City of Stones in the Moroccan Middle Atlas: Special Funeral Rites

The Middle Atlas and particularly the Boulmane region is full of pre-Islamic funerary monuments. The overwhelming majority of them are circular tumuli. However, two burials from the “City of Stones” are completely different from this common pattern and are exceptional in many respects. They are an extension of each other. Each is topped by an imposing horizontal sandstone slab which gives it a megalithic appearance although they are natural formations in reality. The underlying cavity was used as a burial chamber. The first CPSI site displayed the incomplete skeleton of 3 individuals. One of them, found in lateral decubitus, is relatively complete in anatomical connection up to the pelvis. The remains of two incomplete skeletons without any anatomical connection are also present. The second burial of the CPSII monument, however, does not contain any anatomically connected skeleton but bones belonging to 4 different individuals. The pre-Islamic populations of the Moroccan Middle Atlas erected tumulus-type funerary monuments to accommodate primary burials which could be single or multiple. And at the same time they could desecrate some by exhuming the skeletons to redeposit them in natural rock cavities which serve as burial chambers for a secondary burial or a deposit

Etude Archeothanatologique De La Sepulture Protohistorique Du Monument Funeraire Mbii (Boulmane, Moyen Atlas, Maroc)

The Moudmane Boulama site is a funeral structure located at 10 km South West of the city of Boulmane (Middle Atlas). It is a necropolis made of approximately twenty tumuli implanted on a hill. The MBII funeral monument is a tumulus built on the top of this hill, which culminates at 1970 m. It is an oval formation made of stack of stones and blocks. The funeral space is delimited in its West part by a low wall made of a sharpened stone alignment. The digs undertaken in June 2013 brought to light the burial place of a H3 adult and some remains of another adult as well as an immature subject. The skeleton of the most complete H3 individual is a male adult, buried in a lying dorsal position, oriented towards East West, head towards West and feet East. He is in a hyper contracted position and lays on an oval plane pit with a diameter of less than a meter. The calvarium and the mandible were subjected to a rotation and lay on the right side. The superior members are folded on themselves and laid on the thorax. The inferior members are also flexed. The skeleton is characterised by the maintaining of the connection of a number of labile elements which allows the characterisation of the burial place as being primarily in clogged space. This funeral monument has probably been used at first for the reception of the two individuals (H1 and H2) and then for the burial of the H3 individual in a sepulchral pit. The reuse of the monument could be explained by the three individuals belonging to the same family and that the last buried subject H3 has a more important familial and possibly social role. This tumulus has also released funeral furniture made of a few bones of domestic fauna. They were the object of a radiometric dating, which allowed the attribution of 2290 ± 35 years old to this tumulus14C B.P (GifA15085/ Sac A 41509)

ETUDE ANTHROPOLOGIQUE ET COMPARATIVE DES MANDIBULES HUMAINES DE LA CITE DES PIERRES (MOYEN ATLAS) A CELLES DE TAFORALT

The CPSI funeral monument is located In the North-West of the Middle Atlas, in the region of Adar Ouawine, approximately ten kilometres away from the town of Boulmane. It is a sandstone slab with an internal cavity in a scree zone that gave way to the remains of three individuals, one man and two women. They are buried in a lateral decubitus positions. The orientation of their body is North-South, the heads towards the North. The three mandibles exhumed are complete and in a very good state of conservation. The origin of the builders of the funeral monuments of North Africa in the protohistoric periods is debated. The results of the historic searches, ethnologic and linguistic on the subject oppose two theses. Gabriel Camps’s defends an oriental origin of the Protomediterranneans, assuming a progressive replacement of the existing local population and of other researchers who support the idea of a local anthropologic evolution of the Iberomaurusian population. We have based our approach on an anthropologic, as morphologic as morphometric and statistic, of the physic characteristics of the human remains found in the CPSI monument to define and compare them to the morphotype of Taforalt known to represent the Iberomaurusian population of Morocco. The morphometric and the statistical analysis of these mandibles showed that they presented physical characteristics consistent with the mandibles of the Men of Taforalt, particularly with H1’s mandible. The ACP showed that the CPSI and Taforalt individuals belong to two different populations. This distinction is explained by the slenderisation of the CPSI individuals who nevertheless keep morphological characteristics specific to the Mechta type. The morphological fit and the slenderisation allow us to establish a possible filiation between Berber populations, builders of the monuments of the Middle Atlas, and the oriental Moroccans in Taforal. This acknowledgment supports the thesis of local anthropological evolution during the protohistoric periods and weakens the thesis of the oriental origin of the Protomediterraneans

Influenza symptoms and their impact on elderly adults: randomised trial of AS03-adjuvanted or non-adjuvanted inactivated trivalent seasonal influenza vaccines.

