Ancient Agricultural Site Unearthed in Morocco, Reshaping Mediterranean Prehistory

The study conducted by archaeologists in the Oued Beht, Morocco, and published in the journal Antiquity, reveals the existence of the oldest agricultural site during the period between 4,000 and 1,000 years BC, according to Europa Press.

"For more than a century, the last great unknown of Mediterranean prehistory has been the role played by the societies of the southern Mediterranean coasts west of Egypt. This is due not to the absence of significant prehistoric activity, but rather to the relative lack of research and publication. Oued Beht now confirms the central role of the Maghreb in the emergence of Mediterranean and African societies in general," said Cyprian Broodbank, professor at the University of Cambridge and a member of the research team.

The study shows that this agricultural site is the largest that existed during this period in Africa outside the Nile region. It is a large-scale agricultural operation, similar in size to that of Troy at the beginning of the Bronze Age. Archaeologists have found on the site remains of domesticated plants and animals, pottery and lithic objects dating back to the Late Neolithic.

The researchers specify that similar discoveries have been made in the Strait of Gibraltar and the Iberian Peninsula, where remains of ivory and ostrich eggs have been found, allowing to support the idea that the Maghreb played a central role in the development of the western Mediterranean during the fourth millennium BC.