Sonia T. Amaral Rohter
"Interaction Between the Greeks and Phoenicians in the Iberian Peninsula"
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Abstract
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The Iberian Peninsula was one of the earliest sites of colonial interaction in Europe. Long before the arrival of the Romans, this area attracted the attention of the Phoenicians and later the Greeks because of its natural resources, particularly its metal deposits. The Phoenicians/Carthaginians occupied the area along the southern coastline, while the Greeks initially kept further to the east, establishing their first settlements along the Gulf of Rosas. According to traditional interpretations, trade, especially in metals, appears to have been the initial impetus for these settlements, though these settlements eventually took on other characteristics as well and subsequently the two groups found themselves somewhat at odds over control of the area (as well as the rest of the western Mediterranean) and its trade routes. However, many questions remain about the state of relations between the Phoenicians and the Greeks during the earliest period of their co-occupation of the peninsula in the 6th through 4th centuries BCE.The ancient literary sources are only of limited use for determining the scope and type of relations enjoyed by the Greeks and the Phoenicians during this period. To better understand the situation, one must turn to the archaeological evidence. This project aims to collect together the archaeological evidence for interaction between these two groups by visiting the archaeological sites, evaluating the objects from these sites, and examining the archival material in order to create a data set that can be used to arrive at more concrete conclusions about the state of affairs between the Phoenicians and the Greeks during the period in question.
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