Capsien

Drawing of the burial of a male member of the Capsien culture.

Distribution of the Iberomaurusia (green), core area of ​​the Capsia (blue)

Capsien is a North African epipalaeolithic culture in the transition from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic . The culture existed between 9000 and 3000 BC. It is named after the ancient place Capsa, today's Gafsa in Tunisia . Most of the finds have been made on the Algerian and Tunisian plateaus.

Typically, back knives and back blades as well as microliths are found as triangles, squares and trapezoids. Ostrich eggs are used as containers and decorated with incised patterns. This material is also found in the form of round, pierced pearls . For the first time there are figurative representations.

The Atérien preceded the Capsien, and traces of Ibéromaurusia were found in some places between Atérien and Capsien . The time of the North African rock art also falls in the Capsien . The early settlements were mostly on hills. At the chotts (dry salt lakes) are Køkkenmøddinger , as they are also known from the coasts of Europe. Enormous amounts of snail shells were found , as the animals were used for food. The diet was that of the hunter-gatherer . Funeral burials with grave goods and ocher were known. The Capsier began to keep goats and sheep , possibly by this time grain was already being grown , similar to Dar Tichitt .

literature

• Simone Mulazzani (ed.): Le Capsien de Hergla (Tunisie). Culture, environment et économie . Reports in African Archeology 4. Africa Magna, Frankfurt am Main 2013, ISBN 978-3-937248-36-3 .