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| Iberomaurusian culture | |
|---|---|
| Name | Iberomaurusian culture |
| Period | Upper Paleolithic to Epipaleolithic |
| Dates | c. 23,000–9,000 BP |
| Type site | Taforalt |
| Region | Maghreb, North Africa |
Iberomaurusian culture
The Iberomaurusian culture appears in the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene archaeological record of the Maghreb and adjacent Sahara, linked to sites such as Taforalt, Afalou, and Haua Fteah. It is characterized by distinctive microlithic industries, funerary assemblages, and coastal adaptations that intersect with evidence from contemporaneous records like Natufian culture, Epipaleolithic cultures of Europe, and material traces preserved in stratigraphic sequences near Mediterranean Sea. Debates over origins, demography, and connections to later populations engage researchers from institutions such as the Royal Society and universities in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.
The Iberomaurusian phenomenon was first defined in the early 20th century at sites such as Taforalt and Afalou, and later refined through excavations by scholars associated with the British Museum, CNRS, and national museums in Algeria. As an Epipaleolithic technocomplex it is often discussed alongside the Capsian culture, Aterian culture, and Mediterranean Paleolithic sequences like the Solutrean and Magdalenian. Key debates involve whether the Iberomaurusian reflects local continuity from the Middle Paleolithic or incoming populations linked to broader population movements across the Mediterranean Sea and the southern margins of the Sahara.
Radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating from Taforalt, Haua Fteah, and Grotte des Pigeons provide a chronology spanning roughly 23,000 to 9,000 years before present, overlapping the Last Glacial Maximum and the early Holocene. Stratigraphic comparisons place the Iberomaurusian before the regional expansion of the Capsian culture and roughly contemporaneous with the Natufian culture in the Levant and the terminal phases of the Upper Paleolithic in Europe. Periodization schemes commonly divide the sequence into early, middle, and late phases based on lithic typology and site formation processes evident in reports from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London and archaeological teams from France and Spain.
The lithic repertoire is dominated by backed bladelets, microburins, and geometric microliths produced on fine-grained flint and chert, with parallels to microlithic industries recorded in the Levantine Epipaleolithic and parts of Iberia. Bone and shell artifacts, including perforated Nassarius beads and worked awls, occur at coastal and cave sites investigated by researchers affiliated with the University of Cambridge and the University of Algiers. Technological studies compare production sequences to those documented in sites curated by the British Institute at Ankara and methodologies promoted by the International Union for Quaternary Research.
Zooarchaeological assemblages from Taforalt, Afalou, and Grotte des Pigeons indicate a broad-spectrum economy exploiting small ungulates, gazelle, tortoise, marine mollusks, and fish, paralleling subsistence evidence from the Natufian culture and coastal Epipaleolithic sites in Portugal. Seasonal occupation of caves, rock shelters, and open-air sites reflects mobility strategies discussed in comparative studies from the Sahara Desert and the Atlas Mountains. Stable isotope analyses conducted at laboratories in France and Germany contribute to reconstructions of diet and mobility comparable to isotopic work on contemporaneous populations like those represented in the Levant.
Grave assemblages from Taforalt include multiple interments with ochre, mollusc bead adornments, and grave goods that have been compared to mortuary behaviors in the Natufian culture and later Neolithic traditions in the western Mediterranean. Perforated shells, applied pigment traces, and modified human remains indicate symbolic practices documented in scholarly reports from the Royal Anthropological Institute and regional museums. Artistic expression, as seen in engraved objects and personal ornaments, is considered in light of pan-Mediterranean networks involving sites in Iberia, the Levant, and Sicily.
Ancient DNA extracted from human remains at Taforalt and other Iberomaurusian sites has provided evidence bearing on affinities with both Levantine Epipaleolithic populations and sub-Saharan groups, provoking discussion among geneticists at institutions like Max Planck Society and the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Cranial and post-cranial analyses housed in collections at the Natural History Museum, London and regional museums reveal morphological diversity that supplements genetic results; interpretations consider climatic adaptation, gene flow, and population continuity versus replacement scenarios similar to debates about the European Mesolithic.
Core Iberomaurusian sites include Taforalt (Grotte des Pigeons) in present-day Morocco, Afalou in Algeria, Haua Fteah in Libya, and other caves and shell middens along the Mediterranean coast. Fieldwork by teams from the University of Oxford, Université de Paris, and national antiquities services continues to refine the distribution map across the Maghreb and the southern Iberian margin, with survey data linked to palaeoenvironmental studies by groups at the Alfred Wegener Institute and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement.
Category:Archaeological cultures of North Africa