Capsian

{{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 = Tunisia

|period = Epipalaeolithic or Later Stone Age

|dates = ca. 9000 – 5400 cal BC

|typesite = El Mekta

|majorsites = Medjez II, Relilaï, Kef Zoura D, El Mekta.

|precededby = Iberomaurusian

|followedby = Libyans

}}

The Capsian was an Epipalaeolithic tradition in Algeria and Tunisia from ca. 9000 to 5400 cal BC.{{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}} It is named after the town of Gafsa, Tunisia (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.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.{{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 }}{{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}}

During this period, the environment of the Maghreb was open savanna, much like modern East Africa, with Mediterranean forests at higher altitudes;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. where the initial phase overlaps with the African humid period.{{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 }} 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.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.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. During the succeeding Neolithic of Capsian Tradition, there is evidence from one site, for domesticated, probably imported, ovicaprids.1979 C. Roubet. Économie Pastorale Préagricole en Algérie Orientale: le Néolithique de Tradition Capsienne. Paris: CNRS.{{pn|date=June 2024}}

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.{{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 }}

Decorative art can be found at Capsian sites, including figurative and abstract rock art. Ochre is found on both tools and corpses. Ostrich eggshells were used to make beads and containers; seashells 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: 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,{{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}} whereas others argue for a population continuity based on physical skeletal characteristics and other criteria.{{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}}}}{{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}} 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.{{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 }}

The Eburran industry which dates between 13,000 and 9,000 BC{{is this date calibrated?|date=August 2018}} in East Africa, was formerly known as the "Kenya Capsian" due to similarities in the stone blade shapes.