Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T23:29:15.409Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A road less travelled? The Society for Libyan Studies and the landscape archaeology of Libya's early civilisations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2019

David J. Mattingly
David J. Mattingly*
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This contribution explores a key dimension of the work of the Society for Libyan Studies concerning the archaeology of Libya's Protohistoric and early historic periods (broadly first millennium BC and first millennium AD). This primarily concerns the archaeology of rural landscapes (including the desert) and the investigation of the ancient Libyan populations that inhabited them. Taking an autobiographical approach, I review the contributions to developing research agendas made by a number of research projects that I have been involved in. The results collectively have advanced knowledge and understanding not only of this aspect of ancient Libyan society, but also have important implications for the construction of Libyan identity and the management of its heritage today. More broadly, they constitute an important contribution to wider re-evaluation of Maghribian and Saharan societies in the Iron Age and Roman periods.

الطريق الأقل سفراً؟ جمعية الدراسات الليبية و المشهد الأثري للحضارات المبكرة في ليبيا.

بقلم ديفيد ماتينجلي

تستكشف هذه المساهمة بعداً رئيسياً من أعمال جمعية الدراسات الليبية فيما يتعلق بآثار فترات ما قبل التاريخ و أوائل الاحقاب التاريخية الليبية (في نطاق واسع الألفية الأولى قبل الميلاد والألفية الأولى بعد الميلاد). يتعلق هذا في المقام الأول بآثار المشهد الريفي (بما في ذلك الصحراء) و دراسة الليبيين القدماء الذين سكنوا فيه. باتباع نهج السيرة الذاتية (autobiographical) ، أراجع المساهمات في تطور برامج البحوث التي قدمتها عدد من المشاريع البحثية و التي شاركت فيها. والنتائج مجتمعة أسهمت في تقدم المعرفة و الفهم ليس فقط لهذا الجانب من المجتمع الليبي القديم، ولكن كان لها أيضاً التأثير المهم في بناء الهوية الليبية و إدارة تراثها اليوم. على نطاق أوسع، فإنها تشكل مساهمة مهمة في إعادة تقييم أكبر للمجتمعات المغاربية والصحراوية في العصر الحديدي والعصور الرومانية.

