Permanent Exhibition. Room 3

The funeral. Punic burials (525-25 BC).

Between years 550 and 500 BC, there were great changes in Phoenician settlements in central and western Mediterranean. After Carthage assumed leadership, new Punic settlers arrived to Ibiza. A part of them came from Carthage and its area of influence. As a city-state, Ibiza underwent an economic and demographic growth. The necropolis gains more extension since there is a democratization regarding tomb access. In addition, during this time, the burial rite changes. Inhumation is introduced, and the presence and variety of grave goods increases. Hypogeum appears as a new type of tomb. During this period (450-375 BC), the necropolis is used very intensively, but from 350 BC on, its use starts to decrease. From 200 BC on, no more hypogea are excavated, though many of them will be reused as mausoleums. Now, simple pits are more common, and cremation comes back as the main funerary ritual, along with less rich grave goods. This is consequence of economic, social and cultural changes which came after the Punic Wars (264-146 BC)

Vessel

Sala 3, Museo Puig des Molins
Piezas Sala 4

Exceptional vessel, since it is made from a sandstone block. It was very common in Carthage, but rare in the West.
Jug MAEF 6347

Sala 3, Museo Puig des Molins
Piezas Sala 3

Jug used as funerary urn. We can see names from Neo-Punic writing: Bdštrt, Bdmlqrt, ‘By.hzkn, ‘Dnbsm y Bdštrt. It could be a cenotaph.
Zoomorphic Askos MAEF 4048

Sala 3, Museo Puig des Molins
Askos

Zoomorphic Askos. Depicting a donkey (late V-IV B.c). It has abundant decoration painted in a vinous red tone. These types of containers are popularly known
Female bust MAEF 4087

Sala 3, Museo Puig des Molins
Fenicio púnica / Piezas Sala 3 / Terracota

Female bust dressed in a peplos. Probably imported from a Rhodian workshop in the 5th century BC.