Previously Unknown Neolithic Society Discovered in Morocco, Fills Gap

Researchers in Morocco have unearthed the remains of the earliest known farming society in northwest Africa, dating back to the Final Neolithic period, around 3400-2900 BC. It is the earliest and largest agricultural complex yet found in Africa outside of the Nile region, and shares features with similarly aged sites in Iberia.

This study, published in  Antiquity, reveals for the first time the importance of the Maghreb (northwest Africa) in the emergence of complex societies in the wider Mediterranean.

Stone tools from Oued Beht: a & b) lower grinding stones; c) upper grinder reused as anvil. (Lorena Lombardi & Moad Radi/Antiquity Publications Ltd)

Ancient Importance of the Location

With a Mediterranean coast, a border with the Sahara desert and the shortest maritime crossing between Africa and Europe, the Maghreb is perfectly located as a center for major cultural developments. And it now seems this ran true into the deep past.

The region’s importance during the Paleolithic, Iron Age and Islamic periods was already known from the evidence already gathered from sites in the region, but there was a gap in knowledge of the archaeology of the Maghreb between c. 4000 and 1000 BC, a period of dynamic change across much of the Mediterranean.

With the intention of closing that gap, Youssef Bokbot (INSAP), Cyprian Broodbank (Cambridge University), and Giulio Lucarini (CNR-ISPC and ISMEO) have carried out multidisciplinary archaeological fieldwork at Oued Beht, Morocco, with revealing results.

Prof. Broodbank explains:

“For over thirty years I have been convinced that Mediterranean archaeology has been missing something fundamental in later prehistoric north Africa. Now, at last, we know that was right, and we can begin to think in new ways that acknowledge the dynamic contribution of Africans to the emergence and interactions of early Mediterranean societies.”

The findings reveal that the site was the largest agricultural complex of this period in Africa outside of the Nile region. All the evidence points to the presence of a large-scale farming settlement—similar in size to Early Bronze Age Troy, write the researchers.

Stone tools from Oued Beht: e & f) polished axes; g) axe/adze preform; h) serrated sickle element; i) rectilinear sickle element; j) circular endscraper; k) product from bipolar percussion. (Lorena Lombardi & Moad Radi/Antiquity Publications Ltd)

The study authors state, according to a press release:

“For more than a century, the last great unknown of later Mediterranean prehistory has been the role played by the societies of Mediterranean’s southern Africa shores west of Egypt. Our discoveries prove that this gap has been due not to any lack of major prehistoric activity, but to the relative lack of investigation and publishing. Oued Beht now affirms the central role of the Maghreb in the emergence of both Mediterranean and wider African societies.”

Final Neolithic pottery from Oued Beht: a) buff fabric bowls, jar (with post-firing hole), large tunnel lugs and round base. (Toby Wilkinson/Antiquity Publications Ltd)

Unprecedented Discoveries in the Region

The team found domesticated plant and animal remains, pottery and lithics, all dating to the Final Neolithic period. Their excavations also revealed extensive evidence for deep storage pits.

Importantly, contemporaneous sites with similar pits have been found on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar in Iberia, where finds of ivory and ostrich eggs have long pointed to African connections. This suggests that the Maghreb was instrumental in wider western Mediterranean developments during the fourth millennium BC.

The findings prove Oued Beht and the northwest Maghreb were clearly integral parts of the wider Mediterranean region. As such, these discoveries significantly change our understanding of the later prehistory of the Mediterranean and Africa, say the study authors.

As the authors of the  Antiquity paper state:

“It is crucial to consider Oued Beht within a wider co-evolving and connective framework embracing peoples on both sides of the Mediterranean-Atlantic gateway during the later fourth and third millennia BC—and, for all the likelihood of movement in both directions, to recognize it as a distinctively African-based community that contributed substantially to the shaping of that social world.

This research forces a re-evaluation of the Maghreb’s role during this transformative period, suggesting that far from being a marginal player, North Africa contributed significantly to the complex interactions and developments taking place across the Mediterranean.

Top image: Aerial photograph of the Oued Beht ridge and river, highlighted in color.      Source: Toby Wilkinson/Antiquity Publications Ltd

By Gary Manners