Carthaginian Child Sacrifice theories debunked again

[Melvadius]

Recent research by the University of Pittsburg posted on Eureka Alert (University of Pittsburg press release)has provided further evidence which refutes the long standing contention that the Carthaginians regularly practiced child sacrifice. c/f my earlier posting (4th January 2010) on the Carthaginian child "sacrifice" thread and the article reporting findings by Piero Bartoloni, Head of the Department of Phoenician-Punic Archaeology at Universita' di Sassari, Italy (reported in 2007) from excavations at Zama.

 

The Eureka article is under the catchy title of

Pitt-led study debunks millennia-old claims of systematic infant sacrifice in ancient Carthage

The article reports that:

Researchers examined 348 burial urns to learn that about a fifth of the children were prenatal at death, indicating that young Carthaginian children were cremated and interred in ceremonial urns regardless of cause of death

The full article follows:

PITTSBURGH

Edited February 18, 2010 by Melvadius