Le théâtre d’Oudna-Uthina (Tunisie) : diagnostic et état dans l'Antiquité tardive

The Oudhna theatre was not included in the 1993 project of clearing ancient Uthina’s monuments. The importance of the theatre has been acknowledged, however, since Victor Guérin in the mid-19th century. In 2004, the building was studied anew, in order to assess its state of conservation, to establish its chronology, and to plan subsequent archaeological excavations. The results obtained from this preliminary study concern especially the stage wall, but other large structures within the monument (cavea, orchestra) were also assessed. The current data suggest that the theatre was build during the first half of the 2nd century but was transformed in the 6th century (perhaps already in the 4th) into a quarry which included Byzantine era “construction sheds”. Construction materials were still being recovered from it in the 18th and 19th centuries, until Paul Gauckler, then inspector of archaeological excavations within the beylic Antiquities department, had it classified as a protected landmark between 1892 and 1896.