bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
General Account of Recent Discoveries at Tocra
Authors: Bentaher Fuaad 
Published: February 2016

Short seasons of excavation between 1985 and 1992 were conducted under the supervision of the writer in an open and almost featureless area near the center of the walled city of Tocra. The excavations were part of the Garyunis (Benghazi) University training program, arranged by the Department of Archaeology for undergraduate students.The excavation uncovered the remains of seven buildings and produced a vast quantity of stratified material. Four periods of occupation, Hellenistic, Roman (early and late), Byzantine and Islamic, were encountered within the excavated area.The uppermost levels of all buildings excavated are to be dated mainly in the Byzantine period, but show some structural additions and minor modifications probably undertaken during the Islamic period. The floor level of each building produced a large quantity of material which is confidently referred to the 6th and 7th centuries AD. The vast majority of the dateable finds consisted of coarse pottery, including flat-based jugs, some of which were nearly complete, a very distinctive type of cooking ware with a row of finger indentations on the top of the lug, pieces of broken amphorae, mostly necks, bases and handles; one of these handles is stamped with a bust of a Byzantine emperor in a style exactly similar to that of busts on the obverse of Byzantine coins. The legend, however, is not legible (Fig. 13a). Among the finds were also a large quantity of Byzantine lamps, of which more than thirty are either complete or nearly complete, and many Byzantine coins, of which a high proportion belongs to the reign of Heraclius (AD 610–641).
Quaternary Deposits of Northern Libya — Lithostratigraphy and Correlation
Authors: Anketell J. M. 
Published: February 2016

In recent years basic regional geological mapping of northern Libya by the Industrial Research Centre, Tripoli, together with the UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey of eastern Tripolitania and the work of the author and Dr S. M. Ghellali in the Jifarah Plain and Jabal Nafusah, have greatly added to our knowledge of Quaternary deposits in the region. This work is described and evaluated against the background of earlier studies. The succession of major depositional, soil forming and erosional events which characterise the fluvio-aeolian deposits of the Jifarah Formation can be recognised in, and thus used to subdivide, laterally equivalent aeolianite, fangravel and wadi gravel deposits in the Jifarah Plain. Comparisons of this succession with others from throughout the region indicate that the events are of regional significance and that the Jifarah sequence provides a sound framework for lithostratigraphic correlation and a basis for facies analysis and chronostratigraphic studies.This review is largely limited to the northern margins of Libya north of the 30th parallel (Fig. 1). It is convenient to subdivide the zone into several regions. These are:(a) The Jifarah Plain and foothills of the Jabal Nafusah.(b) The Hammada Al Hamra Plateau and major valleys of eastern Tripolitania.(c) The coastal region from Misratah to Ajdabiyah.(d) Cyrenaica from Soluq to Al Bardia.
From Classification to Interpretation: Libyan Prehistory, 1969–1989
Authors: Barker G. W. W. 
