A summary of the major thoughts and conclusions from the work of Pierre Cintas on Tunisian Protohistory:

A first observation is that the phenomenon of dolmens in the Maghreb is mainly found in the north of the Atlas chain, while that of Tumuli and Chouchet is primarily associated with the high plateaus of the interior and the Sahara.

The famous Haouanet (tombs carved into the cliffs) stand out due to their almost exclusive location in the northeastern Maghreb. It appears that these Haouanet also exist along the Algerian eastern coast and are associated with Sicilian furniture.

Suggesting that their builders may have extended westward along the Mediterranean coast. The analysis of these structures clearly shows that they are not of Phoenician origin, although they were reused at a certain time by North Africans who were Punicized/Romanized.

They are also not incomplete imitations of Punic tombs and are completely absent from Phoenician colonization areas such as the Utica or Carthage region. They also do not appear to be of Berber origin, and they are associated with fertile and wooded regions in northern Tunisia.

Suggesting that these builders were farmers who likely also exploited forest resources. These funerary structures would most likely be of Sicilian origin and linked to its Bronze Age, as very similar structures are also found there. In Tunisia, they are all located not far from the coast.

Implying a sea colonization from the east. Similar structures are also found in Malta, but especially in the East in the Aegean region. Thus, it seems that this tradition found in Sicily, Malta, and Tunisia would derive from the funerary traditions of the Aegeo-Anatolian world during the BA.

The analysis of pottery found in many dolmens in the Maghreb demonstrates an evident similarity between these and those found at numerous European sites from the Neolithic and Bronze Age (Iberian Peninsula, Italy, and nearby islands).

This European kinship is also noticeable in the metal ornaments found there, which once again demonstrate connections with the Bronze Age in Europe. The protohistoric pottery of Tunisia and Kabylia shows evident connections with Sicily and Malta.

Similarly, its analysis suggests two major phases of influence, with one introducing orientalizing forms/decorations and red lustrous ceramics that would be posterior to 1500 B.C. This oriental influence reached Tunisia through Sicily.

Which itself was influenced by eastern styles, particularly Aegeo-Anatolian, from at least the 14th century BC, with the Stentinello and Castellucio cultures. Next, the plain surface pottery appears, also influenced by Sicilian patterns. The Red Lustrous pottery is dominant in the Tunisian Sahel.

introduced from the north (Cap Bon, Bizerte), ultimately seeming to have been brought by a Meso-Helladic movement affecting the islands of the central Mediterranean. The influence of the meso-Helladic culture is observed in Eastern Maghreb.

It spread through the Cape Bon and Bizerte, introducing geometric-decorated pottery similar to Castelluccio in the North, particularly in the Mogod and Khroumirie regions. This influence also brought red lustrous pottery to the Sahel, showing morphological similarities with vessels in Malta and the Aeolian Islands.

Notably, this influence coincides with the arrival of the meso-Helladic culture in the Central Western Mediterranean during the 18th to 15th centuries BCE. In contrast, western Maghreb does not exhibit these Sicilian influences but rather Saharan and Iberian influences.

Which also appear to be more significant and predate the Sicilian influences in Tunisia. Bronze axes have also been discovered in western Algeria and are similar to types used in Western Europe during the mid-second millennium BC.

The absence of copper and tin ores in the Maghreb region hindered the local production of bronze artifacts. This scarcity forced the people in North Africa to rely on imports from traders who did not disclose the secrets of metalworking.

While some bronze objects were found in the area,they were likely rare and possibly gifted by navigators to local leaders (similar case in Chalcolithic France). According to P. Cintas, the phenomenon of dolmens and its wide distribution does not seem to suggest the establishment of a large European community but rather reflects the adoption of new beliefs through influence. On the other hand, the phenomenon of Haouanet seems to reflect a closed ethnic group settling permanently in the northeastern Maghreb.

But this possibility must be nuanced since the author also notes that the domain of dolmens and that of Haouanet are well-defined between them and suggests that their appearance would be synchronous. The few rare dolmen sites in N-E Tunisia appear to be of Maltese origin, in reality, and would precede the construction of the Haouanet.

Similarly, the arrival of these new populations does not seem to have drastically altered the local populations, who would have gradually absorbed the newcomers and their influences. According to him, elements of this protohistoric past can also be extracted from certain much later literary traditions, often discredited and relegated to the status of fables and legends. According to him, a careful analysis of these texts reveals events that seem to be well-supported by archaeological data.

