Middle climate changes and Capsian population dynamic in Central Tunisia during the 6th and 5th BC.

Sahbi Jaouadi∗1, Vincent Lebreton1, Lotfi Belhouchet2, Simone Mulazzani3, Nabiha Aouadi4, Isma¨ılSaafi3, Roland Nespoulet1, Julie Dunne5, Richard Evershed5, and Beya Sghar6

1UMR 7194, Histoire naturelle de lHomme´ pr´ehistorique– Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle : UMR7194 – Institut de Pal´eontologie Humaine 1, rue Ren´ePanhard 75013 Paris, France 2Institut National du Patrimoine, Mus´eeArch´eologiquede Sousse – Sousse, Tunisie 3UMR 7269 LAMPEA, MMSH, Aix-en-Provence – Aix Marseille Universit´e– France 4Institut National du Patrimoine, Mus´eeNational du Bardo – Tunis, Tunisie 5School of Chemistry [Bristol] – Cantock´sCloseBristolBS8 1TS, Royaume-Uni 6Facult´edes Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Sousse – Tunisie

R´esum´e

In the Eastern Maghreb, few data are available regarding the socioeconomic dynamics and associated environmental contexts of the Capsian hunter- gatherers (8th – 5th Mil- lennia cal BC) and the transition towards a production economy. This transition occurs during the Middle Holocene ( ˜6200- 2200 cal BC), a period characterized by greater climate variability and aridity trend. The impact of these climate conditions on the ecosystems of central Tunisia would have been important by modifying the distribution and availability of resources. Based on new pollen records on the one hand, and archeological data recently obtained from many sites in central Tunisia (Ain Metherchem, kef Ezzahi, Kef Hamda, Doukanet el Khoutifa, SHM1) on the other hand, we will discuss the potential influence of the middle Holocene environmental changes on the cultural and economic patterns of the Capsian populations of central Tunisia during the 6th and 5th millennium BC. The palaeoe- cological data indicates important climate instability during the 6th and 5th millennium with the recurrence of -scale Rapid Climate Changes (RCCs) arid events, followed, from the middle of the 4th millennium, by a climate millennial trend towards the arid conditions of the Late Holocene (from 2200 BC onwards). During the same period, from the 6th millennium onwards, in many broad-spectrum economy Capsian sites, changes in techno-economic behaviour are recorded with the introduction of ceramics, followed around the mid- 6th millennium by the appearance of domesticated animals. The emergence of a production-based economy during the 6th millennium BC through the selective introduction of certain economic innovations from the ” package”, might indicate an adaptation to new natural constraints with an arid climate limiting the possibilities for agriculture. However, although some synchronicity between climate events and technological and subsis- tence strategies changes, the complexity of man-environment interactions invite to consider human societies choices and the different reactions that may have been adopted.

∗Intervenant

sciencesconf.org:uispp2018:180129 Mots-Cl´es: Tunisia, Middle Holocene, Capsian, Climate change, adaptation, hunter, gatherers, production economy