LXᵉ siècle av. J.-C. – IXᵉ siècle av. J.-C.
Africa Minor
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Pre-Carthaginian Berber agriculture was an established economic practice in North Africa before Phoenician settlement. Libyco-Berber communities cultivated hard wheat, barley, beans, and chick-peas, used simple wooden ploughs, harnessed oxen, and maintained early hydraulic installations. Their agricultural regime remained technologically distinct from later Punic methods, particularly in plough design and threshing. Archaeological burial grounds and ceramic distributions provide evidence for sedentary rural communities, while the limits of cultivation varied across the Maghreb and pre-Saharan zones.
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Le récit
Agriculture formed part of Libyco-Berber life before the Phoenicians established settlements on the North African coast. The passage rejects the idea that Canaanites introduced farming during the second millennium before the common era, describing cultivation as an inheritance from the close of Neolithic times. Engravings from La Cheffia and the High Atlas represent a swing-plough, while remains near Tebessa point to hydraulic installations of considerable antiquity.
The indigenous plough was simple and less effective than the triangular metal-shared plough later associated with Phoenician influence. It consisted of a wooden share drawn through the soil, and some Libyans initially pulled it themselves with ropes slung across their shoulders. They were nevertheless familiar with ox harnessing, represented in Egyptian frescoes and High Atlas engravings. Before Punic times, however, they apparently lacked a mechanical method of threshing and relied on heavy cattle to tread out the grain.
The cultivated repertoire included hard wheat, barley, beans, and chick-peas. Dates grew in pre-Saharan districts, while figs were especially favored among the Berbers. The archaeological distribution of ceramic-bearing burial grounds offers a rough indication of agricultural expansion, although pottery is absent from several southern, Saharan, and eastern Moroccan areas. These absences caution against treating the agricultural zone as continuous or uniform.
LXᵉ siècle av. J.-C. – IXᵉ siècle av. J.-C.
Africa Minor
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Pre-Carthaginian Berber agriculture was an established economic practice in North Africa before Phoenician settlement. Libyco-Berber communities cultivated hard wheat, barley, beans, and chick-peas, used simple wooden ploughs, harnessed oxen, and maintained early hydraulic installations. Their agricultural regime remained technologically distinct from later Punic methods, particularly in plough design and threshing. Archaeological burial grounds and ceramic distributions provide evidence for sedentary rural communities, while the limits of cultivation varied across the Maghreb and pre-Saharan zones.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Agriculture formed part of Libyco-Berber life before the Phoenicians established settlements on the North African coast. The passage rejects the idea that Canaanites introduced farming during the second millennium before the common era, describing cultivation as an inheritance from the close of Neolithic times. Engravings from La Cheffia and the High Atlas represent a swing-plough, while remains near Tebessa point to hydraulic installations of considerable antiquity.
The indigenous plough was simple and less effective than the triangular metal-shared plough later associated with Phoenician influence. It consisted of a wooden share drawn through the soil, and some Libyans initially pulled it themselves with ropes slung across their shoulders. They were nevertheless familiar with ox harnessing, represented in Egyptian frescoes and High Atlas engravings. Before Punic times, however, they apparently lacked a mechanical method of threshing and relied on heavy cattle to tread out the grain.
The cultivated repertoire included hard wheat, barley, beans, and chick-peas. Dates grew in pre-Saharan districts, while figs were especially favored among the Berbers. The archaeological distribution of ceramic-bearing burial grounds offers a rough indication of agricultural expansion, although pottery is absent from several southern, Saharan, and eastern Moroccan areas. These absences caution against treating the agricultural zone as continuous or uniform.
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