THE CAPSIAN CULTURE.

The Capsian Culture was a Mesolithic culture of the Maghreb (Sunset), which lasted from about 10,000 to 6,000 BCE.  The start and ends dates of the Mesolithic vary by geographical region. The times vary greatly. Mesolithic peoples continued with intensive hunting while others were practicing the initial stages of domestication.
The Maghreb (Sunset) Region was usually defined as much or most of the region of North West Africa, West of Egypt. The traditional definition included the Atlas mountains and the coastal plains of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Later, following the 1989 formation of the Arab Maghreb Union, included  the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (Agabe) and the desert flat land of Western Sahara.
The ancient Capsian were concentrated mainly in modern Tunisia, and Algeria, with some sites attested in Southern Spain to Sicily. It is traditionally divided into two horizons, The Typical Capsian and the Upper Capsian. They represent variants of one tradition, the differences between them being both typological and technological.
During the period of time in which the culture developed, the environment of the Maghreb (Sunset) was open savanna with Mediterranean forests at higher altitudes. A savanna was a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy did not close. The open canopy allowed sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer of grassland.
Capsa (Gafsa), the capital of the South West Tunisia lends its name to the Mesolithic Capsian culture. With a population of 111,170, Gafsa is the 9th largest Tunisian city. The city lies 369 km / 229mi by road South West of Tunis.
Excavations at prehistoric sites in the area have yielded artifacts and skeletal remains associated with the Capsian culture. Nothing is known about ancient Capsian religion, but their burial methods suggests a belief in an afterlife. Decorative art is widely found at their sites, including figurative abstract rock art, and ochre is found coloring both tools and corpses. Ostrich eggshells were used to make beads and containers; seashells were used for necklaces.
The city of Capsa belonged to Jug-Ur-tha (160-104BC), King of Numidia, born in Cirta (modern-day Constantine) who deposited his treasures there. The people of Numidia were semi-nomadic and indistinguishable from other Libyans in North Africa. It was captured by Gaius Marius in 106 BC and destroyed, but later became a Roman colony, and was an important city of Roman Africa. Roman cisterns are still evident in the city ruins. The Vandals, an East Germanic Tribe who were first heard of in Southern Poland, but later moved, conquered the Roman city and ruled it until 477 CE.
The Berbers then occupied it, making it the capital of a Roman-Berber kingdom until subjected to Byzantium under Justinian I (527-565CE). He made Capsa the capital of the Province of Byzacena.
In 688 CE the city was conquered by the Arabs losing its importance.