The Leptiminus Archaeological Project

http://rome.classics.lsa.umich.edu/projects/lepti/lepti.html (World Wide Web Directory, 06/1995)

The Leptiminus Archaeological Project Return to Classics and Mediterranean Archaeology.

Report on the site of Leptiminus and fieldwork from 1990-1993

By Dr. John H. Humphrey, University of Michigan; Dr. Nejib Ben Lazreg, Institut National du Patrimoine; Sebastian Heath (sfsh@umich.edu), University of Michigan; David L. Stone (dlstone@umich.edu), University of Michigan.

January 1994

For further information, please see results of the first season of fieldwork, published in D.J. Mattingly and N. Ben Lazreg, eds., Leptiminus (Lamta): A Roman port city in Tunisia. Report no. 1 (Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series No. 4).

Introduction
The Site of Leptiminus
The Cemeteries of Leptiminus
The Economy of Leptiminus

List of Images

Location of Leptiminus. Map generated by Xerox PARC Map Server.
Preliminary plan of Leptiminus.
Intensive survey in a grove of young olive trees.
Structures exposed in the banks of the wadi.
An exposed part of the aqueduct.
Amphora neck and tile from workshops perhaps owned by the same individual.
Skeleton from a burial.
Tile grave.

Introduction

The site of Leptiminus, on the east coast of Tunisia, lying 35 kilometers south of Sousse (ancient Hadrumentum) and twelve kilometers south of Monastir, is the object of a long-term program of research begun in 1990 and being conducted jointly by the Institut National du Patrimoine of Tunisia and the University of Michigan. The Tuniso-American project is sponsored by the Institut National du Patrimoine, Tunis and by the Kelsey Museum of the University of Michigan. The Tunisian directors of this project are H. Slim and N. Ben Lazreg. The American directors are J. Humphrey, D. Mattingly, & D. Stone. The National Endowment for the Humanities, a Federal Agency, and the National Geographic Society have provided financial support for the project.

The Site of Leptiminus

Leptiminus was an important port town which flourished under Roman rule. The earliest remains date from the Punic period, however, and it also functioned as a Vandal, Byzantine and Arab settlement. The ancient name of this site, which means the lesser or smaller Lepti, distinguished it from Leptis or Lepcis Magna, the larger city in modern Libya, near Tripoli. Along with the ports of Thapsus (Ras Dimas) and Sullecthum (Salakta) just to its south, Leptiminus exported numerous agricultural and industrial commodities to other parts of the Roman empire, including Spain, Portugal, and Britain in the West, and Egypt, Palestine, and Syria in the East. Many exports went to Italy, particularly to Ostia, the port city of Rome. Trade was responsible for a boom in this part of Tunisia during the Roman period from the early 2nd century AD onwards.

Ancient Leptiminus is today largely open agricultural land, gently undulating, crossed by two seasonal river beds (wadis), and supporting more than one thousand olive trees. Here and there walls of ancient structures break the surface, and some of the Roman public buildings, such as the amphitheater, are easily located. A prime attraction of Leptiminus and a distinct advantage that it holds over other major ports, is that the whole city, its suburbs and cemeteries are available for study. The long history of Leptiminus provides another significant focus for the research. The processes of urban foundation, growth, decline, and abandonment across a time span of nearly 2,500 years of human history have all left traces in the archaeological record. In addition, the site has been visited, excavated, and commented on since the end of the 19th century. Through intensive methods of field survey we have been examining the entire c. 150 hectare townscape on a field-by-field basis, collecting information on chronology and on the use of different areas. To date we have surveyed approximately sixty per cent of the urban area; the remainder will be surveyed in 1994. Future plans call for a diachronic survey of the city's hinterland in order to understand its agricultural base, its relation to its environment, and regional patterns of settlement from the earliest phases of human occupation until the present day. In addition, the project, which is a collaborative interdisciplinary research effort involving geologists, geophysicists, palaeobotanists, palaeosteologists, and archaeologists specializing in field survey, excavation, and ceramics, has a commitment to conduct rescue excavations on sites slated for development as the modern towns on the periphery of the ancient city grow. Since 1990 the project has excavated at three Roman cemeteries and a Roman bath where construction was imminent. In the future, however, we expect to investigate areas of ceramic and metals production identified by the field survey, as well as facilities for agricultural storage and processing.

The Cemeteries at Leptiminus

At Leptiminus, three different cemetery sites have been excavated by the joint Tuniso-American project. As in most Roman cities, the cemeteries of Leptiminus were located outside of the city limits. The three excavated cemeteries all date to the middle of the Roman period. The Stadium Cemetery contained amphora burials and cupola tombs, as well as one mausoleum, all of which date between the late 2nd and early 4th c AD. On the top of Dhahret Slama, a cemetery with a mausoleum, amphora burials and cupola tombs was in use from the 3rd to the 5th c AD. The excavations here also revealed that pottery was made in this area of the city during the same period. A cemetery within the walls of a modern sewage treatment plant had amphora burials and a mausoleum with an intact mosaic of geometric design, dating to about the 3rd c AD.

In these cemeteries, a variety of surface grave markers and underground burials were discovered. The tombs found at Leptiminus are characteristic of Roman North Africa and are comparable to examples found at other sites in Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya. They were often differentiated from one another by their surface markers. There is some evidence that the type of burial may have been related to the wealth and social status of the deceased, because certain types of surface markers and below-ground structures were more elaborate and durable than others. In other instances, the type of burial may have been related to the age of the deceased, as with amphora burials which normally held infants and children. Most of the burials excavated at Leptiminus were inhumations, burials of the whole corpse. Cremations, in which the body was placed in the ground, burned in place, and then covered over by a grave marker, were rare. Further excavation and study of the Roman cemeteries at Leptiminus is in progress.

The Economy of Leptiminus

Leptiminus was an important port in Byzacena, the central region of Roman North Africa. The town was both a collection point and a production center for the agricultural produce of the region including olive oil and garum (fish sauce). Amphora production in the town grew out of the need for transport vessels to ship the agricultural products of the city to many places abroad. The town was also a large-scale manufacturer of African Red Slip ware. This fine table-ware was in demand throughout the Mediterranean from the 2nd through the 7th c AD. Leptiminus was also a transhipment port for a certain number of imports for the city and its region. Goods imported included: metals such as iron, wine which was carried in foreign amphorae, and fine pottery. Luxury goods such as marble were used in Roman amenities like public buildings and the bathing complex. Both the export and import of goods must have occasioned the movement of people and therefore cultural and religious exchanges. We know that people from Leptiminus lived and died in other regions of the empire. Likewise, people from other provinces like Greece, Mauretania, and Italy moved to Leptiminus.

The local economy of Leptiminus was probably based on animal husbandry, fishing, the cultivation of olives and cereals, weaving, and pottery production, among others. Archaeological remains provide insight into the production of goods intended for local use and consumption. Slag, a by-product of metal production, indicates that metalworking took place at Leptiminus. Mosaics and stamped bricks attest to a thriving local construction business. Although no cloth survives from Leptiminus, an ancient spindle whorl provides evidence of local textile production. Fine-ware and domestic pottery were also made for local use.