Los Toscanos
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  Shown within Spain | |
| Location | Vélez,Spain |
|---|---|
| Region | Andalusia |
| Coordinates | 36°44′27″N4°6′59″W/ 36.74083°N 4.11639°W |
| Part of | Phoenician colonies |
| History | |
| Founded | 8thcenturyBC |
| Satellite of | Phoenicia,Carthage |
Toscanos(inSpanishCortijo de Los Toscanos) is the name of anAndalusiancortijonearVélez-Málagain southernSpain,[1]and was the location of an earlyPhoeniciansettlement.[2][3][4][5][6]
The Phoenician name of the settlement is unknown. The modern toponym of Toscanos is due to Italian migrants who arrived in the area in the 18th century during the reign ofCharles III.[1]
Geography[edit]
Toscanos is located on a flattened hill overlooking the mouth of theVelez Riverat theMediterranean.The hill is on the right bank of the river.[7][8][9][10]
At the height of Toscanos's prosperity around 700BC, thehumidity indexwas higher than at present and large forests covered thePenibetic Mountains.[11]
History[edit]
This settlement was one of a number of such colonies established in southernSpainaround the 8thcenturyBC to control trade with theIberiansettlements in the interior.[12]The town does not seem to have been a major center for trade or industry involving any kind of metallic ores, but there aremurexremains from the processing ofdyeand evidence of fishing fortuna,sturgeon,andeelsas well as the associated processing ofsaltingand preserved sauces likegarum.[11]They seem to have principally traded in agricultural goods, raisingcattle,sheep,andgoats;producingolive oilandwine;andhunting deer,boar,and wild cats.[13]
Toscanos began with an orderly street plan covering about 2.5 hectares (6 acres)[14]and a fortified perimeter.[15]From the middle of the 8thcenturyBC, "large and luxurious" houses as wide as 15 meters (50 ft).[12]In the 7thcenturyBC, there was growth throughout the Phoenician colonies in Spain and Toscanos saw the construction of a great central "storehouse". The variety of surrounding homes suggests a diverse settlement of families including a mercantile elite, artisans, laborers, and slaves.[12]Around 635BC, the town added a new fortified district and had a population between 1000 and 1500.[16]It covered about 12 hectares (30 acres), 50% larger than the settlement atAgadir(Cadiz),[14]and traded withGreeceandCyprus.[16]
Along with other Phoenician colonies, it underwent various crises during the 6thcenturyBC. The settlement in particular suffered a collapse in its trade with the interior,[17]and the large storehouse and grand houses around it ceased to be used in the early part of the century.[16]The central settlement was abandoned around 550BC[16]and the rest were finally abandoned forCerro del Maron the other side of theVelez.[18]With the rise ofCarthaginiancontrol over the Phoenician diaspora, political and commercial power in the area concentrated itself at nearbyMalakat(Málaga).[19]
Legacy[edit]
Asteroid96086 Toscanos,discovered by astronomers during the secondPalomar–Leiden Trojan surveyin 1973, was named for the archaeological site.[20]
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
- ^abCardoso, Mario (1968).Bibliografia. NIEMEYER, Hans Georg, et al. -Toscanos. Die altpunische Faktorei an der Mündung des Rio de Velez(in Portuguese). Vol. 79. Guimarães: Sociedade Martins Sarmento. pp. 325–329.
Toscanos é o toponimo de uma granja ou herdade andaluza (cortijo), onde existe um pequeno grupo de edificios agricolas, cujo actual proprietario parece descender de imigrantes italianos que, secundo a tradicao, ali se teriam estabelecido, vindos da Toscana no seculo XVIII, durante o reinado do Carlos III.
- ^Josep Padró i Parcerisa,Egyptian-type Documents: From the Mediterranean Littoral of the Iberian Peninsula Before the Roman Conquest,1980,ISBN9004061339,page 118
- ^Richard Miles, Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization, 2011,ISBN0670022667,page 50.
- ^Marilyn R. Bierling, Seymour Gitin,The Phoenicians in Spain: An Archaeological Review of the Eighth-Sixth Centuries B.C.E.: A Collection of Articles Translated from Spanish,2002,ISBN1575060566.
- ^Ann Neville,Mountains of silver & rivers of gold: the Phoenicians in Iberia,2007,ISBN1842171771.
- ^María Eugenia Aubet,The Phoenicians and the West: Politics, Colonies and Trade,2001,ISBN0521795435.
- ^Padró i Parcerisa (1980),p. 118.
- ^Miles (2011),p. 50.
- ^Bierling & al. (2002).
- ^Neville (2007).
- ^abAubet (2001),p.315.
- ^abcAubet (1994),p. 50.
- ^Aubet (2001),p.316.
- ^abAubet (1994),p. 51.
- ^Aubet (2001),p.319.
- ^abcdAubet (2001),p.321.
- ^Aubet (1994),pp. 58–9.
- ^Neville (2007),p. 167.
- ^Aubet (1994),p. 59.
- ^"96086 Toscanos (1006 T-2)".Minor Planet Center.Retrieved16 January2019.
Bibliography[edit]
- Aubet, Maria Eugenia (1994),"From Trading Post to Town in the Phoenician-Punic World"(PDF),Proceedings of the British Academy,vol.86, London: British Academy, pp. 47–65.
- Aubet, Maria Eugenia (2001), Turton, Mary (ed.),The Phoenicians and the West: Politics, Colonies and Trade,Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,ISBN0521795435.
- Bierling, Marilyn R.; et al. (2002),The Phoenicians in Spain: An Archaeological Review of the Eighth-Sixth Centuries BCE: A Collection of Articles Translated from Spanish,ISBN1575060566.
- Miles, Richard (2011),Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization,ISBN978-0670022663.
- Neville, Ann (2007),Mountains of Silver & Rivers of Gold: The Phoenicians in Iberia,ISBN978-1842171776.
- Padró i Parcerisa, Josep (1980),Egyptian-type Documents: From the Mediterranean Littoral of the Iberian Peninsula Before the Roman Conquest,ISBN9004061339.
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