Respectively, the recommendations of Baumel et al. (1979) and Driesch (1976) were followed for osteological nomenclature and osteometric examination. The Phalanx I (Phalange digitalis majoris) measurements were taken via a digital microscope Dino-Lite Edge Digital Microscope AM7915MZTL. To establish the relative frequency of the remains in the assemblage, the minimum number of individuals (MNI) was calculated by using the most represented diagnostic osteological feature, taking laterality into account (Lyman, 1994). Carpological materials were observed under a stereomicroscope (Nikon SMZ800) with up to 126 magnifications. Identification was carried out by comparison with the reference collections of the

Fig. 3. a) large limestone slab (broken into two parts) which acted as a tomb sign; b) skeletal remains inside the grave; four piers were used to support the lithic slab employed as cover; note the pot placed above the individual's tibias; c) plan drawing of the burial.

1.2. The T.310/326 burial The T.310 burial involves the inhumation of an adult individual inside a tomb which presents unique constructive features in the necropolis. Four blocks placed vertically inside the tomb originally held a large limestone slab, which at the time of the discovery appeared broken into two parts (see Fig. 3a). The lithic cover, well polished and with an ellipsoidal profile, emerged from the ground and served as a tomb sign, thus underlining a marked relevance of this tomb in the funerary landscape of the Monte Sirai necropolis. Only one funerary good has been found, a trefoil jug deposited in the right corner of the fossa. On top of the tibias of the adult individual, a large cooking pot was laid during the final closure of the tomb. The pot, wheel made with local clays, showed signs of blackening both on the outer and inner surfaces; this type of cooking pot, with two handles and straight rounded rim is largely used as a urn in the local tophet sanctuary founded in the mid-5th century BCE or during its second half and also documented in other sites of the Sulcis region (Bartoloni, 2017). The micro-excavation of the pot contents has led to the recognition of bone fragments related to small birds mixed with a perinatal infant (T.326) (see Fig. 4). Not far from the tomb (at 1,30 m to the West from the pit), in an adjacent area without graves, a concentration of several seeds located at the same level of the upper limit of the grave was recovered. The uniqueness of the grave structure, its high visibility in the funerary landscape, the investment of energy and labour in the construction of 3

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Fig. 4. a-c) different views of the restored cooking pot used as funerary urn in the T310/326 burial; d) bone remains inside the pot during the excavation.

The Rietveld method (Rietveld, 1967) is based on an iterative bestfit strategy of experimental data. We used the MAUD (Material Analysis Using Diffraction) program which simulates the pattern by incorporating the instrument function and convolving the crystallographic model based on the knowledge of chemical composition and space group with selected texture and microstructure models (Lutterotti, 2010). The program permits a selection of variables for the least squares minimization such as lattice parameters of the unit cell, atomic positions, temperature factors, occupancy of the sites, an/isotropic size and strain broadening. The success of the procedure is generally evaluated throughout a combination of integrated agreement factors (Rwp is the most considered) and distribution of residuals (Grazulis et al., 2009).

Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO) and the University of Porto Herbarium (PO). Radiocarbon dating of a skull sample belonging to the adult skeleton was performed at CEDAD (Center of Applied Physics, Dating and Diagnostics) c/o Department of Mathematics and Physics “Ennio de Giorgi”, University of Salento (Brindisi, Italy) using the OxCal Ver. 3.10® Software for calibration, based on atmospheric data.