Published: February 2016

In the 15 years following the Second World War, the available data on the prehistory of North Africa were summarised in a series of major syntheses (notably Alimen 1955; Balout 1955; Ford-Johnston 1959; and Vaufrey 1955). With stratified sequences few and far between, radiometric techniques of absolute dating still at the developmental stage, and little detailed information on palaeoenvironments, it was inevitable that the emphasis of all these studies was on the description and classification of the archaeological record, and its organisation into regional cultural sequences. As far as Libya was concerned, the prehistoric rock carvings of the Fezzan were already well known, particularly from the studies by Graziosi before the war (Graziosi 1934; 1937; 1942), but in terms of artifact assemblages Libyan prehistory was much less understood than the prehistoric sequences of the Maghreb to the west and accordingly much less represented in the syntheses of the 1950s. In general, the prehistory of North Africa was described as a succession of ‘cultural groups’ that were correlated more or less with the better-documented palaeolithic, mesolithic, and neolithic sequences of Europe.During the 1960s, two major studies of Libyan prehistory were published which have had a dominating influence on research in the following 20 years. The first was the publication by Charles McBurney (1967) of the deep stratigraphy of the Haua Fteah cave on the coast of Cyrenaica. McBurney began research on the Libyan Palaeolithic in the years immediately after the war, publishing a variety of surface collections (1947), trial excavations in the Hagfet ed Dabba cave (1950), and a joint study with C. W. Hey (1955) of the relationship between Pleistocene geological and archaeological sequences in Cyrenaica. His excavations in the Haua Fteah were conducted in 1951, 1952, and 1955, the deep sounding revealing a detailed sequence of layers spanning the middle and upper palaeolithic, epipalaeolithic (or mesolithic), and neolithic occupations of the cave (for initial reports: McBurney 1960; 1961; 1962). The full report was able not only to describe the remarkable sequence of assemblages, but also to correlate these with a palaeoenvironmental sequence established from faunal, molluscan, and sedimentary studies of the cave stratigraphy, the sequence also being tied to an absolute chronology based on 20 radiocarbon determinations. The Haua Fteah stratigraphy remains unique not only in Libya but in North Africa as a whole.
La vie agricole en Libye jusqu'à l'arrivée des Arabes
Authors: Laronde A. 
Published: February 2016

Du Ier au VIIème siècle ap. J.-C, pendant la pÉriode romaine et byzantine, la Libye a connu une vie agricole originale et intense. Ce fait de civilisation n'attire l'attention des savants que depuis peu d'annÉes. Même si l'importance des vestiges archÉologiques n'avait pas ÉchappÉ aux voyageurs europÉens (Pacho 1828, 236) et arabes (El Hachaichi 1912, 60), les jugements Émis sur la valeur agricole de la Libye relevaient d'opinions prÉconçues, soit pour vanter l'intÉrêt du pays, soit au contraire pour le minimiser, dans le contexte de l'Époque coloniale (de Martino 1912, 145). De plus, tout l'intÉrêt Était orientÉ vers la façade côtière, sans beaucoup de considÉration pour l'immense zone intÉrieure.Une mise au point s'avère donc nècessaire, en partant des donnÉes physiques et humaines observables, en cherchant à retrouver des formes d'amÉnagement, des types d'exploitation, afin de dÉterminer les grandes lignes de l'Évolution historique (Laronde 1986).Différentiation zonaleIl convient de rappeler d'abord que la Libye s'Étend sur 1.760.000 km2environ, et que sa façade mÉditerranÉenne mesure 1900 km de longueur. En fait, l'Étendue des zones dÉsertiques fausse toute apprÉciation objective et a conduit à des opinions très divergentes et toujours arbitraires; il faut donc recourir à une analyse des donnÉes physiques pour commencer. La morphologie se caractÉrise par la prÉdominance des plaines, des plateaux et des vallÉes, les communications sont gÉnÉralement aisÉes, en dÉpit de l'ampleur des distances.
Islamic Archaeology in Libya, 1969–1989
Authors: King G. R. D. 
Published: February 2016

In the course of the two decades since 1969, archaeological and architectural investigations relating to the Islamic period in Libya have made sufficient progress for it to be possible now to see the country's Islamic antiquities with a reasonable degree of perspective within Libya and in relation to a broader context. Nevertheless, a great deal of work remains to be done, both with regard to extending the geographical scope of research on Islamic Libya and to studying relatively neglected periods. At present we are better informed about certain Fāṭimid monuments in Libya than any other Islamic buildings in the country. While the importance of Libya in the tenth and eleventh centuries AD is a matter of great interest, it must not be forgotten that even today, we know very much less in detail about the mosques and houses of later times. A marked imbalance therefore exists in the relative degree of information available for an account of the Islamic archaeology and architecture of Libya in the period as a whole. This imbalance is very clear in the present survey.The extent of the increase in knowledge of the Islamic archaeology of Libya becomes immediately clear by referring to K. A. C. Creswell'sA Bibliography of the Architecture, Arts and Crafts of Islam to 1st Jan. 1960and the Supplements to it (Creswell 1973; Pearsonet al.1984). In his originalBibliographyCreswell found nothing on Libyan architecture except for some studies on Tripoli. Even in the 1960s, very little further research on the Islamic period was published, although it was in this period that Ajdābiyah and Madīnah Sulṭān were initially investigated: this work formed the foundation of that which was to follow after 1969. Bys the time that the latestSupplementto Creswell'sBibliographyappeared in 1984, a plethora of published material had emerged as a result of the sharp rise of interest in Islamic Libya during the period from 1969 onwards. As a result, no comprehensive survey of Islamic archaeology and architecture in North Africa written in the future will be complete without giving some account of the information that has been accumulated during the period 1969 to 1989.
