Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-jbqgn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-03T05:08:07.458Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Megalithic architecture and funerary practices in the late prehistory of Wadi Tanezzuft (Libyan Sahara)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

Savino di Lernia ,
Giovanni B. Bertolani ,
Francesca Merighi ,
Francesca R. Ricci ,
Giorgio Manzi  and
Mauro Cremaschi
Savino di Lernia
Affiliation:
CIRSA, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Via Palestro 63, 00185 Rome, Italy. E-mail: dilernia@uniromal.it
Giovanni B. Bertolani
Affiliation:
CIRSA, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Via Palestro 63, 00185 Rome, Italy. E-mail: dilernia@uniromal.it
Francesca Merighi
Affiliation:
University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Via Palestro 63, 00185 Rome, Italy
Francesca R. Ricci
Affiliation:
University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Dip. BAU, Piazzale A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Giorgio Manzi
Affiliation:
University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Dip. BAU, Piazzale A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Mauro Cremaschi
Affiliation:
CNR, Centro Geodinamica Alpina e del Quaternario, Via Mangiagalli 34, 20100, Milano, Italy
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Recent surveys conducted by the Italo-Libyan Joint Mission of the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in the region of Wadi Tanezzuft (Libyan Sahara) revealed a huge number of sites characterised by the presence of stone tumuli and other megalithic constructions, usually associated with funerary rituals. During the 1999-2000 field seasons, one of these sites—site 96/129—was subjected to systematic excavation, revealing the construction technique of these monuments and showing evidence of human burials. It sheds new light on the funerary practices and anthropological features of the ancient populations of the region. Radiocarbon determinations placed this site at the very end of the Late Pastoral culture, some 3000 uncalibrated years bp. The skeletal material generally shows a good state of preservation and has been the object of a first morphological appraisal. The population of site 96/129 comprised long-limbed and relatively gracile humans, with labour-related afflictions; their dental dimensions consistently follow the trend of dental reduction known for post-Pleistocene human populations. Of great interest are the relationships with the emergence of Garamantian civilisation. Some traits of the funerary practices show the existence of a local heritage, whose roots may be sought in prehistoric times, in particular the position of the corpses and features of grave goods. On the other hand, the presence of multiple burials, the evidence of burnt animal bones, together with small concentrations of ashes in the monuments seem in contrast with the known funerary practices of prehistoric Pastoral sites of the Acacus and surroundings. Such evidence is compared with the regional analysis of megalithic architecture in the Tanezzuft valley, and discloses a tantalising perspective on the cultural trajectories and related biological pulsation in the area.

Type
Articles
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 32 , 2001 , pp. 29 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acsàdi, G. and Nemeskèri, J. 1970. History of Human Life Span and Mortality, Budapest.Google Scholar
Ammerman, A.J. and Cavalli-Sforza, L.L. 1984. The Neolithic transition and the genetics of populations in Europe, Princeton, NJ.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barbujani, G., Pilastro, A., De Domenico, S. and Renfrew, C. 1994. Genetic variation in North Africa and Eurasia: Neolithic demie diffusion vs. Paleolithic colonisation. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 95: 137–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barich, B. E. 1987. Archaeology and Environment in the Libyan Sahara. The excavations in the Tadrart Acacus, 1978-1983 (B.A.R. International Series 368), Oxford.Google Scholar
Biasutti, R. 1967. Razze e popoli della Terra, vol. 3, Torino.Google Scholar
Bosch, E., Calafell, F., Pérez-Lezaun, A., Comas, D., Mateu, E., and Bertranpetit, J. 1997. Population history of North Africa: evidence from classical genetic markers. Human Biology 69 (3): 295–311.Google ScholarPubMed
Brace, C.L. 1967. Environment, tooth form, and size in the Pleistocene. Journal of Dental Research 46: 809–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calcagno, J.M. 1986. Dental reduction in post-Pleistocene Nubia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 70: 349–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cavalli-Sforza, L.L., Menozzi, P., and Piazza, A. 1994. History and geography of human genes, Princeton, NJ.Google Scholar
