First preliminary evidence for basketry and nut consumption in the Capsian culture (ca. 10,000–7500BP): Archaeobotanical data from new excavations at El Mekta, Tunisia

Morales, Jacob; Mulazzani, Simone; Belhouchet, Lotfi; Zazzo, Antoine; Berrio, Laura; Eddargach, Wassel; Cervi, Angela; Hamdi, Hamza; Saïdi, Mohamed Raouf; Coppa, Alfredo; Peña‐Chocarro, Leonor

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2014.12.005

Cited by 30 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…and even for clothing; dresses or sandals might be represented by our remains, similar to those known from the south of the Iberian Peninsula in the Neolithic (cf. Alfaro Giner 1984) or the Capsian context in North Africa (Morales et al 2015), but several millennia later than the remains described here.…”

Section: Cords Mats Baskets or Containersmentioning

confidence: 57%

Cordage, basketry and containers at the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary in southwest Europe. Evidence from Coves de Santa Maira (Valencian region, Spain)

Tortosa

Pérez‐Jordà

Marco

et al. 2019

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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In this study we present evidence of braided plant fibres and basketry imprints on clay recovered from Coves de Santa Maira, a Palaeolithic-Mesolithic cave site located in the Mediterranean region of Spain. The anatomical features of these organic fibre remains were identified in the archaeological material and compared with modern Stipa tenacissima (esparto grass). Based on direct dating, the fragments of esparto cord from our site are the oldest worked plant fibres in Europe. Sixty fragments of fired clay are described. The clay impressions have allowed us to discuss the making of baskets and containers. According to their attributes and their functional interpretation, we have grouped them into five types within two broad categories, hearth plates and baskets or containers. The clay pieces identified as fragments of containers with basketry impressions are less common than those of hearth plate remains and they are concentrated in the Epipalaeolithic occupation material (13.2-10.2 ka cal bp). The clay impressions from Santa Maira indicate that some fibres were treated or flattened, a preparation process that is known from historical and ethnological sources.

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Section: Cords Mats Baskets or Containersmentioning

confidence: 57%

Cordage, basketry and containers at the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary in southwest Europe. Evidence from Coves de Santa Maira (Valencian region, Spain)

Tortosa

Pérez‐Jordà

Marco

et al. 2019

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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“…In particular, wild plants such as acorns and pine nuts have been recorded at several sites in Mediterranean Africa (Barker et al 2008;p. 208-213;2009, p. 83-88;2010, p. 76-78;Morales 2018;Morales et al 2015), and are still widely consumed in the Maghreb, providing a rich source of calories. The Ait Abdi tribe, located in the Moroccan High Atlas, exemplifies this tradition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Light on the Silent Millennia: Mediterranean Africa, ca. 4000–900 BC

2020

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The so-called neolithization process (ca. 6000/5500–4000 BC) in Mediterranean Africa and the Sahara has been increasingly researched in recent years. In contrast, relatively little is known, especially in Mediterranean Africa, of the period between the beginnings of irreversible climatic deterioration in the Sahara, around 4000–3500 BC, and the onset of Iron Age to broadly Classical times. Why, with the exception of the Nile Delta, is our knowledge of the period between the fourth millennium BC and the threshold of the first Iron Age Phoenician and Greek colonies so limited? To what extent can this information gap be attributed to aridification in the Mediterranean zone, or is it rather a product of the failure to look for the right kinds of materials and sites, and of their relative visibility? In order to answer these questions, this paper focuses specifically on Mediterranean Africa (with the exception of Egypt) from about 4000 BC to ca. 900 BC. It is mainly based on the data made available on MedAfriCarbon, a spatially linked, publicly accessible database and web app comprising the 14C chronometric evidence from Mediterranean Africa from 12,000 to 600 cal. BC, with details of associated cultural and economic information. Analysis of these data shows that most of Mediterranean Africa beyond the Nile was occupied to different extents throughout the 3000-year period covered in this article and that, with a few important exceptions, the robust and resilient nature of local, mainly pastoral, ways of life militated against a shift towards a fully agricultural economy.

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“…During the Holocene, the Capsian civilization covered the period between 10,000 and 7,500 BP. This culture was discovered during the excavation of the site of El-Mekta, located by Boudy in 1906 on the eponymous hill, 10 km north of Gafsa in southwest Tunisia (Morales et al, 2015) ( Figure 2). Archeologists were able to find stone and bone tools, shell beads and decorated bones, ostrich shell containers, as well as stylized women's heads carved from limestone.…”

Section: Tunisia: From the Stone Age To The Present Eramentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence for hunting, fishing, food processing and cooking was also abundant. Remains of Aleppo pine as well as Acorns were the commonly detected in the plant assemblage recovered from site El‐Mekta (Morales et al., ).…”

Section: Tunisia: From the Stone Age To The Present Eramentioning

confidence: 99%