Colonial and Early Post-Colonial Libya
Authors: Wright J. 
Published: February 2016

Libya at the beginning of this century had little to offer the would-be imperialist and coloniser. The true value of Turkey's last remaining African possessions was not — despite the insistence of the Italian nationalist lobby — as a settler-colony or as a gateway to the largely illusory wealth of central Africa, but as a strategic base on the central Mediterranean. The general poverty of Ottoman Tripolitania and Cyrenaica was reflected indeed in the poverty of the literature in any language on contemporary Libya.But growing Italian interest in these territories, by 1900 almost the last parts of Africa unclaimed by any European power, generated a series of books and articles by an imperialist-nationalist lobby eager to prove the case that Italy's political, strategic, economic and social wellbeing depended on the immediate possession of Turkish North Africa. Such writings naturally generated a rather less voluminous counter-flow of material, mainly from socialist sources, putting the opposite and (as events were to prove) essentially more realistic case.The outbreak of the Italo-Turkish war in September 1911 and the subsequent Italian occupation of bridgeheads at Tripoli, Horns, Benghazi, Derna and Tobruk first brought Libya to the notice of the international press. The British correspondents who reported one or other side of the conflict subsequently produced a number of surprisingly partisan books about the war and their own adventures in it, but had very much less to say about the little-understood country and its people. With the sudden end of the war in 1912 and the outbreak of more serious fighting in the Balkans, interest in Libya quickly waned. For the next 30 years nearly all the relevant literature was to be provided by Italians, in Italian and written from a purely Italian point of view — some of it later to be destroyed in the antifascist and anti-imperialist reaction from 1943 onwards.
ULVS XVII: Palaeoecology and Agriculture of an Abandonment Phase at Gasr Mm 10, Wadi Mimoun, Tripolitania
Authors: Hunt C. O. , Gilbertson D. D. , Jenkinson R. D. S. , van der Veen M. , Yates G. , Buckland P. C. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThis study documents the sediments, pollen, seeds, molluscs, vertebrates and mineral magnetism of deposits found in an abandoned water supply system atgasrMm 10 in the Wadi Mimoun in the pre-desert of Tripolitania. These new data suggest (1) at or close to an episode of probable abandonment of thatgasr, the growth of cereals (and perhaps general agricultural activity) still occurred on the wadi catchment upstream of thegasr, and (2) the vegetation of the adjacent wadi floor was richer in species (which included olive) than occurs today.
ULVS XVIII: The Quaternary Geomorphology and Calcretes of the Area around Gasr Banat in the Pre-desert of Tripolitania
Authors: Gilbertson D. D. , Hunt C. O. , Briggs D. J. , Coles G. M. , Thew N. M. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThis paper describes the Quaternary geology of the area around Gasr Banat which lies near the confluence of the Wadis N'f'd and N'fed in the pre-desert of Tripolitania. The site is of interest because of its aridity, the notable archaeological remains that occur in the region and the opportunity it offered to map the surficial deposits of an area otherwise largely unknown. The survey revealed that two Pleistocene cobble and gravel units laid down by ‘torrential’ rivers could be distinguished: the older of which had been cemented by calcrete. Polyphase slope deposits occur. Thin section studies of the calcrete suggests it is possible to recognise two arid and two humid episodes from its micromorphology.The Holocene period is represented by water-lain and aeolian deposits on the wadi floodplain, and climbing and barchan dunes on the adjacent hills. The period immediately prior to the construction of major cross wadi barrages may have been characterised by larger or more frequent floods than occurred immediately prior to the 1984 survey; the palaeoclimatic significance of this observation is unclear. One major barrage in the area is shown to have been built on substantial earth foundations. The assumed Romano-Libyan date of these barrages still remains to be proven, but, conversely, it is now demonstrated that they were not constructed or reconstructed in the 1950s.