2.2. XRD analysis In order to ascertain whether the bone remains belonging to T.310/ 326 grave were subjected to burning, 10 representative bone samples belonging to the adult individual, perinatal infant and birds were investigated by XRD. To evaluate the temperature to which bones were subjected, we used the methodology reported by Piga et al. (2008; 2009), which is based on a calibration of the heat treatment as a function of temperature and time by following the average grain size of hydroxylapatite biomineral phase determined from XRD data. A small fraction (190 mg) of powdered bones was deposited in a dedicated sample holder for XRD analysis with a circular cavity of 25 mm in diameter and 2 mm in depth. The XRD patterns were collected using Bruker D2–Phaser instrument working at a power of 30 Kv and 10 Ma in the Bragg–Brentano vertical alignment with a Cu–Ka tube emission (λ = 1.5418 Å). The width of divergent and antiscatter slits was 1 mm (0.61°). Primary and secondary axial Soller slits of 2.5° were also mounted with a linear detector LYNXEYE with 5° opening and a monochromatisation by Ni foil for the Kβ radiation. The powder patterns were collected in the angular range 9°–140° in 2θ with a step size of 0.05°. The collection time of each pattern was pursued for 47 min. Digitized diagrams were subjected to the analysis by the Highscore® and Match® programs which are able to locate the peak position in the 2θ reciprocal scale. The succession of peaks is compared with data from literature based on a search–match algorithm able to recognize the phase composition. The raw data were further analysed using the Rietveld approach for quantitative evaluation of phases.

2.3. ATR-IR analysis The ATR–IR approach has good potential for the identification of burned bones, particularly if the crystallinity index (CI) –also called Splitting Factor (SF) – values are interpreted in association with the carbonate/phosphate ratios according to Thompson et al. (2009; 2011), Squires et al. (2011) and Gonçalves et al. (2018). These investigations have mainly focused on the changes of hydroxylapatite crystals and on the heat–related variations of the CI. Four indices were investigated in this study and are summarized in Table 1. For temperature estimation, we referred to the work of Gonçalves et al. (2018). 3. Results 3.1. Human skeletal remains Skeletal preservation of adult individuals was good with all elements well represented and generally intact. The cranium was crushed resulting in some facial and maxillary distortion. Coxal bones and the sacrum presented typically female characteristics. Age-at-death was 4

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Table 1 Description of the indices used in this study to assess whether the bone samples were burned or not. Reproduced from Gonçalves et al. (2018) Index

Calculation

Crystallinity Index (CI)

(Abs (605 cm−1) + abs (565 cm−1)) Abs (595 cm−1)

Type B Carbonates (BPI)

Abs (1415 cm−1) Abs (605 cm−1)

Carbonates A + Carbonates B to Carbonate B (C/C) Amount of OH Groups (OH/P)

Abs (1450 cm−1) Abs (1415 cm−1)

Abs (630 cm−1) Abs (605 cm−1)

Description of Spectral Alterations

References

It increases up to 700–800 °C and then decreases at higher temperatures. Peak sharpening. Negative correlation with temperature increment.

Weiner and Bar-Yosef (1990) Sponheimer and Lee-Thorp (1999)Snoeck et al. (2014) Snoeck et al. (2014)Thompson et al. (2009) Thompson et al. (2013)Ellingham et al. (2015)Snoeck et al. (2014)

−1

It increases from 600 °C to 900 °C. The 1450 cm band intensity decreases with temperature increment. Relevant for samples heated above 700 °C. Positive correlation with increasing temperature. Absorbance peak at 630 cm−1

perinatal individual (Scheuer and Black, 2004). A more precise age at death was impossible. The only intact elements are the neural arches but, given that the remains most probably have been subjected to some heat–related funerary practice, this may have had an impact on skeletal metric features. Since changes can manifest themselves as either shrinkage or augmentation (Thompson, 2005), we have no certainties about the original metrics. Besides, age–related osteometric references for neural arches are lacking, even for unburned remains. Kosa and Castellana (2004) included images of unburned neural arches for 4 to 10 lunar months–old individuals in their paper. In comparison, the neural arches from the T.310/326 individual are slightly smaller than the ones reported for neonates, thus arguably pointing to an age between 8 and 10 lunar months. The adult skeleton was dated between 548 BCE and 357 BCE (87.5%; LTL17281A CEDAD reference code); see Fig. 6.

