- Jean Gran-Aymerich –
Etruscan, dating to the Archaic and late Archaic periods, while those with the decorated
handle-bases come from Etruria proper, from Campania or Magna Graecia, and date to
the end of the sixth century through to the beginning of the fi fth.^59 The Schnabelkannen
are represented at Carthage by at least seven examples, from the end of the sixth century
to the middle of the fi fth.^60 Even while waiting for a complete study of these materials, it
is evident that, outside of Italy and Aleria in Corsica, it is Carthage that offers the densest
concentration of Etruscan metallic pieces.^61
The most remarkable Etruscan discovery in Carthage comes from a tomb in the
necropolis of Sainte Monique. It is a mid-sixth century ivory plaque in the form of either
a boar or perhaps a feline, of which the reverse bears an Etruscan inscription. This tessera
hospitalis would have belonged to a Puinel Karthazies, a Carthaginian who would have
benefi ted from this document that guaranteed him sea travel and a welcome in Etruria.^62
Also quite exceptional is a funerary cippus in the form of a column, clearly identifi able at
Caere as an indicator of male burials.^63 It may be dated to the fourth or early third century
and is contemporaneous with painted Genucilia-type plates from Caere, localized in the
necropolis of Sainte Monique.^64 This cippus, with its missing socle, must have been part of
a small monument, and it served to mark the tomb of an Etruscan from Caere.^65 We know
of no other examples outside of Italy except for those amongst the tombs of Aleria.^66
Another dossier, considered many times, consists of the sarcophagi with reclining effi gies
from the necropolis of the Rabs at Sainte Monique, which raises the question of cultural
and artistic exchanges between Carthage and Tarquinia (where an identical sarcophagus
was found) during the Hellenistic age.^67
Concerning domestic contexts, the excavations undertaken in the archaic levels
of Carthage have considerably revised both the chronology and typology of Etruscan
ceramics there, which extend from the seventh century, or even the end of the eighth, to
the Hellenistic period. This consists not only of drinking vessels and perfume containers,
as was the case for the tombs, but also common wares and transport amphorae.^68 The
recent excavations in the archaic levels of the lower city, near the shore, have permitted
an identifi cation of handmade Sardinian and Etrusco-Italic ceramics from the eighth
century, impasto non tornito, and Etrusco-Italic or proto-Etruscan transport amphorae
dating to the dawn of the seventh century, the so-called ZITA-Amphoren, type-5.^69
The most widespread Etruscan amphorae to emerge from sixth-century contexts, and
the Etruscan ceramics of the sixth to fourth centuries, were the monochrome wares
(impasto tornito, bucchero, cream wares) and painted vases (Etrusco- or Italo-Geometric,
Etrusco-Corinthian, and red-fi gure ware of the Genucilia type).^70 This diversity of
ceramic fi nds in the quarters close to the shore, although their numbers are relatively
humble in comparison to the large quantity of Punic wares, does not appear to support
the hypothesis of imports destined for a Carthaginian clientele. The Etruscans, be they
transient or permanent residents, and the presence of Etruscan women at Carthage – in
a context of exchanges and mixed marriages – might explain this presence of perfume
containers, cooking wares, and common wares in the Punic metropoleis.^71 Apart from
the various possible hypotheses, these Etruscan discoveries confi rm the permanence of the
close ties between Etruria and Carthage.
Other, less common fi nds from Carthage attest to the distinctive relations held between
the Punic metropolis and Etruria. Such is the case of three bullae of fi red clay from the
Mago quarter, which reveal the presence of Etruscan documents amongst the vestiges
of the archives discovered in this excavation.^72 Finally, amongst the discoveries made at