Capsian

2025-10-14T09:22:35Z

194.183.74.39: /* Genetics */

{{Short description|Culture centered in the Maghreb that lasted from about 9000 to 5400 cal BC}}
{{Infobox archaeological culture
|name = Capsian
|map = Distribution of major Iberomaurusian and Capsian sites in the Maghreb.jpg
|mapalt =
|altnames =
|horizon =
|region = [[Algeria]] and [[Tunisia]]
|period = [[Epipalaeolithic]] or [[Later Stone Age]]
|dates = ca. 9000 – 5400 [[Radiocarbon calibration|cal]] BC
|typesite = [[El Mekta]]
|majorsites = [[Medjez II]], [[Relilaï]], [[Kef Zoura D]], [[El Mekta]].
|precededby = [[Iberomaurusian]]
|followedby = [[Ancient Libya|Libyans]]
}}
The '''Capsian''' was an [[Epipalaeolithic]] tradition in [[Algeria]] and [[Tunisia]] from ca. 9000 to 5400 [[Radiocarbon calibration|cal]] BC.<ref>{{Citation| last1 = Perrin| first1 =T.|last2 =Dachy| first2 =T.|last3 =Guéret| first3 =C.|last4 = Lubell| first4 = D.|last5 = Chaïd-Saoudi| first5 =Yasmina|last6 = Green| first6=William| year =2020| title =Pressure Knapping and the Timing of Innovation: New Chrono-Cultural Data on Prehistoric Groups of the Early Holocene in the Maghreb, Northwest Africa| journal=Radiocarbon| url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/radiocarbon/article/abs/pressure-knapping-and-the-timing-of-innovation-new-chronocultural-data-on-prehistoric-groups-of-the-early-holocene-in-the-maghreb-northwest-africa/5301BF4B834EB2E6174125240FAB3011| access-date =11 Feb 2025}}</ref> It is named after the town of [[Gafsa]], [[Tunisia]] ([[Capsa (Roman colonia)|Capsa]] in Latin).

The Capsian is traditionally divided into the Typical Capsian and the Upper Capsian, which are sometimes found in chronostratigraphic sequence. In terms of lithics, the differences between these divisions are both typological and technological.<ref name="Lubell 2005">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.</ref><ref name="Rahmani 2004">{{Cite journal |last=Rahmani |first=Noura |date=2004-03-01 |title=Technological and Cultural Change Among the Last Hunter-Gatherers of the Maghreb: The Capsian (10,000–6000 B.P.) |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |language=en |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=57–105 |doi=10.1023/B:JOWO.0000038658.50738.eb |s2cid=162822759 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mulazzani |first=Simone |title=Le Capsien de Hergla (Tunisie): culture, environnement et économie |date=2013 |publisher=Africa Magna Verlag |isbn=978-3-937248-36-3 |language=fr}}{{pn|date=June 2024}}</ref>

During this period, the environment of the Maghreb was open [[savanna]], much like modern [[East Africa]], with [[Mediterranean forest]]s at higher [[altitude]]s;<ref name="Lubell 1984">1984 D. Lubell. [http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~dlubell/Lubell_1984.pdf 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.</ref> where the initial phase overlaps with the [[African humid period]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jackes |first1=Mary |last2=Lubell |first2=David |title=Early and Middle Holocene Environments and Capsian Cultural Change: Evidence from the Télidjène Basin, Eastern Algeria |journal=African Archaeological Review |date=June 2008 |volume=25 |issue=1–2 |pages=41–55 |doi=10.1007/s10437-008-9024-2 |s2cid=53678760 }}</ref> The Capsian diet included a wide variety of animals, ranging from [[aurochs]] and [[hartebeest]] to [[hare]]s and [[snail]]s; there is little evidence concerning plants eaten.<ref name="Lubell et al. 1984">1984 D. Lubell, P. Sheppard & M. Jackes. [http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~dlubell/Advances.pdf 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.</ref><ref name="Lubell 2004">2004 D. Lubell.[http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~dlubell/Antibes.pdf 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.</ref> During the succeeding Neolithic of Capsian Tradition, there is evidence from one site, for domesticated, probably imported, [[Goat antelope|ovicaprids]].<ref name="Roubet 1979">1979 C. Roubet. ''Économie Pastorale Préagricole en Algérie Orientale: le Néolithique de Tradition Capsienne''. Paris: CNRS.{{pn|date=June 2024}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bender |first1=M. Lionel |title=Review of The Archaeological and Linguistic Reconstruction of African History |journal=Language |date=1985 |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=694–698 |doi=10.2307/414395 |jstor=414395 }}</ref>

Decorative art can be found at Capsian sites, including figurative and abstract [[rock art]]. [[Ochre]] is found on both tools and corpses. [[Ostrich egg]]shells were used to make [[Ostrich eggshell beads|beads]] and containers; [[seashell]]s were used for necklaces. The [[Iberomaurusian]] practice of extracting the central [[incisors]] continued sporadically but became rarer.

