Recent archaeological excavations in Morocco have unveiled significant details about an ancient farming society, previously unknown to historians. Scientists have discovered evidence of the oldest agricultural community in Africa, dating back approximately 5,400 to 4,900 years.
This settlement, located in present-day Morocco, is claimed to be the largest in Africa outside of the Nile Basin during its time. The findings suggest extensive trade connections with settlements in the Iberian Peninsula, indicating a broader influence that may have reached across the Mediterranean.
Morocco is known for housing some of the oldest Homo sapiens fossils and the earliest known shell beads. Additionally, it is a region where significant changes in stone technology occurred. The area, known as the Maghreb, stretches from Morocco to Libya and was historically home to Carthage, a civilization that posed a major threat to the Roman Republic.
Despite its historical significance, there has been a considerable knowledge gap regarding the period from 6,000 to 3,000 years ago in this region. This gap is often attributed to the arid conditions that made coastal living difficult. However, Professor Cyprian Broodbank from the University of Cambridge has long challenged this view.
Broodbank states, “For over thirty years, I have believed that Mediterranean archaeology has missed something fundamental in North Africa's later prehistoric period. Now we finally know we were right, and we can start thinking about new ways to acknowledge the dynamic contributions of Africans to the emergence and interactions of early Mediterranean societies.”
Broodbank, alongside researchers from Morocco and Europe, has been excavating the area known as Oued Beht. They report that around 3,000 BCE, this site was comparable in size to Troy at the height of the Bronze Age.
“This is the oldest and largest agricultural complex in Africa outside the Nile Corridor,” researchers emphasize.
Archaeologists have uncovered many familiar artifacts from other Neolithic civilizations, including pits similar to those found in Spain, believed to be used for food storage or waste disposal. Materials like ivory and ostrich eggshells found in these Spanish pits indicate trade relations between Iberia and Africa during this period.
Oued Beht is located about 100 kilometers inland from Rabat, along a river of the same name. While access to the Atlantic Ocean is relatively easy, reaching the Mediterranean required crossing the Atlas Mountains, which may have limited interactions with the ancient world. Nevertheless, the similarities with Iberian settlements from the same period suggest significant mutual exchanges and possibly the development of ships capable of reliable ocean navigation.
Numerous stone axes and remnants of stone walls were discovered in Oued Beht during the 1930s, with over a thousand axes found since then. However, systematic archaeological work in the area did not commence until 70 years later.
These excavations have revealed an unprecedented abundance of pottery and stone tools outside the Nile Valley in Africa. Additionally, remains of domesticated goats, sheep, cattle, and pigs were found. Although no harvesting tools were recovered, the discovery of large millstones suggests that grain production may have been accomplished by hand.
The artifacts and other items date predominantly to a 500-year period, indicating much less use before and after this time.
“Therefore, it is critical to consider Oued Beht within a broader context that encompasses the peoples on both sides of the Mediterranean-Atlantic passage during the fourth and third millennia,” researchers conclude. “While there may have been movement in both directions, we should regard it as a distinctive African-based community that significantly contributed to shaping that social world.”