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are particularly relevant in influenza vaccine trials in the elderly where reduction in symptom severity could prevent illness-related functional impairment

Etude anthropologique et comparative des mandibules humaines de la Cité des Pierres (Moyen Atlas) à celles de Taforalt

International audienceThe CPSI funeral monument is located In the NorthWest of the Middle Atlas, in the region of Adar Ouawine, approximately ten kilometres away from the town of Boulmane. It is a sandstone slab with an internal cavity in a scree zone that gave way to the remains of three individuals, one man and two women. They are buried in a lateral decubitus positions. The orientation of their body is North-South, the heads towards the North. The three mandibles exhumed are complete and in a very good state of conservation. The origin of the builders of the funeral monuments of North Africa in the protohistoric periods is debated. The results of the historic searches, ethnologic and linguistic on the subject oppose two theses. Gabriel Camps's defends an oriental origin of the Protomediterranneans, assuming a progressive replacement of the existing local population and of other researchers who support the idea of a local anthropologic evolution of the Iberomaurusian population. We have based our approach on an anthropologic, as morphologic as morphometric and statistic, of the physic characteristics of the human remains found in the CPSI monument to defin

Nouveaux sites préhistoriques dans le Moyen Atlas marocain: résultats des premières recherches

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New lithostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic data for the fossil human skull-bearing eolianite of Rabat-Kebibat (Morocco)

The Kebibat quarry locates on the coastal area of Rabat. It is also known as ‘’The Rabat Human deposit’’ due to the presence of human cranial bones in the quarry deposit. These remains of Hominines are related to the archaic Homo sapiens.The revision of the geological and geochronological context of Kebibat and its surroundings allowed clarifying the morpho-litho-stratigraphic aspects of the different formations that constitute it, as well as their evolution during the Middle-Upper Pleistocene. The sedimentary unit that fossilized the human remains corresponds to a dune deposit (eolianite), which is part of a high-resolution sedimentary sequence (parasequence). Luminescence and U-Th dating indicate that this sequence was deposited between the end of the marine isotopic stage 7 (MIS 7) until the end of MIS 6.L’ancienne carrière Kébibat qui se situe sur le littoral de Rabat est surnommée le gisement de l’Homme de Rabat du fait des restes crâniens humains qu’elle a livrés. Ces restes d’homininés se rattachent à un Homo sapiens archaïque. La révision du contexte géologique et géochronologique de ce site et de ses environs permet de préciser l’aspect morpho-litho-stratigraphique des différentes formations qui le constituent, ainsi que leur évolution au cours du Pléistocène moyen et supérieur. Les restes humains sont fossilisés à l’intérieur d’une unité formée d’une calcarénite éolienne, elle-même située sur une séquence sédimentaire de haute résolution (paraséquence). La chronologie déduite des analyses de luminescence et de l’U-Th suggère que la séquence s’est mise en place à partir de la fin du stade isotopique marin 7 (SIM 7) jusqu’à la fin du SIM 6

Sur la présence d’ursus arctos au début de l’Holocène dans le Moyen Atlas (Maroc) - datations et implications paléoenvironnementales

