Capsian culture - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Capsian period) Culture centered in the Maghreb that lasted from about 8,000 to 2,700 BC

Capsian

Geographical range	North Africa, possibly East Africa
Period	Neolithic – Bronze Age
Dates	c. 8,000 – c. 2,700 BC
Type site	El Mekta
Major sites	Medjez II, Dakhlat es-Saâdane, Aïn Naga, Khanguet El-Mouhaâd, Aïn Misteheyia, Kef Zoura D, El Mekta.
Preceded by	Iberomaurusian
Followed by	Libyans

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Neolithic topics Neolithic Revolution (farming) Animal husbandry Pottery Metallurgy Wheel Circular ditches Henges Megaliths Neolithic religion Neolithic decline
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The Capsian culture was a late Mesolithic and Neolithic culture centered in the Maghreb that lasted from about 8,000 to 2,700 BC. It was named after the town of Gafsa in Tunisia, which was known as Capsa in Roman times.

Capsian industry was concentrated mainly in what is now Tunisia and Algeria. It is traditionally divided into two horizons, the Capsien typique (Typical Capsian) and the Capsien supérieur (Upper Capsian), which are sometimes found in chronostratigraphic sequence. Sometimes, a third period, Capsian Neolithic (6,200–5,300 BP) is also specified. They represent variants of one tradition, the differences between them being both typological and technological.

During this period, the environment of the Maghreb was open savanna, much like modern East Africa, with Mediterranean forests at higher altitudes; where the initial phase overlaps with the African humid period. The Capsian diet included a wide variety of animals, ranging from aurochs and hartebeest to hares and snails; there is little evidence concerning plants eaten. During the succeeding Neolithic of Capsian Tradition, there is evidence from one site, for domesticated, probably imported, ovicaprids.

Given the Capsian culture's timescale, widespread occurrence in the Sahara, and geographic association with modern speakers of the Afroasiatic languages, historical linguists have tentatively associated the industry with the Afroasiatic family's earliest speakers on the continent.

Nothing is known about Capsian religion, but their burial methods suggest a belief in an afterlife. Decorative art is widely found at their sites, including figurative and abstract rock art, and ochre is found coloring both tools and corpses. Ostrich eggshells were used to make beads and containers; seashells were used for necklaces. The Ibero-Maurusian practice of extracting the central incisors continued sporadically, but became rarer.

Anatomically, Capsian populations were modern Homo sapiens, traditionally classed into two variegate types: Proto-Mediterranean and Mechta-Afalou on the basis of cranial morphology and anthropological traits. Some have argued that they were associated with Mediterranean immigrants from the east such as the Natufians/Pre-Pottery Neolithic, whereas others argue for a population continuity based on physical skeletal characteristics and other criteria. In 1950, 3 skulls from the Upper Capsian of the Maghreb were measured, and based on indicators of the craniofacial form, considered to have been mixed in traits. The overall anthropological investigation highlighted that their dominant characteristics were conforming to a Mediterranean type, while the minority characteristics conformed to Mechta-Afalou (Iberomarusian) and "Negroid" type. It was suggested that this population was the product of Pre-Neolithic Mectha-Afalous, "White" immigrants from the east, and African migrants from the south.

The Eburran industry which dates between 13,000 and 9,000 BC in East Africa, was formerly known as the "Kenya Capsian" due to similarities in the stone blade shapes.

Gallery

The main sites of the Iberomaurusian and Capsian cultures in north Africa
A Capsian ostrich-egg bottle
Typical Capsian burial (Tunisia)
Capsian culture, Arrowhead

References

Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2000-04-30). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 93. ISBN 9780306461583.
Whitehouse, Ruth D. (24 February 2016). Macmillan Dictionary of Archaeology – Google Książki. Macmillan Education UK. ISBN 9781349075898.
2005 D. Lubell. Continuité et changement dans l'Epipaléolithique du Maghreb. In, M. Sahnouni (ed.) Le Paléolithique en Afrique: l’histoire la plus longue, pp. 205–226. Paris: Guides de la Préhistoire Mondiale, Éditions Artcom’/Errance.
Rahmani, Noura (2004-03-01). "Technological and Cultural Change Among the Last Hunter-Gatherers of the Maghreb: The Capsian (10,000–6000 B.P.)". Journal of World Prehistory. 18 (1): 57–105. doi:10.1023/B:JOWO.0000038658.50738.eb. S2CID 162822759.
Mulazzani, Simone (2013). Le Capsien de Hergla (Tunisie): culture, environnement et économie (in French). Africa Magna Verlag. ISBN 978-3-937248-36-3.
1984 D. Lubell. Paleoenvironments and Epi Paleolithic economies in the Maghreb (ca. 20,000 to 5000 B.C.). In, J.D. Clark & S.A. Brandt (eds.), From Hunters to Farmers: The Causes and Consequences of Food Production in Africa. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 41–56.
Jackes, Mary; Lubell, David (June 2008). "Early and Middle Holocene Environments and Capsian Cultural Change: Evidence from the Télidjène Basin, Eastern Algeria". African Archaeological Review. 25 (1–2): 41–55. doi:10.1007/s10437-008-9024-2. S2CID 53678760.
^ 1984 D. Lubell, P. Sheppard & M. Jackes. Continuity in the Epipalaeolithic of northern Africa with an emphasis on the Maghreb. In, F. Wendorf & A. Close (eds.), Advances in World Archaeology, Vol. 3: 143–191. New York: Academic Press.
2004 D. Lubell.Prehistoric edible land snails in the circum-Mediterranean: the archaeological evidence. In, J-J. Brugal & J. Desse (eds.), Petits Animaux et Sociétés Humaines. Du Complément Alimentaire Aux Ressources Utilitaires. XXIVe rencontres internationales d’archéologie et d’histoire d’Antibes, pp. 77–98. Antibes: Éditions APDCA.
1979 C. Roubet. Économie Pastorale Préagricole en Algérie Orientale: le Néolithique de Tradition Capsienne. Paris: CNRS.
Bender, M. Lionel (1985). "Review of The Archaeological and Linguistic Reconstruction of African History". Language. 61 (3): 694–698. doi:10.2307/414395. JSTOR 414395.
Ferembach, Denise (May 1985). "On the origin of the iberomaurusians (Upper palaeolithic: North Africa). A new hypothesis". Journal of Human Evolution. 14 (4): 393–397. Bibcode:1985JHumE..14..393F. doi:10.1016/S0047-2484(85)80047-6.
Sheppard, Peter; Lubell, David (1990). "Early Holocene Maghreb prehistory: an evolutionary approach". Sahara. 3: 63–69. INIST 11805152.
Lubell, David (2001). "Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene Maghreb". Encyclopedia of Prehistory Volume 1: Africa. pp. 129–149. doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-1193-9_11. ISBN 978-0-306-46255-9.
Briggs, L. Cabot (1950-09-01). "On three skulls from Mechta‐el‐Arbi, Algeria. A reexamination of Cole's adult series". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 8 (3): 305–314. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330080311. ISSN 0002-9483.

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References

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