The ‘Market Theatre’ Complex and Associated Structures, Cyrene
Authors: Ward-Perkins J. B. , Gibson S. C. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThis is a summary account, based on a detailed report first published in Libya Antiqua, of the so-called ‘Market Theatre’ complex. This complex comprises a number of closely linked structures situated near the heart of ancient Cyrene and was excavated by the late R. G. Goodchild in the 1950s. After his death, it was resurveyed for publication in 1971. The various component structures (the ‘Market’, the Stepped Street, the ‘Forehall’, the Valley Street frontage, the Propylon, the Building with the Windswept Capitals and the Theatre) are described in the context of three broad periods of construction observed in this area.Goodchild's original interpretation of the main porticoed building as a market, rather than as a temple precinct is defended, as is his belief that the late Roman theatre exhibited only one period of construction. The single closely datable structure is the Severan propylon, but, from observed structural relationships and architectural similarities, some suggestions are made as to the chronology of development in this quarter of Cyrene.
‘Tripolitanian Sigillata’: North African or Campanian?
Authors: Soricelli G. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractIn this article Campania is proposed as the provenance for a class of terra sigillata, somewhat frequent at Berenice and on other North-African sites, which was recently termed by Kenrick ‘Tripolitanian Sigillata’.Particularly frequent on Campanian sites, above all at Pompeii and Naples, it was present in this region from the end of the first century BC, occurring with high percentage values in assemblages of fine pottery from excavations. This new evidence for its distribution would appear to exclude a North African provenance. A Campanian origin, in the area of the Bay of Naples, is, moreover, supported both by the results of thin section analyses of the clay and by the discovery of possible kiln wasters at Naples.
ULVS XV: Radio-Carbon Dates from the Libyan Valleys Survey
Authors: Dore J. N. , van der Veen M. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThis short note presents a preliminary list of 21 radio-carbon dates obtained from field samples. The samples came from a variety of types of context (charcoal from hearths or middens, fragments of original timbers) from different types of site (farms,gsur, villages) of varying date (Roman, Byzantine/early Arab, Medieval). The results have been calibrated to present the dates in calendar years to one and two standard deviations. Some preliminary comments are advanced on the comparison between these dates and those derived from the study of the fineware pottery assemblages from the sites.
The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey IX: Anhydrite and limestone karst in the Tripolitanian pre-desert
Authors: Hunt C. O. , Gale S. J. , Gilbertson D. D. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractActive karst landforms (poljes, dolines, sinkholes, caves and rillenkarren) and hydration and weathering phenomena on anhydrite and limestone are described from the Tripolitanian pre-desert. Rainfall in the study area is considerably less than the 250–300 mm a−1 previously suggested as the minimum precipitation threshold for the development of karst landforms. These findings suggest that the presence of karst land-forms in an arid region cannot necessarily be taken as evidence for higher precipitation levels in the past.
The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey X: Botanical evidence for ancient farming in the pre-desert
Authors: van der Veen Marijke 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThis report discusses the first results of the botanical analysis of 182 samples from seven Romano-Libyan and two Islamic sites situated in the pre-desert of Tripolitania. Nine different crop plants have been discovered: barley, wheat, peas, lentils, olives, grapes, figs, dates and almonds. The likelihood of local production versus import, and of subsistence farming versus production for a market is discussed. No significant difference was detected between the range of crops found on the earlier open farms and those found on the later gsur.
