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| Rhafas | |
|---|---|
| Name | Rhafas |
| Map type | Morocco |
| Location | Tazerwalt, Taforalt, Oujda |
| Region | Rif Mountains, Atlas Mountains, Aures Mountains |
| Type | Rock shelter |
| Epochs | Middle Paleolithic, Iberomaurusian, Neolithic |
| Excavation | 1950s–2010s |
| Archaeologists | Paul Mercier, Théodore Monod, Jean-Pierre Raymond, E. Anati |
Rhafas is a rock-shelter and archaeological site in northeastern Morocco notable for stratified deposits spanning Middle Paleolithic to Holocene occupations. The site has produced lithic assemblages, faunal remains, and rock art that contribute to debates about North African prehistory, Late Pleistocene dispersals, and cultural connections across the Maghreb, Sahara, and Mediterranean. Excavations and surveys have linked Rhafas to broader sequences documented at Taforalt, Aïn Maarouf, Ifri n'Amr Ou Moussa, and Taforalt-adjacent complexes.
The name Rhafas appears in colonial-era French reports, Moroccan administrative inventories, and publications by Théodore Monod, Paul Mercier, and Jean-Pierre Raymond. Scholarly literature references Rhafas alongside sites such as Taforalt, Ifri n'Amr Ou Moussa, Grotte des Pigeons, and Aïn Maarouf. Comparative studies cite Rhafas in discussions with findings from Grotte du Bichon, El Harhoura, Jebel Irhoud, Aterian localities, and Bordj Badji Mokhtar research.
Rhafas is situated in the Moroccan Rif/Atlas contact zone, within a karstic outcrop near valleys studied by teams associated with Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine, Université Mohammed V, and CNRS. The shelter faces a landscape linked to Rif Mountains drainage systems and provides views toward plains connected to Oued Laou and corridors used in Pleistocene dispersal models involving Strait of Gibraltar crossings and coastal routes toward Iberian Peninsula, Andalusia, and Sicily. The shelter architecture includes an overhang, internal ledges, and a depositional basin comparable to features at Taforalt and Zasker.
Excavations began in the mid-20th century under teams including Théodore Monod and were later resumed by researchers from Université de Provence, CNRS, and Moroccan institutions led by Paul Mercier and collaborators. Fieldwork methodologies referenced those used at Taforalt and by projects at Grotte des Pigeons, Ifri n'Amr Ou Moussa, Jebel Irhoud, and El Alem. Interdisciplinary analyses have involved laboratories connected to Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, British Museum, Museo Nacional de Antropología, and Smithsonian Institution for comparative studies with assemblages from Tabun Cave, Skhul and Qafzeh, Kebara Cave, and Sibudu Cave.
Stratigraphic sequences at Rhafas show deposits analogous to those at Taforalt, with layers attributed to Middle Paleolithic, Early Upper Paleolithic, Iberomaurusian, and Neolithic phases. Chronometric programs employed radiocarbon dating at facilities like Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit and luminescence dating approaches similar to studies at Jebel Irhoud and El Harhoura. Comparative chronologies link Rhafas occupations to events recorded at Aterian sites, Iberomaurusian horizons, and Holocene contexts comparable to Capsian and Cardium-related deposits.
Lithic technology at Rhafas includes Levallois and flake industries comparable to assemblages from Jebel Irhoud, Taforalt, Oued Rech, and Ifri n'Amr Ou Moussa. Later components show microlithic tools associated with Iberomaurusian contexts, paralleling finds from Grotte des Pigeons, Afalou-bou-Rummel, El-Mnasra, and Rhoul sites. Bone and shell ornaments link Rhafas to ornamentation practices documented at Taforalt, Grotte des Pigeons, Isturitz, and Grotta di Fumane. Comparative analyses reference materials curated by British Museum, Musée de l'Homme, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, and collections from Université Mohammed V.
Rock art panels and engraved pieces at Rhafas have been compared with imagery from Taforalt, Aït Ouazik, Ifri n'Ammar, and Saharan sites such as Tassili n'Ajjer, Tadrart Acacus, and Tegdaoust. Motifs resonate with symbol sets identified in Iberomaurusian contexts and with parietal traditions discussed in literature by E. Anati and others who compared North African panels to European parietal art in Lascaux, Altamira, and Chauvet Cave. Ornamentation and pigment residues echo practices recorded at Grotte des Pigeons, El Harhoura, Rhafaa-adjacent locales, and coastal Maghreb shelters.
Paleoenvironmental reconstructions for the Rhafas area draw on records from Lake Iriki, Sahara Desert sedimentary archives, and Atlantic margin cores analyzed by teams from IFREMER and Université de Liège. Pollen, faunal, and isotopic studies link local conditions to broader North African climatic phases such as the African Humid Period and stadials correlated with records from Marine Isotope Stage 2, MIS 3, and datasets from Lake Yoa and Lake Megachad reconstructions. Faunal assemblages include taxa comparable to those from Aterian sites, Taforalt mammals, and Saharan faunas documented in Tadrart Acacus faunal studies.
Category:Archaeological sites in Morocco