Évolution du paysage urbain de Thaenae (Thyna) à la fin de l’antiquité : nouvelles données sur le rempart

Abstract

Within the framework of the Thaenae archaeological field-school, excavations were carried out from 2017 to 2022 by a Tunisian-French team in the vicinity of the Tacape Gate in order to contribute to the study of the urban evolution of the city, marked, in Late Antiquity, by the construction of a wall whose area is larger than that of the Early Imperial city. On the basis of cross-referenced field and laboratory data (coins, ceramics and radiocarbon), it has been shown that this wall was built in the first half of the 4th century (perhaps as early as the first quarter of the century) by including the funerary spaces and craft workshops, which were then moved outside the new wall. The monumental character of this wall and the care taken in its construction argue in favour of a prestigious operation testifying to the economic and political vitality of the city of Thaenae in the years preceding or following the advent of the Constantinian dynasty.

Keywords

• Thaenae
• urban evolution
• city wall
• funerary spaces
• amphoras workshops
• stratigraphy