Entirely Unknown Neolithic Culture Found in Morocco
Archaeologists excavating a site in the Maghreb desert in north western African known as Oued Beht have uncovered evidence of a farming society from the Neolithic that was completely unknown, according to a paper in the journal Antiquity, published by Cambridge University Press. The culture appears to have been complex and is, at this time, the earliest and largest society known from this period of history in Africa that is not based on the Nile.
The area is rich in archaeology and we already know of cultures in the area from the Palaeolithic era, as well as later Iron Age societies and cultures that extend well into the Islamic period. However there has been a noted absence of any evidence of occupation between around 4,000 and 1,000 BC, and this culture fits right in the middle of this gap.
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This farming community has been dated to around 3,400 to 2,900 BC, placing them in the Neolithic. The discovery can potentially reveal much about the development of agriculture in the region and the unknown peoples who lived in the Maghreb during this time, bridging the gap between the earlier Stone Age societies and the Bronze and Iron Age peoples who came later.
It is yet to be fully understood how these people interacted with other Neolithic groups in African and western Europe. However it appears that the new discovery is of a sophisticated society, and evidence of many structures including potential food storage pits have been uncovered.
Much of what is known in the area comes from discoveries in caves, which are generally considered to not reflect the wider cultures from which they were derived. These new finds, of working and living environments, may teach much about the surrounding cultures and how these Stone Age farmers learned to survive in the shadow of the Atlas Mountains.
Header Image: The site at Oued Beht where traces of an entirely unknown Neolithic culture has been found. Source: Antiquity; Cambridge University Press / CC BY 4.0.
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