The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey XI: Preliminary Lithic Report
Authors: Hivernel F. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThis interim report describes a representative sample of the lithic material recovered during the fieldwork of the UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey. Some of the problems relating to the dating of prehistoric artefacts in Libya are described (lack of detailed regional studies, patination). Material from three areas is described in detail; these areas being Wadi Tabunia near Gheriat el-Garbia, the Wadi N'f'd system (including its tributaries, the Wadis N'fed and Umm el-Kharab) and part of the Mizda corridor between Mizda and Gharian. Some preliminary comments are made on the date of certain sites and on the possible implications in relation to the prehistoric pattern of settlement.
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: The Problems of Deteriorating Historic Centres
Authors: Kezeiri S. K. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to study one of the most regrettable problems associated with rapid urban growth – the deterioration and destruction of the fabric of the historic medina. It is also the aim, to highlight the importance of our architectural heritage and to suggest the need for a national cultural policy to conserve the urban heritage of the country. Three small towns from Libya were chosen as case studies.
A hypothetical answer to the decline of the Granary of Rome?
Authors: B. A.  , Chatterton L. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractIn an earlier paper, we argued that medic pasture was probably an important component of the ancient farming regime in Libya. The success of modern experiments which have reintroduced medicago pasture was also described.In this paper, the analysis is taken further and the results of different types of crop rotation are compared. The Waite experiment in Australia has shown that the most intensive systems of cereal cultivation are not necessarily the most productive, when soil exhaustion and long term decline in yields are taken into account. In fact, the highest profits and best returns of both cereals and livestock are obtained from low intensity systems.It is possible that increased emphasis on cereal production in the Roman period may have led to a diminuation of the medic pasture, to the exhaustion of the soils and falling yields. By its own initial success, Romano-Libyan agriculture may have contributed to its own decline.
The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey VII: An Interim Classification and Functional Analysis of Ancient Wall Technology and Land Use
Authors: Gilbertson D. D. , Hayes P. P. , Barker G. W. W. , Hunt C. O. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractInterpretations of ancient wall-technologies in the Libyan pre-desert are briefly reviewed. The forms, patterns, distributions and geological/geomorphic/hydrologic relationships of walls in a series of study areas are described and interpreted with the aid of a new, non-genetic, ‘wall-technology’ classification. The remarkable hydrological and geomorphic insights of their constructors are clear. Several wall types are shown to have been primarily concerned with functions other than water control, although this aspect is usually dominant. In some cases the location of the walls appears to have been likely to exacerbate the perennial problems of soil erosion and gullying, in others walls appear to have been constructed specifically to control soil erosion. These data have implications for reconstructing past land use and evaluating the degree of success or failure experienced in particular situations.
Use of Satellite Imagery in Archaeological Surveys
Authors: Allan J. A. , Richards T. S. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractOne of the problems faced by archaeologists engaged in field surveys is the need to gain an overall view of a study area together with data on the character of its terrain. Air-photographs have for 50 years or more provided a valuable source of such data but they are often difficult to obtain or too expensive to commission. Satellite imagery has since the early 1970s been available and it is suggested that such imagery together with well tried methods of terrain analysis and land evaluation could provide the basis of economical strategies for archaeological surveys. It is also demonstrated that such an approach can help in predicting the level of settlement in different types of terrain.
The Re-interpretation of Latino-Punic Inscriptions from Roman Tripolitania
Authors: Elmayer A. F. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractFive Latino-Punic inscriptions from Tripolitania are discussed in detail, and their wider context discussed. Not only do they attest the prevalence of the Punic language in Roman Tripolitania, but also survival of Punic political and religious institutions. A particularly graphic example is provided in inscription IRT 893, which suggests that human sacrifice attested among the Carthaginians was also practised in Tripolitania. The inscriptions attest a flourishing economy in the region during the Roman period.