estimated to be 21–25 years old, based on the fusion of all epiphyses of the postcranial skeleton. The remains belonged to a young woman. The fusion line located at the ischium tuberosity, ischium pubic branches and iliac crest have all feminine traits. Stature was estimated between 146 and 149 cm. No bone pathology could be diagnosed. The infant skeletal remains from the pot found within the T.310/ 326 burial of the Monte Sirai necropolis were in very poor condition. Most bones were anatomically unidentifiable and refer to dyaphyseal fragments (n = 73). Among those that were indisputably recognizable, the assemblage included 2 fragments of temporal bone (subarcuate fossa), 5 fragments of ribs, and 10 neural arches (see Fig. 5). Fragments of possible humerus and femur were also present. The remains showed little sign of taphonomic activity except for black stained spots which can have varied causes – e.g. oxide manganese; colour staining from charcoals and heat–induced colour change (Shipman et al., 1984; Shahack–Gross et al., 1997; López-González et al., 2006; Arroyo et al., 2008; Walker et al., 2008). The assemblage contains the remains of at least one individual with an age consistent with a full–term pregnancy. Due to the bones poor condition, few diagnostic features are available for age at death estimation. The development of the subarcuate fossa was compatible with a

3.2. Study of birds remains The total sample was composed of 66 bones, 30 of which were anatomically identified (see Table 2). The main wing (Fig. 7a) and paw (Fig. 7b) bones were present, although all except the four Phalanges I were fragmented. Their morphological and metric features correspond to specimens of the Passeriformes order. The comparison with the LARC Passeriformes reference collection (Pimenta and Moreno García, 2012) identified it as members of either the Turdidae or Sturnidae families. The anatomical representation indicates the deposition of remains from three different birds. Namely, three ulnar left distal epiphyses and three left I phalanges were present (see Table 2). Atmospheric data from Reimer et al (2013);OxCal v3.10 Bronk Ramsey (2005); cub r:5 sd:12 prob usp[chron]

LTL17281A : 2353±45BP

2700BP

68.2% probability 506BC ( 2.2%) 501BC 489BC (66.0%) 383BC 95.4% probability 737BC ( 5.3%) 687BC 663BC ( 1.4%) 646BC 548BC (87.5%) 357BC 278BC ( 1.3%) 257BC

2600BP 2500BP 2400BP 2300BP 2200BP 2100BP 2000BP

1000CalBC

800CalBC

600CalBC

400CalBC

200CalBC

CalBC/CalAD

Calibrated date Fig. 5. Thoracic vertebrae from the infant individual belonging to the T310/ 326 burial.

Fig. 6. Calibration of the conventional radiocarbon date of the LTL17281A sample. 5

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Table 2 Bird remains found in the 310/326 tomb of Monte Sirai. Bone

Part

Side

N

Identification

Observations/Informations

1 Humerus 2 Humerus 3 Phalangedigitallismajoris 4 Phalange digitallismajoris 5 Phalange digitallismajoris 6 Phalange digitallismajoris 7 Scapula 8 Scapula 9 Coracoideum 10 Coracoideum 11 Radius 12 Radius 13 Ulna 14 Ulna 15 Ulna 16 Ulna 17 Ulna 18 Ulna 19 Ulna 20 Carpometacarpus 21 Carpometacarpus 22 Carpometacarpus 23 Carpometacarpus 24 Carpometacarpus 25 Carpometacarpus 26 Femur 27 Femur 28 Femur 29 Tibiotarsus 30 Tarsometatarsus 31 Tarsometatarsus 32 Tarsometatarsus 33 Pygostylus TOTAL IDENTIFIED REMAINS Fragments not identified TOTAL NUMBER OF REMAINS

d + ed ed c c c c ep + d ep + d ep + d ep ep + d d + ed ep + d ep + d d + ed d + ed d + ed d + ed d + ed ep + d ep + d ep + d d + ed d + ed d + ed ep ed ed ed ed d + ed ep c

L R L L L R L L L R R R R R R R L L L R R L R L L R L L R R L R –

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 33 33 66

Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp Turdussp

Proximal articulation deteriorated Distal articulation deteriorated in the caudal face NMI = 3

Proximal articulation deteriorated Proximal articulation deteriorated

NMI = 3

NI

2003). For this reason, they were intensively hunted and very appreciated, gastronomically speaking, since ancient times as is evidenced by written sources as the De re coquinaira written during the 1st century B.C by Apicius (Ornellas and Castro, 1996).

