New studies of the lithic industry at Guenfouda and its relation to other Neolithic sites in the Oujda Mountains (Morocco)

In this paper, we present the lithic study of the Neolithic level of Guenfouda cave, localised in Jebel Metssila in the Jerada/Oujda mountains, in the Oriental Region of Morocco. This study focuses on the technology and typology of the worked lithic remains, but also on the lithic raw materials. We also analyse the other archaeological remains from this Neolithic level and we place them in a regional framework to apprehend the nature of the site

New materials of the white rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum and auerochs Bos primigenius from a Late Pleistocene terrace of the Oued el Haï (NE Morocco) - two elements of the Maghrebi Palearctic fauna

Most biogeographers considered the Maghreb to be part of the Palearctic biogeographic region, though it is relatively recently that the proportion of Palearctic species increased there. How and when exactly these biogeographic changes occurred is not well understood, but they are probably the result of the increasing aridification of the Sahara and decreasing global temperatures. Fossils of Bos primigenius and Ceratotherium simum from a new fossil locality in a terrace of the Oued el Haï (NE Morocco) contribute to our understanding of some of these biogeographic processes and their timing. They also suggest an age between ~57 and ~100 ka for the terrace. The same evolutionary change in Bos in Europe and the Maghreb suggests geneflow as the most parsimonious explanation, though parallel evolution is an alternative possibility. Oued el Haï has the oldest well-documented record of C. simum in the Maghreb. The dispersal of this species to North Africa, where it replaced C. mauritanicum, may have occurred during a ‘Green Sahara Period’ between 80–85 or 100–105 ka, when the Maghreb had acquired already a Palearctic character. The study of the biogeography and requirements of the large mammals of the Maghreb may provide information to calibrate the region’s climate modelling.This research was supported / funded by: Palarq Foundation, Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport under grant numbers 42-T002018N0000042853 and 170-T002019N0000038589); Direction of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture and Communication, Morocco); Faculty of Sciences (Mohamed 1r University of Oujda, Morocco); INSAP (Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine); Agencia Estatal de Investigación (Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under grant numbers CGL2016-80975-P, CGL2016-80000-P, PGC2018-095489-B-I00 and PGC2018-093925-B-C31; Synthesys (European Science Foundation) under grant numbers DE-TAF-668, GB-TAF-4119, AT-TAF-3663, DK-TAF-6538; Research Group Support of the Generalitat de Catalunya under grant numbers 2017 SGR 859 and 2017 SGR 836. The research of A.R.-H., J.A., R.S.-R. and M.G.Ch. was supported by ‘CERCA Programme/Genarlitat de Catalunya’. The Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA) was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the ‘María de Maeztu’ program for Units of Excellence under grant number CEX2019-000945-M. The research of I.A.L. was supported by the Humboldt Foundation.Peer reviewe

First magnetostratigraphic results in the Aïn Beni Mathar-Guefaït Basin, Northern High Plateaus (Morocco): The Pliocene-Pleistocene Dhar Iroumyane composite section

The Aïn Beni Mathar-Guefaït Basin, in the High Plateau Region (Morocco), is dissected by the Za River, the main eastern tributary of the Moulouya, which incises more than 150 m into Plio-Pleistocene sediments. The main goal of the present study is to provide an initial geochronologic framework for such basin infill based on a combination of magnetostratigraphy and electron spin resonance (ESR). The combined results have implications on the age of the paleontological record, the evolution of the Moulouya River, and the activity of the faults that delimit the basin. We have studied sedimentary rocks that are essentially flat-lying and of an alluvial and lacustrine/palustrine origin. An approximately 140 m-thick section has been sampled at an average of 2.5 m per site, allowing to build a local magnetic polarity stratigraphy that includes nine geomagnetic reversals. Although no fold test is available, the presence of dual polarities and rockmagnetic analysis give us confidence that magnetization directions are primary. We then anchored the obtained magnetozones to the Geomagnetic Polarity Timescale (GPTS) using the biostratigraphic data as well as local geological observations. Our proposed magnetostratigraphy-based chronology reveals a Plio-Pleistocene sedimentary infill spanning from Gauss to Olduvai Chrons. The lower, detrital formations mostly fall within the normal Gauss Chron, whereas the upper lacustrine and palustrine carbonates, which are almost widespread to the top of the sedimentary fill, are Olduvai in age. These results provide the first chronological constraints for the basin fill in one of the largest intermontane basins of the High Plateaus. The new magnetostratigraphy also reveals that the major environmental change that triggered a switch from alluvial to lacustrine-palustrine conditions in Northern Maghreb occurred near the Gauss-Matuyama reversal, ca. 2.6 Ma. In addition, it shows that the age of the paleontological site Guefaït-4 is approximately 1 myr older than the ESR ages obtained from the quartz grains. The possible sources for this underestimation are discussed. However, we also acknowledge and discuss other possible chronostratigraphic interpretations of the current data, although less likely.his work has been funded by Palarq Foundation, Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport (42-T002018N0000042853 and 170-T002019N0000038589), Direction of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture and Communication, Morocco), Faculty of Sciences (Mohamed 1er University, Oujda, Morocco)Peer reviewe