Type
Part 1: 50th Anniversary Research Papers
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 50 , November 2019 , pp. 35 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Libyan Studies 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abdelhamed, M.H.H. 2018. The Economic Condition of the Main Cyrenaican Cities (North-Eastern Libya) from the Hellenistic to the Mid-Roman Period: Textual Analysis. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Leicester .Google Scholar
Abdrbba, M.O.M. 2018. Outside the Walls: Cyrene's Suburban Zone between the Greek and Roman Eras. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Leicester .Google Scholar
Ahmed, M.A.M. 2010. Rural Settlement and Economic Activity: Olive Oil and Amphorae Production on the Tarhuna Plateau During the Roman Period. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Leicester .Google Scholar
Ahmed, M.A.M. 2019. Rural Settlement and Economic Activity. Olive Oil, Wine and Amphorae Production on the Tarhuna Plateau During the Roman Period. Society for Libyan Studies, London.Google Scholar
Barker, G., Gilbertson, D., Jones, B. and Mattingly, D.J. 1996a. Farming the Desert. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey. Volume 1, Synthesis. (Principal editor, Barker, G.). UNESCO/Society for Libyan Studies, Paris/London.Google Scholar
Barker, G., Gilbertson, D., Jones, B. and Mattingly, D.J. 1996b. Farming the Desert. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey. Volume 2, Gazetteer and Pottery. (Principal editor, Mattingly, D.J.). UNESCO/Society for Libyan Studies, Paris/London.Google Scholar
Barnett, T. 2019a. An Engraved Landscape. Rock Carvings in the Wadi al-Ajal, Libya. Volume 1: Synthesis. Society for Libyan Studies, London.Google Scholar
Barnett, T. 2019b. An Engraved Landscape. Rock Carvings in the Wadi al-Ajal, Libya. Volume 2: Gazetteer. Society for Libyan Studies, London.Google Scholar
Brogan, O. and Smith, D.J. 1984. Ghirza: a Romano-Libyan Settlement in Tripolitania. Libyan Antiquities Series 1, Department of Antiquities, Tripoli.Google Scholar
Buzaian, A. 2019. Ancient Olive Presses and Oil Production in Cyrenaica (North-East Libya). Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Leicester .Google Scholar
Camps, G. 1961. Aux origines de la Berbérie. Monuments et rites funéraires protohistoriques. Arts et Métiers Graphiques, Paris.Google Scholar
Daniels, C.M. 1989. Excavation and fieldwork amongst the Garamantes. Libyan Studies 20: 45–61.Google Scholar
Di Vita, A., Di Vita-Evrard, G., Bacchielli, L., Golvin, J.-C. and Polidori, R. 1998. Libya: The Lost Cities of the Roman Empire. Könemann, Cologne.Google Scholar
Duckworth, C., Cuénod, A. and Mattingly, D.J. (eds). Forthcoming. Mobile Technologies in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond. Trans-Saharan Archaeology Volume 4. Cambridge University Press and The Society for Libyan Studies, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Emrage, A.S.M. 2015. Roman Fortified Farms, Qsur and Military Sites in Cyrenaica, Eastern Libya. Unpublished PhD, University of Leicester.Google Scholar
Frost, R. 1971. Selected Poems. Penguin, Harmonsworth.Google Scholar
Gatto, M.C., Mattingly, D.J., Ray, N. and Sterry, M. (eds). 2019. Burials, Migration and Identity in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond. Trans-Saharan Archaeology Volume 2. Cambridge University Press and The Society for Libyan Studies, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Gonzalez Rodriguez, M. 2014. Death is Another Country. Mortuary Rituals and Cultural Identity in Fazzan, Libya. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Leicester .Google Scholar
Goodchild, R.G. 1976. Libyan Studies: Selected Papers of the Late R.G. Goodchild (ed. Reynolds, J.M.), Elek, London.Google Scholar
Hesein, M. 2014. Bridging the Eastern and Western Mediterranean: The Roman Harbour Sites on the Coast of Cyrenaica, North-East of Libya. Unpublished PhD, University of Leicester.Google Scholar
Hobson, M. 2012. The African Boom? Evaluating Economic Growth in the Roman Province of Africa Proconsularis. Unpublished PhD, University of Leicester.Google Scholar
Hobson, M. 2015. The North African Boom? Evaluating Economic Growth in the Roman Province of Africa Proconsularis. Portsmouth RI: JRA Suppl. Volume.Google Scholar
Kenrick, P.M. 1986. Excavations at Sabratha 1948–1951. A Report on the Excavations Conducted by Dame Kathleen Kenyon and J. Ward-Perkins. Society for Roman Studies/Society for Libyan Studies, London.Google Scholar
Lassère, J.-M. 2013. Quasi Roma? L'Afrique en sa periode romaine (276 av C – 711 ap. JC). CNRS, Paris.Google Scholar
Leone, A. 2001. Late Antique North Africa: Continuity and Change in Town and Countryside. Unpublished PhD, University of Leicester.Google Scholar
Lloyd, J.A. (ed). 1977. Excavations at Sidi Khrebish, Benghazi (Berenice) I. Department of Antiquities, Tripoli.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 1988a. The olive boom. Oil surpluses, wealth and power in Roman Tripolitania. Libyan Studies 19: 21–41.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 1988b. Oil for export: a comparative study of Roman olive oil production in Libya, Spain and Tunisia. Journal of Roman Archaeology 1: 33–56.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 1989. Farmers and frontiers. Exploiting and defending the countryside of Roman Tripolitania. Libyan Studies 20: 135–53Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 1993. Maximum figures and maximizing strategies of oil production? Further thoughts on the processing capacity of Roman olive presses. In Amouretti, M.-C. and Brun, J.-P. (eds), La production du vin et de l'huile en Méditerranée. BCH, Paris: 483–98.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 1995. Tripolitania. Batsford, London.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 2003. The Archaeology of Fazzan, Volume 1 Synthesis. Society for Libyan Studies, London.