The Gebel Tarhuna in Tripolitania, western Libya, has long been an understudied area despite the richness in archaeological remains that pay testimony to its diverse and fascinating past. Consequently, little attention has been paid to the rural landscapes of the Tripolitania Gebel and only a handful of surveys have been carried out in this region, most notably the work by Cowper (Reference Cowper1897) and Oates (Oates Reference Oates1953, Reference Oates1954). The volume under review starts to fill this major gap in research by detailing the results of survey work carried out by the Tarhuna Archaeological Survey (TAS) led by the author, Muftah A. M. Ahmed. The research behind this volume was undertaken as part of Ahmed's doctoral thesis at the University of Leicester.
The aim of the TAS was to ‘improve the overall mapping of the extensive spread of settlement’, to examine the rural agricultural settlement organisation, and to shed light on the relationship between rural settlement and agricultural production to better understand the agricultural economy of the Tarhuna Plateau within the context of the Roman Economy (11–12). Satellite imagery and aerial photographs were used to identify potential sites, to visualise landscapes, and characterize the environment. GIS was applied to execute spatial analysis and to display recorded sites (14–15). The physical survey was conducted using extensive and intensive survey methods (11–15). Intensive survey methods were applied to collect more detailed information of three small areas across the plateau: the Wadi Hajaj (c. 82 ha), the Wadi Guman (125 ha) and the and a small area in the Wadi Meni Mousa (10 ha).
The book is broadly divided into two themes: first the analysis of site types, size, and settlement patterns across the Tarhuna plateau (chapters 2 and 3); second, pressing facilities and processes, as well as amphora production and stamps (chapters 4 and 5). Relevant detailed tables, distribution maps, individual site plans, photographs, and satellite imagery can be found at the end of each chapter. They are clearly cross referenced throughout and add to the value and clarity of the book. An appendix is included at the end of the book, consisting of a table of all recorded sites and examples of the ceramic evidence found across the survey area. Overall, the volume is well presented and attractive. It is a shame, however, that some of the site plans are of low quality and appear fuzzy (e.g. figures 3.13, 3.17, 3.21, 3.24).
Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the necessary background information about the archaeology of the Tarhuna plateau, which makes the volume accessible to a wide audience. It includes an overview of the geography, climate, history, and landscape of the region, and broadly discusses the agricultural importance of the Tarhuna plateau in antiquity.
The area of the Wadis Doga, Turgut, and some of their tributaries represent the most intensely surveyed areas by the TAS team and serve as case studies in chapter 2. By doing this, Ahmed succeeds in demonstrating the sheer number, range, and distribution of sites across the two wadis during the Roman period, while also focusing on detailed investigations of individual sites (elevation, topography, distribution of site types). Site types identified include villages and nucleated settlements (Gasr Ed Dauun and Medina Doga), oileries, large farms, smaller farms, fortified farmhouses, damns, cisterns, and wells. He also draws attention to the importance of sophisticated water management techniques that were necessary for successful agricultural practice in this area due to insufficient rainfall throughout the year.
Chapter 3 examines settlement patterns across the Tarhuna plateau in more detail, looking at settlement types, variations, construction, density, and patterns over time. Quantitative measures are used to evaluate peak periods of certain settlement types. One of the key findings is that settlements appeared much earlier than the early first century AD, as was previously thought. Ahmed demonstrates that the agricultural exploitation of the Gebel goes back as early as the second and first centuries BC and, indeed, around 51% of the settlement sites already existed by the early first century AD (61–62).
Chapter 4 focuses on the large number olive presses that are evident across the region, their type (lever and windlass), and the pressing process. A crucial finding by the TAS survey is that the press equipment displays a level of uniformity which indicates that the production of press elements was a specialised and standardised process (105 and Table 4.2). Similar observations were made by the Kasserine survey in Southern Tunisia, which noted a standardisation in layout of oileries (Hitchner et al. Reference Hitchner1990). The attempt to estimate the potential productivity of annual olive oil production (maximum and minimum processing capacity) based on the archaeological evidence from the TAS region is particularly interesting. It underlines the sheer scale of the olive oil industry in the region, with an estimate of production between 652,000 and 2.6 million litres in a year (108). Mattingly estimated very similar production levels for the Gebel area, which were based on a much smaller sample of data (e.g. see Mattingly Reference Mattingly1988, Reference Mattingly, Amouretti and Brun1993, Reference Mattingly1996). Ahmed not only confirms Mattingly's estimations, but also provides a more robust sample size for his analysis.
Chapter 5 sheds light on the evidence for amphora production and amphora types of the Tarhuna plateau. Production sites in Tripolitania appear to concentrate in two areas, the immediate hinterland of the big cities in the coastal zone and the Gebel Tarhuna (145–146). The survey demonstrates that amphora production was an integral part of the rural economy in Tripolitania, as many pottery kilns and workshops were located alongside the wine and oil production facilities (147). The main types recorded were Tripolitania amphora Type I, II, and III, of which Type III was the most widely distributed one on the greater Mediterranean markets from the Severan period onward (152). The TAS has recorded 12 previously unknown stamps during the survey and the analysis of amphorae stamps reveals that that the Tarhuna region was one of the major producers in amphora within Tripolitania (149-15).
The final chapter offers a useful summary of the main themes of the book and points out areas for future research, and this publication certainly has the potential to form the basis for future studies. The volume would have been enriched further by a chapter on how the survey results fit into the wider pattern of rural economy in the Roman Empire. Ahmed primarily compares his findings to surveys conducted elsewhere in Libya (mainly Tripolitania) and Tunisia (especially in chapters 4 and 5). But he certainly is right when he argues that the TAS survey ‘provide[s] a new baseline to discuss and evaluate rural settlement types and organisation’.
This book highlights the importance of the archaeology found on the Tarhuna plateau and will, hopefully, inspire researchers to engage with the data presented in this work. This is even more important given the immense vulnerability of the cultural heritage in Libya, where many archaeological sites have suffered greatly not only from conflict but also from intensive farming, deep ploughing, and construction projects.