Multiproxy approach to reconstruct fossil primate feeding behavior: Case study for macaque from the Plio-Pleistocene site Guefaït-4.2 (eastern Morocco)

The genus Macaca belongs to Cercopithecidae (Old World monkeys), Cercopithecinae, Papionini. The presence of Macaca in North Africa is well known from the Late Miocene to the Late Pleistocene. However, the diet of fossil Macaca has been poorly described in the literature. In this study, we investigated the feeding habits of Macaca cf. sylvanus (n = 4) from the Plio-Pleistocene site Guefaït-4.2 in eastern Morocco through multiproxy analysis combining analyses of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes from tooth enamel, buccal microtexture, and low-magnification occlusal dental microwear. For both microwear analyses, we compared the macaques with a new reference collection of extant members of Cercopithecoidea. Our occlusal microwear results show for the fossil macaque a pattern similar to the extant Cercocebus atys and Lophocebus albigena, African forest-dwelling species that are characterized by a durophagous diet based mainly on hard fruit and seed intake. Buccal microtexture results also suggest the consumption of some grasses and the exploitation of more open habitats, similar to that observed in Theropithecus gelada. The δ13C of M. cf. sylvanus indicates a C3 based-diet without the presence of C4 plants typical of the savanna grassland in eastern Africa during this period. The high δ18O values of M. cf. sylvanus, compared with the contemporary ungulates recovered from Guefaït-4.2, could be associated with the consumption of a different resource by the primate such as leaves or fresh fruits from the upper part of trees. The complementarity of these methods allows for a dietary reconstruction covering a large part of the individual’s life.This work has been funded by Palarq Foundation, Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport (Ref: 42-T002018N0000042853 and 170-T002019N0000038589), Direction of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture and Communication, Morocco), Faculty of Sciences (Mohamed 1r University of Oujda, Morocco), INSAP (Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine), Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Ref: CGL2016-80975-P, CGL2016-80000-P, PGC2018-095489-B-I00, and PID2021- 122355NB-C33), Research Groups Support of the Generalitat de Catalunya (2017 SGR 836, 2017 SGR 1040, 2017 SGR 102, and 2017 SGR 859) and PDC2021-121613-I00 and PID2020-112963GB-I00 by ERDF A way of making Europe, by the European Union. RS-R, MC, AR-H, and CT research was funded by CERCA Programme Generalitat de Catalunya. IR-P is beneficiary of predoctoral fellowship (2020-FI-B-00731) funded by AGAUR and the Fons Social Europeu (FSE). AA and is beneficiary of a fellowship from the Erasmus Mundus Program to do the Master in Quaternary and Prehistory at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain). CT was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “Ramón y Cajal” program (RYC2020-029404-I). The Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA) has received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “María de Maeztu” program for Units of Excellence (CEX2019-000945-M), including the postdoctoral fellowships of AR-H.With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence" accreditation CEX2019-000945-M.Peer reviewe

Pleistocene and Holocene peopling of Jerada province, eastern Morocco: introducing a research project

The Aïn Beni Mathar – Guefaït (ABM-GFT) region in Eastern Morocco is the object of an archaeological, palaeontological, geological and geochronological research project, led by an international team since 2006. The research in this former fluvio-lacustrine basin, roughly 2000 km2, has revealed a significant number of Pleistocene and Holocene sites. Here we introduce the research project, that we conduct in the region, the main issues it aims to address, and the results already obtained

Les cervidés du site pléistocène Moyen d'Orgnac 3 (Ardèche, France)