Chamla, M.C. 1968. Les populations anciennes du Sahara et des régions limitrophes. Etude des restes osseux humains néolithique et protohistoriques (Mémoires du Centre de Recherches anthropologiques, préhistoriques et ethnographiques 9), Paris.Google Scholar
Chamla, M.C. 1970. Les hommes épipaléolithiques de Columnata (Algérie occidentale), Etude anthropologique (Mémoires du Centre de Recherches anthropologiques, préhistoriques et ethnographiques), Paris.Google Scholar
Cremaschi, M. 1998. Late Quaternary geological evidence for environmental changes in Western Fezzan (Libyan Sahara). In Cremaschi, M. and di Lernia, S. (eds.), Wadi Teshuinat. Palaeoenvironment and Prehistory in south-western Fezzan (Libyan Sahara), Milano: 13–48.Google Scholar
Cremaschi, M. and Lernia, di, (eds.) S. 1998. Wadi Teshuinat. Palaeoenvironment and Prehistory in south-western Fezzan (Libyan Sahara) (Quaderni di Geodinamica Alpina e Quaternaria 7), Milano.Google Scholar
Cremaschi, M., and di Lernia, S. 1998. The geoarchaeological survey in central Tadrart Acacus and surroundings (Libyan Sahara). Environment and cultures. In Cremaschi, M. and Lernia, S. di (eds.), Wadi Teshuinat. Palaeoenvironment and Prehistory in south-western Fezzan (Libyan Sahara) (Quaderni di Geodinamica Alpina e Quaternaria 7), Milano: 245–98.Google Scholar
Cremaschi, M. and di Lernia, S. 1999. Holocene climatic changes and cultural dynamics in Libyan Sahara. African Archaeological Review 16 (4): 211–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cremaschi, M., di Lernia, S., and Liverani, M. 2000. The CIRSA, and the recent research in central Sahara: palaeoenvironmental investigations, prehistoric studies, and historical analyses. Paleo-express 6: 3–5.Google Scholar
Daniels, C.M. 1968. Garamantian excavations: Zinchecra 1965-66. Libya Antiqua 5: 113–94.Google Scholar
di Lernia, S. in press. Dry intervals and cultural trajectories. Adjusting Middle Holocene pastoral economy of the Libyan Sahara. European Science Foundation. Workshop on Ecological Change and Food Security in Africa's Later Prehistory, London 15-18 September 1998.Google Scholar
di Lernia, S. and Manzi, G. 1998. Funerary practices and anthropological features at 8000-5000 BP. Some evidence from central-southern Acacus (Libyan Sahara). In Cremaschi, M. and di Lernia, S. (eds), Wadi Teshuinat. Palaeoenvironment and Prehistory in south-western Fezzan (Libyan Sahara) (Quaderni di Geodinamica Alpina e Quaternaria 7), Milano: 217–42.Google Scholar
di Lernia, S., Cremaschi, M., Castelli, R., Grassi, G., Merighi, F., and Trombino, L. 2000b. Environmental changes and settlement systems in the mid-Holocene palaeo-oasis of the wadi Tanezzuft (Libyan Sahara). Preliminary results of an intensive survey. SAfA Biennal Conference, Cambridge, 12-15 07 2000.Google Scholar
Dutour, O. 1989. Hommes fossiles du Sahara. Peuplements holocènes du Mali septentrional. Paris.Google Scholar
Gautier, Y. and Gautier, C. 1999. Orientaton et distribution de divers types de monuments lithiques du Messak et des régions voisines. Sahara 11: 87–108.Google Scholar
Hassan, F. 2000. Holocene environmental change and the origins and spread of food production in the Middle East. Adumatu 1: 7–28.Google Scholar
Liverani, M. 2000. The Garamantes: a fresh approach. Libyan Studies 31: 17–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacDonald, D.H. and Hewlett, B.S. 1999. Reproductive interests and forager mobility. Current Anthropology 40 (4): 501–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milburn, M. 1996. Some recent burial dates for central and southern Sahara, including monuments. Sahara 8: 99–103.Google Scholar
Mori, F. and Ascenzi, A. 1959. La mummia infantile di Uan Muhuggiag. Osservazioni antropologiche. Rivista di Antropologia 46: 125–48.Google Scholar
Pace, B., Sergi, S., and Caputo, G. 1951, Scavi Sahariani. Ricerche nell'Uadi el-Agial e nell'Oasi di Gat, Roma.Google Scholar
Paris, F. 1997. Burials and the peopling of the Adrar Bous region. In Barich, B. E. and Gatto, M. C. (eds.), Dynamics of populations, movements and responses to climatic change in Africa, Roma: 49–61.Google Scholar
Ponti, R. n.d. The megalithic strucures of the Messak Settafet: Tilizaghen and In Habeter. (Manuscript in preparation).Google Scholar
Olivier, G. 1960. Pratique anthropologique, Paris.Google Scholar
Ubelaker, D.V. 1989. Human skeletal remains. Excavation, analysis, interpretation, Chicago.Google Scholar
Wendorf, F., Schild, R., Applegate, A., and Gautier, A. 1997. Tumuli, cattle burials and society in the Eastern Sahara. In Barich, B. E. and Gatto, M. C. (eds.), Dynamics of populations, movements and responses to climatic change in Africa, Roma: 90–104.Google Scholar