The fragmentation and deterioration of the articular joints complicated and turned the discrimination between Turdidae and Sturnidae of most bones into an unreliable procedure. Nonetheless, the morphological and metric features of the four I phalanges (Phalange digitalis majoris), namely the maximum length (Driesch, 1976) provided the criteria to establish that differentiation (Fig. 7c and d). Even accounting for intraspecific variability, the results allowed us to determine that the birds correspond to the Turdidae family which includes a varied amount of genera and species (Fig. 8), some of them being small–sized. For this reason, considering the particular features of our sample, the genera Eritachus, Luscinia e Saxicola, and Monticola were not taken into account. Four species of medium size from the genus Turdus as well as two species from the genus Sturnus that are frequently found in the Mediterranean region have been chosen for characterization and metric comparison of the two families (see Fig. 8). Wing bones were much more frequent in the assemblage than bone from the paws while cranial and axial bones alike were entirely absent. This contrast can be the result of differential preservation patterns due to the effect of taphonomic agents (Ericson, 1987). No signs of anthropic actions such as changes caused by fire, cutmarks, faunal activity or others have been observed. Summing up, the present sample comprises the remains of three bird specimens which, based on their morphological and metric features, correspond to the Turdidae family and, within the latter, to a group of species of smaller dimensions that are quite common in the Mediterranean regions – Turdusmerula / Turdusphilomelos / Turdusiliacus. While the former permanently resides within its distribution areas, the latter two are mainly migrant species that come from northern latitudes and form quite numerous bands during such migratory movements (Hageneijer and Blair, 1997; Mullarney et al.,

3.3. Carpological study Several fruits/seeds from two taxa were recovered near to the tomb. The carpological material was not carbonized nor mineralized and consisted of: Thirty seeds of Pistacialentiscus L. were identified – 19 intact and 11 slightly fragmented with fresh-looking fractures, suggesting fragmentation occurred recently, eventually during the archaeological intervention. Two seeds showed one small elliptical cavity measuring 1.25 mm * 0.80 mm and 0.85 mm * 0.60 mm. These are likely exit holes from seed predators (see Fig. 9a). Such kind of cavities has been previously documented in P. Lentiscus seeds recovered from birds’ faecal remains in SW Spain and were attributed to wasps from Chalcidoidea family (Jordano, 1989). Three endocarps of Oleaeuropaea, one intact and two fragmented in the apex were collected with visible differences in size. The intact stone was smaller and slimmer (6.00 mm × 2.50 mm) and one of the fragmented stones was at least 8.00 mm × 4.00 mm (Fig. 9 b). It is difficult to distinguish between olives from wild (Olea europaea L. var. sylvestris (Mill.) Hegi) and domesticated (Oleaeuropaea L. var. europaea) varieties based on the size of the endocarps. Some authors propose that endocarps above 10 mm come from cultivated individuals but a large variability has been recorded (see synthesis in: Buxó, 1997). Recent geometrical morphometric approaches suggest these measurements to be insufficient to properly separate wild and domesticated 6

