Ifri n’Ammar, Morocco
S
ince 1994, the project of archaeological research in the Moroccan Oriental Rif (Prehistory and Protohistory of the Eastern Rif), is carried out by a cooperation of the Kommission für Archäologie Außereuropäischer Kulturen (KAAK), Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (DAI) and the Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine du Maroc (INSAP). Due to its particularly rich stratigraphy, with the Middle Palaeolithic/ or Middle Stone Age sequence dating to 83 ± 6 ka to 130 ± 8 ka for the upper levels and to 145 ± 9 to 171 ± 12 ka for the lower levels, the rock shelter of Ifri n’Ammar became quite quickly the focus of all local activities. Indeed, the site has ideal conditions for a prehistoric settlement by its topographical location. The rock shelter is located at the edge of a narrow valley rock Selloum at the confluence of two wadis. The area is situated between the Guerouaou and the Moulouya plain. It’s a mixture of highlands and alluvial plains, favorable biotopes for the fauna that reveal several advantages for hunters and gatherers during the Middle and the Upper Pleistocene.
Further reading
- Bartz M., Rixhon G., Kehl M., El Ouahabi M., Klasen N., Brill D., Weniger G.-C., Mikdad A. & Brückner H., 2017 – Unravelling fluvial deposition and pedogenesis in ephemeral stream deposits in the vicinity of the prehistoric rock shelter of Ifri n’Ammar (NE Morocco) during the last 100 ka. CATENA 52: 115-134.
- Kehl M., 2014 – Micromorphology of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition at Ifri N’Ammar, NE Morocco (Poster)
- Mikdad A., Eiwanger J., with the contribution of Atki H., Ben-Ncer A., Bokbot Y., Hutterer R., Linstädter J. & Mouhsine T., 2000 – Recherches préhistoriques et protohistoriques dans le Rif oriental (Maroc). Rapport préliminaire. Beiträge zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Archäologie 20: 109-167
- Nami M. & Moser J., 2010 – La Grotte d’Ifri n’Ammar. Tome 2, Le Paléolithique moyen. Wiesbaden: Forschungen Zur Archaologie Aussereuropaischer Kulturen, 337 p.
- Richter D., Moser J. & Nami M., 2012 – New data from the site of Ifri n’Ammar (Morocco) and some remarks on the chronometric status of the Middle Paleolithic in the Maghreb. In: Hublin J-J. & McPherron S. (eds.), Modern origins: a North African perspective. Dordrecht: Springer (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series): 61-78
- Richter D., Moser J., Nami M., Eiwanger J. & Mikdad A., 2010 – New chronometric data from Ifri n’Ammar (Morocco) and the chronostratigraphy of the Middle Palaeolithic in the Western Maghreb. Journal of Human Evolution 59(6): 672-679
- Tomasso S. & Rots V., 2018 – What is the use of shaping a tang? Tool use and hafting of tanged tools in the Aterian of Northern Africa. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 10: 1389-1417
Links
Ministère de la Culture, Maroc
German Archaeological Institute
