Capsian mortuary practices at Site 12 (Aïn Berriche), Aïn Beïda region, eastern Algeria

Abstract

Site 12, a Capsian escargotière in eastern Algeria, was excavated in 1930 by a joint expedition from the Logan Museum of Beloit College led by Alonzo W. Pond and the University of Minnesota led by Albert E. Jenks, assisted by a number of undergraduate and graduate students. Among the finds recovered were a large number of human skeletons, some of which undoubtedly date to the Capsian use of the site in the early and middle Holocene. Several of these display unusual mortuary practices and there is evidence for removal of bones, some of which were then modified for either utilitarian or ritual/symbolic purposes.