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intentional. Both P. lentiscus and wild O. europaea are native from Sardinia. Individuals from these species can become tall shrubs or small trees and provide edible fruits. Fruits from P. lentiscus have been used for medicinal and veterinarian purposes (Landau et al., 2014). P. lentiscus and O. europaea seeds are usually dispersed by a wide variety of birds that eat the fruits and later excrete the seeds intact. In fact, a study as shown that P. lentiscus seeds largely survive digestion and maintain their viability (92,1%, according to Jordano, 1989). Some of the species that usually eat and disperse these seeds are from the Turdidae family recovered in the cooking pot (e.g. Turdus genus) (Jordano, 1989; Rey and Alcántara, 2000). 3.4. ATR–IR/ XRD analysis Table 3 gives the results of the XRD/ATR-IR analysis performed on 10 samples (4 diaphyseal fragments belonging to the perinatal infant, 3 to the female individual and 3 to the birds found in Tomb 326/310. The joint data analysis clearly suggests that the perinatal individual has undergone a heat treatment between 600 °C and 800 °C, while the remains of the woman and the bird remained unburned. In Fig. 10, three XRD patterns are reported. The pattern of the female individual indicated that the bone is essentially composed of hydroxylapatite (woman). The perinatal infant pattern shows peak profiles that are much narrower than the corresponding profiles shown in the woman and bird patterns, strongly suggesting that the perinatal infant was subjected to the action of fire, while the remains from of woman and the bird are merely composed of unburned bio-apatite. As for the phase purity, a small amount of calcite may be noticed in the bird's pattern, very likely of exogenous origin. This may be also true for the perinatal pattern, for which very weak traces (below significant quantities) of calcite and quartz may be appreciated. Three ATR–IR spectroscopic data of the same representative samples are presented in Fig. 11 for wave–number range Δν 400–4000 cm−1. It is possible to recognize three main groups of bands in ranges 500–700 cm−1, 1000–1200 cm−1 and 1400–1600 cm−1, which are generally assigned to the energy mode ν4 of phosphate groups, energy mode ν3 of phosphate groups and energy mode ν3 of carbonate groups, respectively. Also, the smaller bands at 875 cm−1 and 960 cm−1 have been attributed to ν2 CO32– mode (Ratner, 2004) and ν1 PO43- mode (Destainville et al., 2003), respectively. These carbonates bands assessed by spectroscopy may refer either to CO32– groups from calcite or to CO32– groups that are substituting for phosphate groups in the structure of hydroxylapatite. As mentioned above, it is customary to use the CI as a proxy of crystallinity which is calculated from the phosphate ν4band, (e.g: Weiner and Bar-Yosef, 1990; Stiner et al., 1995; Piga et al., 2010). Less crystalline specimens either show no distinctive feature or a mere shoulder at ca. 632 cm−1 which correspond to the libration of hydroxyl groups (Mamede et al., 2018). This is replaced by a further peak in specimens treated at higher temperatures. The presence and the intensity of this shoulder/peak thus indicates thermal treatments at different temperatures. In the previous calibration of ATR–IR spectra made by Piga et al. (2010), it was established that the appearance of the shoulder/peak at ca 632 cm−1 occurs at fire temperatures of ca 700 and persists until 1100 °C. Only the spectrum of the perinatal infant presents a shoulder at 632 cm−1; note also the peak at 3570 cm−1, visible for samples burned at 700 °C (Mamede et al., 2018) indicative of an intense heat treatment, in perfect agreement with what was observed through the XRD analysis.

Fig. 7. a) Wingbones (Left to right): Humerus Left side in cranial surface, Coracoideum (Coracoid) Left side in dorsal aspect, Scapula Left side in costal aspect, Ulna Right side in cranial aspect, Carpal and metacarpal (Carpometacarpus) Left side in ventral aspect, Phalange digitalis majoris (Phalanx 1) Left side in dorsal aspect; b) Legbones (Left to right): Femur. Right side in cranial aspect (proximal epiphysis), Tibiotarsus (below) Left side in cranial view (distal epiphysis), Tarsometatarsus (top) Right side in plantar aspect (proximal epiphysis), Tarsometatarsus (below) Left side in plantar aspect (diaphysis + distal epiphysis); c) Phalange digitallismajoris from Turdus sp (Left side in dorsal aspect). GL = Greatest length (Driesch 1976); d) Phalange digitallismajoris from Monte Sirai samples and the reference collection specimens from the Archaeosciences Laboratory. Sturnidae: 1 -STU UNI (Sturnus unicolor) – Spotless starling; 2 -STU VUL (Sturnus vulgaris) – common starling. Turdidae: 3 - TUR PIL (Turdus pilaris) – Fieldfare; 4 -TUR ILI (Turdusiliacus) – Redwing. 5 -TUR MER (Turdusmerula) – Eurasian blackbird. 6 - TUR PHI (Turdusphilomelos) – Song trush. Monte Sirai sample − 7 right side, 8, 9, 10 left side.

individuals (Terral et al. 2004) but the number of endocarps from Monte Sirai is too small for proper geometrical morphologic studies. An aggregation of mineral and organic material that included one seed of Pistacialentiscus and a fragment of epicarp of an unknown fruit (Fig. 9 c) was also recovered. Although no carbonization was observed on the carpological remains, the context from which they were recovered suggests they are maybe related to the arrangement of the funeral area, rather than being a recent intrusion. The conditions that led to their preservation are unclear and it is also uncertain whether their deposition was

