History of Morocco - Prehistoric Morocco

Prehistoric Morocco

In 1971 the fossilised bones of a 400,000 year old early human ancestor was discovered at Sale. In 1991 the bones of several very early Homo sapiens were discovered at Jebel Irhoud that are at least 160,000 years old. In 2007 small perforated sea shell beads were discovered in Taforalt that are 82,000 years old, which makes them the earliest evidence of personal adornment yet found anywhere in the world.

The Capsian culture brought Morocco into the Neolithic about 2001 BC, at a time when the Maghreb was less arid than it is today. The Berber language probably was formed at roughly the same time as agriculture (see Berber), and was developed by the existing population and adopted the immigrants who arrived later. Modern DNA analysis (see link) has confirmed that various populations have contributed to the present-day gene pool of Morocco in addition to the main ethnic group which is the Amazighs/Berbers. A very small percentage of those other populations are Iberians and sub-Saharan Africans.

In Mesolithic ages the geography of Morocco resembled a savanna more than the present day arid landscape. While little is known about Morocco settlement in these early times, excavations elsewhere in the Maghreb suggest an abundance of game and forests that would have been hospitable to Mesolithic hunters and gatherers.

The coastal regions of present-day Morocco shared in an early Neolithic culture that was common to the whole Mediterranean littoral. Archaeological remains point to the domestication of cattle and the cultivation of crops in the region during that period. Eight thousand years ago, south of the great mountain ranges in what is now the Sahara Desert, a vast savanna supported Neolithic hunters and herders whose culture flourished until the region began to desiccate as a result of climatic changes after 4000 BC.