The founding chronology of the Phoenician Malaka: research on the site of the Rectory of the University of Málaga

Abstract

Between the years 1998 and 2002 an archaeological activity was carried out in the old building of the Correos (Post and Telegraph House) of Malaga, as part of the rehabilitation work necessary for its use as the seat of the Rector’s Office of the University. The systematic study of the materials corresponding to the deepest levels of the sequence, attributed to the Phoenician archaic period, allows their dating before c . 625 BC, which makes them, to this day, the oldest known context associated to ancient Malaka. In addition to this piece of chronological data, the site stands out because of the magnitude of its architecture, located immediately to the first coastline of the time. The assemblage is of great interest to study the dynamics of the Phoenician settlement of the bay of Malaga from the foundation of La Rebanadilla, located in the neighboring estuary of the Guadalhorce River, dated in the second half of the 9th century BC.