Angela Cervi

ABSTRACT This paper aims to explore the presence of macro-botanical remains and to assess the role of food plants in sites from the Capsian culture (ca. 10,000–7500 BP). Previous research on the Capsian diet has emphasized the role of land snails and animal resources, but little attention has been paid to the consumption of plants. Here we present the results from the first systematic analysis of charred macro-botanical remains (other than wood charcoal) from a Capsian site. As a case study we have used the data from El Mekta in Tunisia occupied during both the Typical and Upper Capsian periods. Macro-botanical remains were scarce and the evidence of plant use is limited. We identified three taxa including Pinus halepensis, Quercus sp., and Stipa tenacissima. Archaeobotanical and ethnographic evidence suggests that P. halepensis and Quercus sp. could have been used for human consumption while S. tenacissima may have been utilized as a source of fiber for basketry. Decreasing frequencies of Quercus sp. from the Typical to the Upper Capsian levels match well with paleoclimatic proxies pointing to a slow process of desiccation in the region. Capsian populations could have adapted to this environmental change by focusing on the gathering of P. halepensis. We propose that both acorns and pine nuts could have played an important role in the Capsian diet, providing a highly nutritious food source which could also be stored. Archaeobotanical data is limited and definitive conclusions are still at an early stage but we encourage the application of systematic and complete sampling at other Capsian sites in order to test this hypothesis.

A significant assemblage of wooden fragments and related decorative elements, such as glass inlays and miniaturized faïence column drums, has been found inside the temple of Soknopaiou Nesos.
All these objects belong to the wooden temple's furniture. These furnishing were probably destroyed during the Late Antique use of the temple and the fragments were scattered in the area. Their poor state of preservation makes it impossible to completely rebuild the original items, but among them it is possible to identify at least two different typologies of furniture: shrines and portable shrines.
The context of recovery and the distribution of the findings are analyzed in order to interpret the dynamics of the furniture's destruction and the original locations of the shrines inside the temple.
Different kinds of documents (illustrated papyri, temple relieves) are then analyzed in order to reconstruct the original shape of the different shrines and to understand their different use in relation to the cult activities in the temple.
A catalogue of all the objects found is provided, together with a discussion concerning similar findings from other archaeological sites and objects preserved in museums. The catalogue is divided into different sections corresponding to the different typologies of the furniture.
The information collected through the comparison of objects and the analysis of different kinds of documents allow us to date the temple wooden furniture to the Ptolemaic Period.
Inside the temple glass waste and prefabricated elements, such as multicoloured canes and mosaic bars, were also found.
These findings attest to the presence on the site of a workshop for the production of the glass inlays which decorated the shrines. They are presented in an appendix to the chapter.