572 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1925 



debris of ruined walls. 'J'his inscription bore the name of Baal 

 Saturn. Beneath those walls was found the lirst layer of Punic ob- 

 jects. The Roman conquerors had built ri^ht onto the field of votive 

 offerings and other archcolo<rical treasures, but had disturbed as 

 little as possible the reliirious •■' area." It must be remembered that 

 Home rebuilt Carthage about 100 years after its destruction and it 

 became in a short time the second city of the Roman Empre. 



Floor A is at a depth of about 51/, to G meters. The excavation 

 is extremely difficult at the greatest depth because of the continuous 

 infiltration of sea water. This floor contains vases of very deli- 

 cate workmanship of graceful tulip form. Therein were con- 

 tained finely worked amulets of the Egyptian deities mingled with 

 the bones and ashes of children from new-born infants to the age 

 of 12 years. 



Below this floor we discovered a very important silex of the Neo- 

 lithic age, a significant find, proving that prehistoric man had also 

 made the peninsular of Carthage his abode. This adds a new field 

 of research in the already well-stocked one of Carthaginian arche- 

 ology. 



Floor A contains many rough stones placed in the form of small 

 megalithic menhirs, and one w^onders if a link with the mystery 

 of the dolmens may also be solved by this excavation. North 

 Africa is a rich field of megalithic remains, certainly one of the 

 richest known, for in the plateau region of the Tell in. Central 

 Tunisia, I have visited 40 megalithic sites. At Roknia there are 

 1,400 dolmens to be seen on one site alone. Our new museum at 

 Carthage was fortunate in procuring this year a complete collection 

 of objects from the Dolmens of Dougga, affording splendid docu- 

 mentation on this engrossing subject. 



The vases found in floor A contained veritable treasures of 

 jewelry, gold leaves, ivory uuisks, gold oinaments, necklaces and 

 bracelets, objects of rare and varied forms, amulets, with the head 

 of jackals, the " Eye of Osiris," the Egyptian god Bes, and the ter- 

 lible sinister god of the Carthaginians, Moloch. 



Floors B and C show also monuments of great Egyptian influ- 

 ence. The altars are obelisk in form and the urns again show amu- 

 lets composed of the Egyptian Pantheon. However, floor B is 

 not so rich in variety as floors A and C but an extensive study is 

 needed here in cataloging the variety of monuments and the transi- 

 tion of style. 



The next floor (C) is as important as the deepest strata, for we 

 meet for the first time the beautiful Punic inscriptions and several 

 scores of now varieties of sculptured votive altars and a wide range 

 of Phoenician j)ottery. 



