The prehistoric site of Oued Beht, Khémisset, Morocco: an interpretative report on 2021–2022 fieldwork and associated research
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This report presents the first in-depth publication of preliminary data from Oued Beht, northwest Morocco, a remarkable site initially identified in the 1930s and now newly investigated. It is based on fieldwork undertaken in 2021–2022 (photogrammetry, survey and excavation), and associated study and analyses. Oued Beht is shown to be a large site of ca. 9–10 hectares in main extent, with many deep pits and convincing evidence for a full package of domesticated crops and animals. Its material culture is abundant and dense, comprising ceramics (including a local painted tradition hitherto barely attested in northwest Africa but comparable to finds in Iberia), numerous polished stone axes, grinding stones and other macrolithics, and a chipped-stone industry. Radiocarbon dates so far cluster at ca. 3400–2900 BC, but there are also indications of earlier and later prehistoric activity. What social activities Oued Beht reflects remains open to interpretation, but it emerges as a phenomenon of strong comparative interest for understanding the wider dynamics of north Africa and the Mediterranean during the fourth and third millennia BC.
Source: Libyan Studies
DOI: 10.1017/lis.2024.19
Authors: Cyprian Broodbank, Giulio Lucarini, Youssef Bokbot, Hamza Benattia, Aïcha Bigoulimen, Alessia Brucato, Lucy Farr, Arnau Garcia-Molsosa, Hassan Hachami, Rafael Laoutari, Lorena Lombardi, Adelaide Marsilio, Louise Martin, Rafael M. Martínez Sánchez, Ilaria Mazzini, Jacob Morales, Jacques Pelegrin, Moad Radi, Francesco Michele Rega, Federica Sulas, Toby Wilkinson
Institutions: University of Cambridge, National Research Council, Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine, Universitat de Barcelona, University of Bari Aldo Moro, University of Pisa, University College London, University of Córdoba, Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Technologie et Ethnologie des Mondes PréhistoriqueS, University of Gothenburg
Language: English
Subfield: Paleontology
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,450
OpenAlex ID: W4405947980