A new discovery of an ancient farming society at Oued Beht in Morocco fills a centuries-old gap in history. It reveals that, 5,000 years ago, the Maghreb (north-west Africa) was far from a backwater. Rather, it was an integral part of life in the Mediterranean, a region nestled between north Africa, south-western Asia and southern Europe.
Over time, the Mediterranean has served as a cradle for interconnected societies that influenced one another through trade, migration and the exchange of ideas. Although the Maghreb is widely recognised for Middle Stone Age and Iron Age developments (from 300,000 years ago to the first millennium BCE), its role in the period from 4000 BCE to 1000 BCE has remained an enigma. Until now.
Archaeologists Cyprian Broodbank, Giulio Lucarini and Youssef Bokbot are the leaders of the international team who made the discovery. They are co-directors of the Oued Beht Archaeological Project in Morocco. Their multidisciplinary study has finally shed light on Africa’s pivotal role in the socio-cultural evolution of the early Mediterranean in a time marked by dynamic changes. We spoke with them.
