The bone industry in the Capsian and Neolithic contexts of Eastern Maghreb: A technological and functional approach

Abstract

Tools manufactured from hard animal materials were widely used in North Africa both in the Epipaleolithic and in the Neolithic delete. This article discusses how a methodology based on the technological, typological and functional analyses of several Capsian series from the Tébessa region (Algeria) lead to identification of specific techno-economic indicators of bone production suggestive of a vivid cultural exchange among groups living in the same territory. Over time, the application of the same methodology on a larger number of samples might possibly establish whether the technical tradition on animal hard material identified in the Tébessa region is all there is to the Capsian culture or whether it is only one among diversified practices.The juxtaposition of the data collected for this study with those from the Neolithic bone Rivière Collection (Capéletti Cave, Algeria) has revealed innovative techno-economic indicators along all the steps of the chaîne opératoire. The partial change that the hard animal material manufacture underwent from the Epipaleolithic to the Neolithic phase is also in line with the transformation by other cultural material categories during the same period. The introduction of allochthonous elements along the North African coast during the Neolithic phase had an impact on the local settlement and economy.