Indeed, the author suggests that Sallust’s account of NA’s early history portrays a population not fully neolithized and still reliant on hunting and gathering, represented in the text by the Libyans and Gaetulians. While the Libyans likely occupied Ibero-Maurusian and the Gaetulians Capsian territories, the influences from the East, particularly from people arriving in Spain.

Which may have played a significant role in the development of the region’s Argaric civilization. These influences, supported by archaeological findings, indicate that people from the shores of Almeria had crossed the Strait of Gibraltar. This marked a second stage:

in the time considered by Sallust. The text highlights that these newcomers may have used their boats as shelters, and the houses they constructed were reminiscent of European BA structures. The eastward migration of Sallust’s Numidians appears to have introduced dolmens to the Maghreb East.

While the indigenous NAs initially lived as nomads engaged in hunting and gathering, the newcomers led to the establishment of settlements and towns in NA, which ultimately allowed for intensified trade with Europe.

The author does not attempt to validate Sallust’s account but rather points out the consistent alignment of archaeological findings with the details in his narrative. He also interprets the battle between Antaeus and Hercules as a possible real historical event, involving the defeat of a Libyan chief by a leader of European newcomers in the region of Tangier, contributing to the legend surrounding Hercules and his descendants in the Maghreb. The legend likely evolved over time, with multiple historical figures being conflated into the Hercules myth.

There are also a few testimonies that refer to some NA communities claiming Trojan origins. In the account of Agathocles’ African expedition by Diodorus of Sicily,his lieutenants Eumachos captured Meschela a city in northern Tunisia whose inhabitants claimed to be descendants of Trojans and the region where Eumachos operated is known for hosting important cliff necropolises of the Sicilian Bronze Age type (haouanet). There was also the case of the Maxyes, who lived west of the Triton River in Tunisia, claiming to be descendants of the Trojans.

1. here is also a mention of a city called Cybos, founded by Ionians in Phoenician Libya, possibly in the Khroumirie region (NW Tunisia). Another city, where Lycos, said to be the son of Ares during the Trojan War, ruled, may have been nearby. Juba, a reliable source, also placed this city in Libya.Thucydides’ account supports these traditions, suggesting the presence of people from the East,including Trojans,in the region north and south of the Strait of Sicily during the time of the Trojan War.
2. his city in Libya.Thucydides’ account supports these traditions, suggesting the presence of people from the East,including Trojans,in the region north and south of the Strait of Sicily during the time of the Trojan War.

Those who apparently ended up in Tunisia were “Phoekidians”. The dolmen and haouanet burial sites are often located near villages with visible traces of stone walls. These structures share similarities with cyclopean walls and can be observed at various sites across the region, such as Bulla Regia, Chaouach, Enfida, Malta, and Sicily.

These stone walls may have had defensive or fortification purposes and are often located near dolmen cemeteries. Ancient indigenous communities in various regions, including Djebel el Kalaa in Cap Bon, selected settlement sites strategically based on proximity to water sources and natural defenses.

They often chose places like peninsulas, plateaus, and river confluences for their villages. In some instances, they built basic dry-stone walls for protection, as seen in Djebel el Kalaa. These walls were made of roughly assembled stone blocks and found alongside stone tools, arrowheads, and flint shards.

Djebel-el-Kalaa is a megalithic site on a narrow rocky ridge with stepped stone structures at both ends, around 400 meters apart. It forms a rectangular fortified enclosure with steep cliffs on its longer sides and stone constructions on the shorter sides

Archaeological discoveries inside the enclosure include flint shards and arrowheads. Early structures were likely round and later transitioned to rectangular ones with parallel walls filled with rubble and earth. Dr. E.T. Hamy noted that these structures often featured an apse. This architectural style was also observed in other Mediterranean regions in the early 2nd millennium, indicating the influence of the meso-Helladic civilization.

He concludes that it is a bit after the 13th century and probably until the 9th century BCE that the Haouanet craftsmen truly established themselves in the Maghreb. They couldn’t expand further as the Phoenician colonization of Sicily and northern Tunisia likely prevented it.

The Althiburos site showcases rectangular structures constructed with durable materials like earth and stone, dating back to the 10th and 9th centuries BC. These structures provide evidence of a sedentary farming community involved in the rearing of cattle, goats, pigs and sheep.

Significant human impact on the local flora as early as the 2nd millennium indicates a dense population and well-established agriculture in the region at that time. Indeed, investigations performed in the Aïn Draham region (NW Tunisia), revealed significant anthropogenic impact.