ABSTRACT
In the early fifth century bc, Greek exploration of the Atlantic diminished sharply and that of the Carthaginians began to flourish. 1 They significantly expanded knowledge of both the north and south, and perhaps discovered some of the mid-Atlantic islands. The Carthaginian movement beyond the Pillars was in part inspired by earlier Phoenician activity. There is no evidence that the Phoenicians had gone any distance north beyond Gades, but they showed early interest in the African coast to the south. Sometime after the foundation of Gades, they began to explore along the Atlantic coast of Africa, settling at Lixos (Figure 6), Mogador (Figure 8), and perhaps elsewhere. Pottery from Lixos and Mogador demonstrates that those sites were first occupied in the late seventh or early sixth centuries bc and were dependent on Gades. 2 Mogador, 600 miles from Gades, may have been the farthest Phoenician penetration for settlement or trade, and by Hellenistic times many of these sites were abandoned. 3 Yet the Phoenicians had some knowledge beyond Mogador, since around 600 bc, according to various sources, they circumnavigated Africa, but, interestingly, in a clockwise direction.
