For anyone studying troglodyte dwellings, southern Tunisia provides a plethora of sites
still occupied by the indigenous Berber inhabitants. The highest concentration of which is
located in the 3,000ft high plateaus of Jebel Nafusa some 43km south of Gabes in and around the
present city of Matmata. Several estimates put actual inhabitance of caves in the region starting
between the 13th and 15th century, though settlement could have occurred long before. With the
dunes of the Sahara reaching as close as 30km to the west, Matmata is often hot, dusty, and dry
with an average annual rainfall of 200mm. Why would people choose to settle here? How could
they survive? To answer these questions, this paper will examine the cave dwellings of Matmata,
their design and location, as well as look at the settlement today and see how it is fairing
contemporarily.

The location of Matmata city is quite different today than it was in the 15thcent ur y,
though the pit dwellings date back to the region\u2019s initial settlement, this city is much more of a
modern creation and locally called \u201cnew Matmata\u201d with the original settlement of \u201cold Matmata\u201d
some 15km further south. The reasons for founding \u201cnew Matmata\u201d will be explained in the
second half of this paper. In either case evidence suggests that Berber settlement in the
mountains of southern Tunisia began with the migration of the Hilali Bedouin into the area in
1052, for Berbers who refused to submit to the Arabs their choices were either to flee to
Morocco or take up refuge in the mountains.1 Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) testing confirms

that they did both, showing strong genetic ties between not only the Berbers of western Maghreb,
but also between Arabs and Berbers alike.2 Early settlement in the Matmata area was probably
thought to be transitory, perceiving that Arabs were a non-occupying force original settlement
has made in a series of stone houses on the slope of what is known as \u201csignal rock.\u201d3Havin g
relocated to a far harsher environment, the Berbers would send workers to till the fertile lowlands
when each wave of Arab invaders would pass. Around the beginning of the 13th century it
became clear that the Arabs were there to stay, settling into the fertile lowlands especially around
the coast, the Matmata Berbers had no choice but to \u201cdig in\u201d permanently.

Permanent settlement here was not too adverse for those who had originally settled the
area to escape the Arabs but for most the more recent inhabitants this would prove to be a
challenging adaptation. Survival was key and the prominent threats were the intense heat and
lack of water. To escape the heat they excavated caves and pits. To the south of Matmata the
Berbers discovered alternating layers of hard and soft earth spaced about 2m apart. Digging a pit
through the hard and soft layers, they could easily excavate a cave out of the soft layer of dirt.4
Inhabitants on the mountain slopes around Matmata excavated laterally into the slope to create
cave-like dwellings. On the plateau of Matmata proper, the Berbers also faced favorable soil
conditions and dug massive pits that could house everything from people to livestock. These pits
typically follow a standardized plan. First a pit is dug strait in to the ground measuring 12-15m in
diameter and 9m deep. Then from about 18m back a sloped tunnel entrance is excavated, large
enough to allow the passage of both people and animals. Further excavations are made into the
side of the pit for living quarters and storage rooms. If more rooms are needed, further

2(Abdennaji, et al. 2006, 100)
3(Smith 1915, 827)
4(Hallet 1975, 22)