[SunkenCiv]

The Tyrians colonized Carthage around the time the Rome started to grow under Etruscan rule, so, no. The foundation story (Elissa, princess of Tyre, a.k.a. Dido, fled her murderous brother's rule) suggests a foundation date of late 9th c BC, but the earliest strata are Egyptian (!).

But Barry Fell reports that Columbus was the first post-1492 European to record evidence for Precolumbian contact. On one of the islands and old guy who used to be a young free-diver was wearing a necklace, and according to Columbus the amulet turned out to be an ancient coin from the Med.

[bunkerhill7]