The Middle Pleistocene site of Orgnac 3 in the Ardèche département has been excavated by J. Combier from 1964 to 1972. About ten archeological levels with a rich fauna and plenty of prehistoric tools have been discovered. More than twenty irregularely represented species lived in Orgnac 3 during the Middle Pleistocene between 350000 and 280000 BP. Cervids represent nearly 50 % of the fossil remains discovered in Orgnac 3. These remains are distributed in all the archaeological levels of the deposit. The Cervid remains belong to the following forms Cervus elaphus, Dama clactoniana, Capreolus sussenbornensis, Megaceros sp. and Rangifer tarandus. All these species have been described, measured and compared with other contemporaneous forms. The morphological and metric data show that the Cervid group is homogeneous through the whole deposit. The abundance Cervus elaphus in the lower testifies to a temperate wet climate and indicates the presence of a forest landscape, an evidence which is going in the same way as the conclusion of sedimentological and geochemical analyses.Le gisement Pleistocene moyen d'Orgnac 3 en Ardèche a été fouillé par J. Combier de 1964 à 1972. Une dizaine de niveaux archéologiques riches en faune et outils préhistoriques ont été mis en évidence. Plus d'une vingtaine d'espèces ont vécu à Orgnac 3 durant le Pleistocene moyen. Les Cervidés représentent près de 50 % des restes fossiles découverts à Orgnac 3. Ces restes sont répartis dans tous les niveaux archéologiques, mais ils sont beaucoup plus abondants dans les niveaux profonds du remplissage. Les restes de Cervidés se rapportent aux formes suivantes : Cervus elaphus, Dama clactoniana, Capreolus sussenbornensis, Megaceros sp. et Rangifer tarandus. Toutes ces espèces ont été décrites, mesurées et comparées avec d'autres formes contemporaines. Les données morphologiques et métriques montrent que ce groupe de Cervidés est homogène durant tout le remplissage. L'abondance de ces Cervidés et en l'occurrence de Cervus elaphus dans les niveaux inférieurs témoigne d'un climat tempéré humide et atteste la présence d'un paysage forestier, constatations qui vont dans le même sens que les analyses sédimentologiques et géochimiques.Aouraghe Hassan. Les cervidés du site pléistocène Moyen d'Orgnac 3 (Ardèche, France). In: Quaternaire, vol. 1, n°3-4, 1990. pp. 231-245

Les rongeurs du site atérien d'El Harhoura 1 (Témara, Maroc)

The El Harhoura 1 cave has reveraled a nch and varied large mammal assemblage ; in association with numerous human fossils and atenan stone tools. The rodents are little diversified and include only three species : Hystrix aff cristata (Hystncidae), Menones shawi (Gerbihdae) and Mastomys sp (Mundae) Hystrix of El Harhoura 1 is larger than the actual and than fossil Hystrix cristata from most of the Pléistocène sites in Maghreb Its abondance in the site reveals that a hot and dry climate was dominant throughout the time of the cave's deposits. Menones shawi is a member of the saharo- mediterranean species, its presence does not support a long period of dryness. Mastomys is larger than the genres discovered in Africa.La grotte d'El Harhoura 1 à Témara a fourni une faune de mammifères très riche et variée ; associée, à des restes humains abondants et à une industrie lithique atérienne. Les rongeurs sont peu diversifiés et ne comprennent que trois espèces : Hystrix aff. cristata (Hystricidae), Meriones shawi (Gerbilidae) et Mastomys sp (Muridae). Hystrix d'El Harhoura 1 est de plus grande taille que Hystrix cristata actuels et fossiles des sites pléistocenes du Maghreb. Son abondance sur le site témoigne de la présence d'un climat chaud et sec durant le Pléistocene supérieur. Meriones shawi fait partie des espèces saharo-méditerranéennes, sa présence ne tolère pas une longue période de sécheresse. Mastomys est de plus grande taille que les genres découverts en Afrique.Aouraghe Hassan, Abbassi Mohamed. Les rongeurs du site atérien d'El Harhoura 1 (Témara, Maroc). In: Quaternaire, vol. 13, n°2, 2002. pp. 125-136

Amphibiens, chéloniens et squamates du Pléistocène supérieur d'El Harhoura 1 (Témara, Maroc)

L\u27herpétofaune du Pléistocène supérieur de la grotte d\u27El Harhoura 1 est représentée par Bufo mauritanicus Schlegel, 1841, Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758), et Bufo sp. (amphibiens), Testudo graeca Linnaeus, 1758 (chéloniens) et Eumeces algeriensis Peters, 1864, Malpolon monspessulanus (Hermann, 1804) et Macrovipera cf. M. mauritanica (Duméril &amp; Bibron, 1848) (squamates). L\u27ensemble des espèces d\u27amphibiens et reptiles d\u27El Harhoura 1 est caractéristique de l\u27étage bioclimatique semi-aride du domaine méditerranéen et d\u27un milieu plus ou moins ouvert avec présence de points d\u27eau temporaire. Du point de vue chronologique, l\u27herpétofaune d\u27El Harhoura 1 est mise en équivalence avec les niveaux du Soltanien récent des gisements de Doukkala I et II.The herpetofauna from the upper Pleistocene of El Harhoura 1 cave is represented by Bufo mauritanicus Schlegel, 1841, Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) and Bufo sp. (amphibians), Testudo graeca Linnaeus, 1758 (chelonians) and Eumeces algeriensis Peters, 1864, Malpolon monspessulanus (Hermann, 1804) and Macrovipera cf. M. mauritanica (Duméril &amp; Bibron, 1848) (squamates). The assemblage of amphibians and reptiles characterizes a semi-arid bioclimatic zone of the Mediterranean climate and a probable open environment with temporary water ponds. From a chronological point of view, the herpetofauna of El Harhoura 1 is contemporary to levels of the recent Soltanian from Doukkala I and II sites.</p