Il Tofet di Sulci nel Mediterraneo centrale fenicio: lettura incrociata dei materiali archeologici e analisi integrata delle componenti†�

The study begins by an <i>Introduction</i> (Ch. I), devoted to the general premises and a historical assessment. Section I/Ch. II concerns the archaeology of the <i>tophet</i> in the middle Mediterranean. Archaic sites such as Carthage, Mozia, and Tharros were privileged, aiming to emphasize the peculiar features of each context, and the possible connections with the Sulci <i>tophet</i>; also late sanctuaries (in Sardinia and North Africa) were examined as usefull case-studies. Section II focused on the whole documentation from Sulci <i>tophet</i>: description of the site, analytical presentation of all data and contextual reconstruction (Ch. 3). Ch. 4 presents a topographical, physical and archaeological description of the sanctuary, and a critical review of the researches, including previous data and (Ch. 5) new acquisitions: recent excavations (chiefly in 1998) and studies on pottery. A descriptive analysis of the different types of materials is presented in Ch. 6, followed by a careful interpretation (Ch. 7), focused particularly on spatial and productive characteristics of this documentation. It deals with materials from the †œWest Sector†� (archaic squares G and H), studied through an integrated analysis of each †œdeposition unity†�. Section III contains a series of paragraphs about general topics (including historical-religious and socio-anthropological remarks), in the light of the eclectic character of the <i>tophet</i> and the variety of the approaches required for a full interpretation of this phenomenon.