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 2007. The Archaeology of Fazzan. Volume 2, Site Gazetteer, Pottery and other Survey Finds. Society for Libyan Studies, London.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 2010. The Archaeology of Fazzan. Volume 3, Excavations Carried out by C.M. Daniels. Society for Libyan Studies, London.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 2011. Imperialism, Power and Identity: Experiencing the Roman Empire. Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 2013. The Archaeology of Fazzan, Volume 4. Survey and Excavations at Old Jarma (Ancient Garama) Carried out by C. M. Daniels (1962–69) and the Fazzan Project (1997–2001). Society for Libyan Studies, London.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 2016. Who shaped Africa? The origins of agriculture and urbanism in Maghreb and Sahara. In Mugnai, N., Nikolaus, J. and Ray, N. (eds), De Africa Romaque. Merging Cultures across North Africa. Society for Libyan Studies, London: 11–25.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. and Hitchner, R.B. 1995. Roman Africa: An archaeological review. Journal of Roman Studies 85: 165–213.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. and Hitchner, R.B. 1993. Technical specifications of some North African olive presses of Roman date. In Amouretti, M.-C. and Brun, J.-P. (eds), La production du vin et de l'huile en Méditerranée. BCH, Paris: 439–62.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. and MacDonald, K. 2013. Early cities: Africa. In Clark, P. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Cities in World History. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 66–82.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. and Sterry, M. 2013. The first towns in the Central Sahara. Antiquity 87 (366): 503–18.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D. J., McLaren, S., Savage, E., al-Fasatwi, Y. and Gadgood, K. (eds). 2006. The Libyan Desert. Natural Resources and Cultural Heritage. Society for Libyan Studies, London.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J., Rushworth, A., Sterry, M. and Leitch, V. 2013a. The African Frontiers. Edinburgh: Frontiers of the Roman Empire series.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J., Sterry, M. and Leitch, V. 2013b. Fortified farms and defended villages of Late Roman and Late Antique Africa. Antiquité Tardive 21: 167–88.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J., Sterry, M. and Edwards, D. 2015. The origins and development of Zuwīla, Libyan Sahara: an archaeological and historical overview of an ancient oasis town and caravan centre. Azania 50.1: 27–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2014.980126Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J., Leitch, V., Duckworth, C.N., Cuénod, A., Sterry, M. and Cole, F. (eds). 2017. Trade in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond. Trans-Saharan Archaeology Volume 1. Cambridge University Press and The Society for Libyan Studies, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J., Sterry, M., al-Haddad, M. and Bokbot, Y. 2018. Beyond the Garamantes: The early development of Saharan oases. In Purdue et al. 2018, 205–28.Google Scholar
Nikita, E., Mattingly, D.J., Lahr, M.M. 2012. Sahara: Barrier or corridor? Nonmetric cranial traits and biological affinities of North African late Holocene populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 147(2): 280–92.Google Scholar
Nikita, E., Mattingly, D.J., Lahr, M.M. 2013. Late Holocene desert-induced stress and human migrations through the Sahara: The case of the Garamantes. In Kotlia, B. (ed.), Holocene: Perspectives, Environmental Dynamics and Impact Events. Nova Science Publishers, New York: 219–60.Google Scholar
Nikolaus, J. 2016. Roman Funerary Reliefs and North African Identity: A Contextual Investigation of Tripolitanian Mausolea and their Iconography. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Leicester .Google Scholar
Power, R., Nikita, E., Mattingly, D.J., Lahr, M.M. and O'Connell, T. 2019. Human mobility and identity. Variation, diet, and migration in relation to the Garamantes of Fazzan. In Gatto et al. 2019, 134–61.Google Scholar
Purdue, L., Charbonnier, J. and Khalidi, L. (eds). 2018. Des refuges aux oasis: Vivre en milieu aride de la Préhistoire à aujourd'hui. XXXVIIIe rencontres internationales d'archéologie et d'histoire d'Antibes, Éditions APDCA, Antibes.Google Scholar
Sterry, M. and Mattingly, D.J. 2011. DMP XIII: Reconnaissance survey of archaeological sites in the Murzuq area. Libyan Studies 42: 89–116Google Scholar
Sterry, M, and Mattingly, D.J. 2013. Desert Migrations Project XVII: Further AMS dates for historic settlements from Fazzan, south-west Libya. Libyan Studies 44: 127–40.Google Scholar
Sterry, M. and Mattingly, D.J. (eds). Forthcoming. State Formation and Urbanisation in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond. Trans-Saharan Archaeology Volume IV. Cambridge University Press and The Society for Libyan Studies, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Sterry, M, Mattingly, D.J. and Higham, T. 2012. Desert Migrations Project XVI: Radiocarbon dates from the Murzuq region, southern Libya. Libyan Studies 43: 137–47.Google Scholar
Stone, D., Mattingly, D.J. and Ben Lazreg, N. 2011. Leptiminus (Lamta): A Roman Port City in Tunisia, Report no. 3, the Urban Survey. JRA Suppl, Portsmouth RI.Google Scholar
Talbert, R.J.A. 2000. Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Ward-Perkins, J.B. 1993. The Severan Buildings of Lepcis Magna. (Ed. Kenrick, P.). Society for Libyan Studies, London.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 2006. New light on a Greek city: Archaeology and history at Euesperides. In Fabbricotti, E. and Menozzi, O. (eds), Cirenaica: studi, scavi e scoperte Atti del X Convegno di Archeologia Cirenaica Chieti 24–26 Novembre 2003. BAR, Oxford: 141–52.Google Scholar
Zocchi, A. 2019. The Periphery of Lepcis Magna. Suburban Topography and Land Use of a Roman City. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Leicester .Google Scholar