Ancient Pearl Necklaces Unearthed in Morocco Reveal 150,000-Year-Old Human Interactions

During an information day dedicated to this ceremony to present these pearls, Azoulay said that these 150,000-year-old pearl necklaces provide information on an evolution of cognitive abilities and human interactions that then spread throughout North Africa.

"These are the first signs of humanity showing the existence of structured relationships between members of the same group or different groups, this ornament illustrating for the first time and in its own way the existence of a form of language, or even a language, at the time of Homo Sapiens," he said, adding that "this ornament embodies in its own way the values that Essaouira has chosen to identify its renaissance for the past thirty years."

The King’s Advisor also highlighted the place that Morocco now occupies from Essaouira in the "formidable history of the Earth and Humanity."

He also saluted the team of Moroccan and international researchers to whose credit "the exceptional performance" achieved in Essaouira must be recorded, especially Professor Abdeljalil Bouzouggar, Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at INSAP.