Capsian Culture, 8,500–6,500 BC. An irregular quern stone with flat base and scooped sides, vertical socket; tapering stone pestle with curved grinding face; believed to have been collected from the northern Sahara Desert, from an open-site find in the western Sahara tenere, North Africa. 5.3 kg total, 8-12.5cm high (3 - 5"). Atrian private collection, before 1980. Private collection, Wien, Atria, before 2010. The Capsian Culture extended from the Mesolithic into the Neolithic in the Maghreb, North Africa. It began about 8,000 BC and remained active till about 2,700 BC. It is named after the town of Gafsa in Tunisia, the Roman name of which was Capsa. The environment of the Maghreb at this time was largely open savanna with woodland at higher altitudes. The Capsian culture is sometimes identified as the carrier of the Afroasiatic language group (of which Ancient Egyptian is the best-known member) into the Maghreb region.