4. Discussion and conclusive remarks This complex and elaborated double burial is unique in the necropolis of Monte Sirai, and is also rarely observed in other Phoenician and Punic funerary contexts (Delgado Hervás and Rivera Hernández, 2018; 7

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Fig. 8. Measurements comparison between the different Sturnidae/Turdidae species represented in the reference collection of the Archaeosciences Laboratory and the passeriforms specimens from the T.310/326 Monte Sirai burial.

community. As noted before by D’Andrea (2018, pag. 51), the specific ritual reserved for the perinatal individual in the tomb 310/326 shows some analogies with the infant depositions in tophet sanctuaries. That is also the case for the local sanctuary, in which a similar type of urn was employed and bird remains were also found associated to human remains (Bartoloni, 2017). In these Phoenician and Punic open-air sanctuaries of central Mediterranean, votive stelae or/and urns (cooking pots or other forms of jugs) containing the burned bodies of foetuses and infants were deposited, often accompanied or substituted by animal remains (mainly birds and lambs) (Bartoloni, 2016; Benichou-Safar, 2004; Bernardini, 2013; 2017; D’Andrea, 2014; 2018; Moscati, 1996; Ribichini 2000; Schwartz et al., 2010; 2012; Xella, 2013; Xella et al., 2013). The bird bones found inside the T.310 pot do not show any sign of combustion thus supporting the hypothesis that they did not participate on the combustion practice of the associated immature human remains. As mentioned above, the bird remains assemblage includes the main bones from the wings and paws. All bones articulating with the sternum and wishbone, i.e. humeri, coracoids, and scapulae, are absent and were possibly removed during the perimortem stages since the former display non–recent fractures. Conceivably, this may have resulted from the consumption of the meatier parts of the birds or, more likely in our view, from a sacrificial ritual. Domestic and wild birds were described in sacrificial Punic tariffs KAI 69 and KAI 74. Also, parts of some birds -especially parts of the wings – are often found together with human remains in tophet sanctuaries (D’Andrea, 2017; Ribichini, 2018; Wilkens, 2012). Sometimes, birds and their egg were present in punic tombs as documented in the important hypogeum tomb 7 PGM from Sulky’s Necropolis (Sant’Antioco, Sardinia, Italy) which dates back to the 5th

Guirguis and Pla Orquín, 2015, Guirguis et al., 2018a; 2018b). During the Archaic period (7th-first half of 6th century BCE), the cremated remains of a child were usually deposited inside a single fossa or otherwise associated to the cremated remains of an adult. In other examples of the 6th century BCE, the unburned or semi–combusted remains of children were placed inside well–constructed tombs with funerary assemblages consisting of pottery (dippers or cups) and/or personal adornments. The so–called enchytrismoi (deposition of unburned or semi–combusted remains inside transport amphorae) are the most frequent funerary contexts that include remains from early infants and children between the end of the 6th century BCE and the beginnings of the 4th century BCE (70.96%). These are often associated to the unburned remains of another child or the unburned remains of an adult (Guirguis, 2010; Guirguis and Pla Orquín, 2015; Guirguis et al., 2018a). The T. 310/326 burial breaks away from the standard funeral practices of adult/infant tombs of the same chronology: the assemblage associated to the burial of the adult woman only comprises a jug and the lithic structure of the tomb is rather unique; there are no other reported cases of a cremated prenatal/perinatal individual deposited in a cooking pot for this time period; unlike the woman with whom it was buried, the perinatal individual was cremated and accompanied by uncombusted avifaunal remains and no other associated funerary assemblage was present. This burial provides valuable insights into burial ceremonies during the 5th century BCE (Guirguis, 2011; Guirguis et al., 2018b). The almost simultaneous decease of, possibly, mother and progeny, and the adopted mortuary rituals provides food for thought about how particular deaths, such as this one appears to be, were processed by the 8

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Monte Sirai T310/326 burial

Intensity / arb. un

Perinatal individual

Woman

Bird

20

40

60

80

100

120

Scattering Angle 2q Fig. 10. A comparison of three XRD patterns from T310/326 grave showing the different degree of peak broadening. See text for details about the curves.

