Palaeogeography of Carthage (Tunisia): Coastal change during the first millennium bc

Abstract New geological data were recovered from 16 sediment sections cored in and around the Cothon, the harbour of ancient Carthage. They show a relatively thin (less than 5 m) post-mid-Holocene sediment accumulation over a late Pleistocene calcarenite bedrock surface. Analyses of core sediment samples for granulometry and microfossil remains, combined with four radiocarbon dates, have suggested several palaeogeographic reconstructions of the coastline of Carthage and placed constraints on the nature and location of any Punic port installation pre-dating the visible remains of the 3rd century bc . We also propose a geologically and historically plausible reconstruction of Scipio's siege and capture of the city in 146 bc .