Forbidden to Sacrifice Humans or Eat Dogs: Revisiting the Tophet Debate though a Demographic Lens

Abstract

Due to recent osteoarchaeological publications, prominent historians, archaeologists and osteologists have reignited the debate over the practice of infant and child sacrifice at Phoenician sites in the central Mediterranean. In all previous studies, including osteoarchaeological approaches, the debate has been conducted on terms established by the Greco-Roman sources. Here, I move away from those sources and suggest a series of demographic models in order to understand better the effects of infanticide on population growth at Phoenician colonies in the Early Iron Age central Mediterranean.

Keywords

• Carthage
• Tophet
• Infant and Child Sacrifice
• Phoenician Colonies