also uncertain whether their deposition was intentional. This unusual burial contained the remains of a young woman who most probably was the mother of the perinatal individual. This scenario appears to reflects a case of pregnancy loss (premature childbirth or miscarriage) in which the mother may have survived for a certain period of time after giving birth. Some aspects related to the burial of the immature individual and the interesting relation to the tophet sanctuary rituals will be discussed in detail in future publications. In the Phoenician and Punic communities, practices related to mourning and mortuary rituals directed at women who died during pregnancy or childbirth were quite particular (Delgado Hervás and Rivera Hernández 2018). For example, they were buried in sectors of the necropolis that were especially reserved for women and children, as has been documented for the tomb of a pregnant woman (T.316) in Monte Sirai (Piga et al., 2016; Guirguis et al., 2018b). In the case of the T.310/326 burial, the tomb also seems to have been placed in a particular sector - still partially excavated - and had a pronounced funeral visibility provided by its large stone covering.

Fig. 9. a) Seeds from Pistacialentiscus. Intact (left); with exit hole (right). Scale: 2 mm; b) Endocarps of Oleaeuropaea. Scale: 2 mm; c) Aggregation of carpological and mineral material. Scale: 2 mm.

century BCE. A partridge (Alectoris sp.), a duck (Anas platyrhynchos L. or Anas penelope L.) and many eggs were found inside a niche and also scattered on the floor as part of a mourning ritual made in honour of the deceased (Bernardini, 2007). Although the carpological remains are not burned, the context where they were recovered from suggests they were maybe related to the arrangement of the funeral area, rather than being a recent intrusion. The conditions that led to their preservation are not clear and it is Table 3 XRD / ATR-IR analysis performed on 10 total samples belonging to 310/326 tomb. Sample T310/ 326

Part of the body

CI

BPI

C/C

OH/P

/ Å

Crystallographicphases (wt %)

Estimated Temperature (Gonçalves et al., 2018)/°C

Estimated Temperature (Piga et al; 2008; 2009)/°C

Perinatal infant Perinatal infant

Dyaphyseal fragment Dyaphyseal fragment

4.32

0.12

1.44

0.38

352

600

700 < T < 775

4.56

0.38

1.20

0.45

366

700 < T < 800

700 < T < 775

Perinatal infant Perinatal infant Woman Woman Woman Bird

Dyaphyseal fragment Dyaphyseal fragment Left humerus Right tibia Right femur Dyaphyseal fragment Dyaphyseal fragment Dyaphyseal fragment

4.92

0.27

1.46

0.53

370

700 < T < 800

700 < T < 775

4.42

0.48

1.21

0.48

336

700 < T < 800

700 < T < 775

3.41 3.23 3.41 3.30

0.62 0.84 0.73 0.79

0.87 0.85 0.94 0.84

nd nd nd nd

150 161 165 155

Unburned Unburned Unburned Unburned

Unburned Unburned Unburned Unburned

3.48

0.54

0.90

nd

159

Unburned

Unburned

3.55

0.62

0.91

nd

167

Bioapatite 99% Quartz 1% Bioapatite 97% Calcite 2% Quartz 1% Bioapatite 98% Calcite 2% Bioapatite 97% Calcite 3% Bioapatite 100% Bioapatite 100% Bioapatite 100% Bioapatite 98% Calcite 2% Bioapatite 94% Calcite 6% Bioapatite 95% Calcite 5%

Unburned

Unburned

Bird Bird

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Fig. 11. The ATR-IR patterns of three representative specimens belonging to T310/326 grave. The spectra are reported in the wave-number ν range from 400 to 4000 cm−1. It is possible to recognize three main groups of band in the range 500–700 cm−1, 1000–1200 cm−1 and 1400–1600 cm−1, which are generally assigned to the energy mode ν4 of phosphate groups, ν3 of phosphate groups and to the ν3 of carbonate groups respectively. Note the presence of a shoulder at 633 cm−1 and the peak at 3570 cm−1 in the perinatal individual spectra, that indicates a higher cremation temperature on this specimen.

Acknowledgements

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