Animals as Offerings: Faunal Remains from the Carthage tophet

Abstract

Abstract The non-human animal remains excavated in the Carthage tophet represent a substantial sample of animal bones from a single site. The urns contain partial or whole sheep or goat (ovicaprids) carcasses in abundant numbers, revealing a consistent offering of ovicaprids, some birds, and in a very few cases, fish. Overwhelmingly, the animals are whole-burnt offerings, sacrificed as an offering to the deity or deities. The consistency of the age of the cremated ovicaprids that were interred in the urns allows for a profile of relating animal remains to ritual behavior that took place at the Carthage tophet.