Anatomically, Capsian populations were modern ''[[Homo sapiens]]'', traditionally classed into two variegate types: [[Mediterranean race|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 [[Natufian culture|Natufians]]/[[Pre-Pottery Neolithic]],<ref name="Ferembach 1985">{{cite journal |last1=Ferembach |first1=Denise |date=May 1985 |title=On the origin of the iberomaurusians (Upper palaeolithic: North Africa). A new hypothesis |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=393–397 |bibcode=1985JHumE..14..393F |doi=10.1016/S0047-2484(85)80047-6}}</ref> whereas others argue for a population continuity based on physical skeletal characteristics and other criteria.<ref name="Sheppard and Lubell 1991">{{cite journal |last1=Sheppard |first1=Peter |last2=Lubell |first2=David |date=1990 |title=Early Holocene Maghreb prehistory: an evolutionary approach |journal=Sahara |volume=3 |pages=63–69 |id={{INIST|11805152}}}}</ref><ref name="Lubell et al. 1984" /><ref name="Lubell 2001">{{cite book |last1=Lubell |first1=David |title=Encyclopedia of Prehistory Volume 1: Africa |date=2001 |isbn=978-0-306-46255-9 |pages=129–149 |chapter=Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene Maghreb |doi=10.1007/978-1-4615-1193-9_11}}</ref> 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 race|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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Briggs |first=L. Cabot |date=1950-09-01 |title=On three skulls from Mechta‐el‐Arbi, Algeria. A reexamination of Cole's adult series |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.1330080311 |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |language=en |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=305–314 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330080311 |issn=0002-9483 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The [[Eburran industry]] which dates between 13,000 and 9,000 BC{{citation needed|date=August 2025}} in East Africa, was formerly known as the "Kenya Capsian" due to similarities in the stone blade shapes.

== Genetics ==
Recent genetic studies have further illuminated the origins and diversity of Capsian populations. In 2025, a study by researchers from Harvard University analyzed the DNA of nine late Stone Age individuals from Tunisia and Algeria.<ref>Lipson et. al 2025. [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08699-4 High continuity of forager ancestry in the Neolithic period of the eastern Maghreb]. Nature. 12 mars 2025. (PRJEB83667)</ref> The findings suggest that the inhabitants of North Africa during this period were predominantly of local North African origin, resembling the Stone Age populations from [[Taforalt]] and [[Ifri N'Ammar]] in Morocco. This indicates a broad geographical and temporal distribution of a distinctive genetic component in the region.

Some of these genomes had contributions from [[Early European Farmers|European farmers]] (~7,000 BP) and [[Levantine people|Levantine groups]] (~6,800 BP). Moreover, one sample from [[Djebba]], [[Tunisia]], revealed European hunter-gatherer ancestry dating back to around ~8,000 BP, likely due to human migrations across the Sicilian Straits. Other samples from the Greater East of Morocco demonstrated minimal genetic contributions from European farmers or Eastern groups, reflecting a relatively isolated genetic profile compared to southern Europe and other parts of the Mediterranean.

In terms of paternal haplogroups, the study identified the following lineages among the studied individuals:

The majority belonged to [[Haplogroup E-M215]], with two specimens carrying the E-Z1902 lineage (a superclade of E-V65), one sample belonging to the E-M78 haplogroup, while two other individuals were assigned to the [[Haplogroup T-M184]] on distinct branches.

While the maternal haplogroups included:

Two individuals with U6a, two with U6d, one with U6b, two with R, one with U5b, and lastly one with L3f1b-a. These findings align with earlier genetic data from Taforalt and [[Ifri N'Amr Ou Moussa|Ifri n'Amr Ou Moussa]] caves in Morocco. At Taforalt, all samples belonged to the E-M78* haplogroup, while samples from Ifri n'Amr Ou Moussa included E-L19 and a unique E-PF2545 subclade within the E-M81 lineage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=High continuity of forager ancestry in the Neolithic of the eastern Maghreb |url=https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/PRJEB83667 |access-date=2025-01-11 |website=www.ebi.ac.uk}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Iberomaurisiense-Capsiense.png|The main sites of the Iberomaurusian and Capsian cultures in north Africa
File:Bouteille en œuf d'autruche (Capsien).png|A Capsian ostrich-egg bottle
File:Capsien burial (Tunisia).png|Capsian burial (Tunisia)
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[African humid period]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070116061410/http://www.worldmuseumofman.org/capsianartifacts1.htm Capsian African Neolithic Tools, Weapons and Artifacts]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100601201217/https://www.beloit.edu/logan/exhibitions/virtual_exhibitions/before_history/africa/index.php Capsian North Africa]
* [http://anthropology.uwaterloo.ca/lubell.html Prof. David Lubell' home page] at [[University of Waterloo]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050503032555/http://ianthro.unige.ch/cours/prehistoire-generale/doc/corboud/MODULE-7/Illustrations/Fig-19-19.html L'Université de Genève – drawing of microliths from upper Capsian]
* [https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/PRJEB83667 High continuity of forager ancestry in the Neolithic of the eastern Maghreb]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capsian Culture}}
[[Category:Mesolithic cultures of Africa]]
[[Category:Archaeology of Algeria]]
[[Category:Archaeology of Libya]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures in Morocco]]
[[Category:Archaeology of Tunisia]]
[[Category:Hunter-gatherers of Africa]]
[[Category:8th-millennium BC establishments]]
[[Category:6th-millennium BC disestablishments]]

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Capsian