CARTHAGE By Sandra Bingham and Eve MacDonald. Bloomsbury Academic, London-New York, 2024. ISBN 9781472529299 (hardback), 9781472522764 (paperback), 9781472528902 (ePDF), 9781472526946 (eBook), pp. 152, 33 black and white figures, 5 maps and plans. Price: £65 (hardback), £19.99 (paperback), £17.99 (ePDF and eBook)

Abstract This paper examines Cyrenaica’s capacity for cereal production, focusing on Cyrene’s wheat output supporting the Greek cities. It also explores the region’s favourable agricultural conditions and presents local Hellenistic inscriptions that document cereal cultivation over three centuries. The paper argues that the wheat sent from Cyrene to the Greeks during the Hellenistic period was offered as a donation rather than exported for profit. This argument is supported by three main points: first, the quantities mentioned represent only a quarter, or possibly less, of Cyrene’s annual wheat production; second, a Greek poetic inscription from Cyrene (second or early third century AD) praises the city for donating one hundred ships of grain to aid the Greeks; and, third, literary references describe Cyrenaica and Cyrene as renowned for cereal production, particularly wheat. Literary references, together with epigraphic evidence, also reflect the ongoing demand for wheat among both Greeks and Romans. It concludes that Cyrene was one of the important sources of wheat for these nations, and that it was widely known as a provider of free wheat shipments during times of hardship. It also suggests that Cyrene commemorated the Hellenistic wheat consignment because it was given as a gift.

Abstract Archaeological sites in Northwest Africa are rich in human fossils and artefacts providing proxies for behavioural and evolutionary studies. However, these records are difficult to underpin on a precise chronology, which can prevent robust assessments of the drivers of cultural/behavioural transitions. Past investigations have revealed that numerous volcanic ash (tephra) layers are interbedded within the Palaeolithic sequences and likely originate from large volcanic eruptions in the North Atlantic (e.g. the Azores, Canary Islands, Cape Verde). Critically, these ash layers offer a unique opportunity to provide new relative and absolute dating constraints (via tephrochronology) to synchronise key archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records in this region. Here, we provide an overview of the known eruptive histories of the potential source volcanoes capable of widespread ashfall in the region during the last ~300,000 years, and discuss the diagnostic glass compositions essential for robust tephra correlations. To investigate the eruption source parameters and weather patterns required for ash dispersal towards NW Africa, we simulate plausible ashfall distributions using the Ash3D model. This work constitutes the first step in developing a more robust tephrostratigraphic framework for distal ash layers in NW Africa and highlights how tephrochronology may be used to reliably synchronise and date key climatic and cultural transitions during the Palaeolithic.

Abstract This article reflects on aspects of the ecclesiastical landscape in southern Byzacena and western Tripolitania. The aim is to highlight the conditions of creation and the process of evolution of the ecclesiastical landscape in a territory with a particular geographical identity. In this context, the approach is based on three clearly defined conditions: first, the factors favourable to the appearance and then the development of Christianity in this space; secondly that its main episcopal seats were divided into three essential sets –the bishoprics of the ecclesiastical district called by late sources Arzugitana,the seats of the Gafsa region, and those of the coastal plains of Aradh and Jfara; finally, the particularities of the ecclesiastical landscape with its imprecise boundaries between ecclesiastical and administrative subdivisions and the low representation of Tripolitania in African councils and religious tolerance.

Abstract New research in the microregion of Musti (El Krib) in N Tunisia in 2019–2023 has revealed unpublished 2nd–3rd-century AD funerary monuments featuring rich iconography, including a female figure beside the altar and two pigs. These items and other published epigraphic and anepigraphic monuments from the fertile microregion stand out from other tombstones in Roman Africa. Both the type of monument and its relief decoration distinguish these objects. A rare holistic approach, combining historical, epigraphic and iconographic analyses with the results of archaeobotanical and archaeozoological research, will enhance our understanding of the history and agriculture of the Musti microregion and this part of Proconsular Africa during the early Roman Empire.

LES « SALLES À AUGES ». DES ÉDIFICES CONTROVERSÉS DE L'ANTIQUITÉ TARDIVE ENTRE AFRIQUE ET PROCHE-ORIENT Edited by Elsa Rocca, Pauline Piraud-Fournet and François Baratte. Collection de la Casa de Velázquez, 192. Casa de Velázquez, Madrid, 2022. ISBN 9788490963678, pp. 309, colour figs. Price: €45.00 (paperback) - Volume 55

LES SCULPTURES ROMAINES DU MUSÉE NATIONAL DU BARDO. 1, LES PORTRAITS: EMPEREURS ET PERSONNAGES MASCULINS PRIVÉS, STATUES CUIRASSÉES, PERSONNAGES EN TOGE, IMPÉRATRICES ET FEMMES PRIVÉES, STATUES FÉMININES DRAPÉES Edited by F. Baratte, F. Bejaoui, N. de Chaisemartin and F. Naït-Yghil. L'atelier du sculpteur, 2. Ausonius Éditions, Bordeaux, 2023. ISBN 9782356135230, pp. 270, colour figs. Price: €40.00 (hardback)

Résumé Cet article est une étude expérimentale menée sur le site archéologique de Gasr Chouline à Tataouine en utilisant la prospection archéologique et les systèmes d'informations géographiques (SIG) pour améliorer la gestion du site. Bien que cette étude n'ait pas prétendu à l'exhaustivité, elle a fourni de nouvelles données archéologiques par suite d'une prospection systématique.

Abstract This paper outlines the ways in which the project is addressing the colonial legacy of Henry Wellcome as well as presenting the data from the first three field seasons at Jebel Moya, south-central Sudan. These data have substantially revised our chronological and socio-economic understanding of the site. Our excavations, initiated in 2017 and continued in 2019 and 2022, show a longer, more continuous occupation of the site than has been previously recognised. The faunal and botanical remains have implications for the spread of early domesticates in the eastern Sahel and for climate changes, and raise issues of resilience. There is confirmed human burial activity from at least the third millennium BC onwards, while the pottery continues to yield information about the variety of decoration and, for the final Assemblage 3, data on its usage. Overall, the continued importance of the site for the eastern Sahel is re-emphasised.