International audienceNear Boulmane city, in the limestone formation of El Minchare, the Ifri Oussaïd cave open over the Middle Atlas plateau at 2 075 m high. From 2005 to 2007 excavations provided charcoal associated to bone remains mainly belonging to Ursus arctos, at last 156 identiied bones from ive bears. Paleontological studies describe bear of small size (Ouchaou, 2008). Datations of charcoal from stalagmitic loors above bear bone layer give ages between 5 220 ± 30 and 5 865 ± 30 yrs 14 C BP, while the collagen of a radius bone was dated at 7 300 ± 40 yrs 14 C BP. This date, taking in account the local climatic pattern, conirms the presence of Ursus arctos at the beginning of the Holocene period in North Africa but also point out to the importance of environmental changes in the Middle Atlas and their potential importance for the extinction of Ursus arctos.Dans le Moyen Atlas, près de Boulmane les formations calcaires d'El Minchare abritent une grotte profonde (Ifri Oussaïd) s'ouvrant au-dessus du plateau à 2 075 m d'altitude. Les fouilles de ce site ont livré, de 2005 à 2007, des charbons associés à plusieurs ossements dont au moins 156 restes d'ours brun (Ursus arctos) appartenant à cinq individus. L'étude paléontologique atteste d'un ours de petite taille (Ouchaou, 2008). Les niveaux à charbons de bois scellés dans de petits planchers stalagmitiques situés au-dessus des restes ont donné des dates allant de 5 220 ± 30 à 5 865 ± 30 ans 14 C BP. La datation obtenue directement sur un radius d'ours est de 7 300 ± 40 ans 14 C BP. Cette date, replacée dans le contexte climatique local, conirme la présence d'Ursus arctos au début de l'Holocène moyen en Afrique du Nord, mais souligne aussi l'ampleur des changements environnementaux dans le Moyen Atlas depuis cette époque et leur inluence potentielle sur la disparition d'Ursus arctos de cette région

Sur la présence d’ursus arctos au début de l’Holocène dans le Moyen Atlas (Maroc) - datations et implications paléoenvironnementales

Dans le Moyen Atlas, près de Boulmane les formations calcaires d’El Minchare abritent une grotte profonde (Ifri Oussaïd) s’ouvrant au-dessus du plateau à 2075 m d’altitude. Les fouilles de ce site ont livré, de 2005 à 2007, des charbons associés à plusieurs ossements dont au moins 156 restes d’ours brun (Ursus arctos) appartenant à cinq individus. L’étude paléontologique atteste d’un ours de petite taille (Ouchaou, 2008). Les niveaux à charbons de bois scellés dans de petits planchers stalagmitiques situés au-dessus des restes ont donné des dates allant de 5220 ± 30 à 5865 ± 30 ans 14C BP. La datation obtenue directement sur un radius d’ours est de 7300 ± 40 ans 14C BP. Cette date, replacée dans le contexte climatique local, confirme la présence d’Ursus arctos au début de l’Holocène moyen en Afrique du Nord, mais souligne aussi l’ampleur des changements environnementaux dans le Moyen Atlas depuis cette époque et leur influence potentielle sur la disparition d’Ursus arctos de cette région.Near Boulmane city, in the limestone formation of El Minchare, the Ifri Oussaïd cave open over the Middle Atlas plateau at 2075 m high. From 2005 to 2007 excavations provided charcoal associated to bone remains mainly belonging to Ursus arctos, at last 156 identified bones from five bears. Paleontological studies describe bear of small size (Ouchaou, 2008). Datations of charcoal from stalagmitic floors above bear bone layer give ages between 5220 ± 30 and 5865 ± 30 yrs 14C BP, while the collagen of a radius bone was dated at 7300 ± 40 yrs 14C BP. This date, taking in account the local climatic pattern, confirms the presence of Ursus arctos at the beginning of the Holocene period in North Africa but also point out to the importance of environmental changes in the Middle Atlas and their potential importance for the extinction of Ursus arctos

Occupation des zones côtières de la façade atlantique marocaine par les chasseurs-collecteurs du Middle Stone Age : exemple de la région de Témara au Pléistocène supérieur

International audienceLa caractérisation de la subsistance des populations préhistoriques d’Afrique du Nord s’est appuyée dans un premier temps sur l’analyse des faunes vertébrées, principalement des ongulés. Néanmoins, en zone côtière les Hommes ont aussi exploité des ressources animales marines, en particulier des mollusques. L’occupation des zones côtières est toutefois contrainte par les fluctuations climatiques induisant des variations du niveau marin, et par conséquent, l’enregistrement y est discontinu (et est probablement sous les eaux pour les périodes de régression). Si à l’échelle du globe l’adaptation au milieu côtier est attestée à l’Holocène, elle est discutée pour les périodes plus anciennes, notamment au Middle Stone Age. L’Afrique du Sud a focalisé l’attention des recherches sur cette thématique. Cependant, l’Afrique du Nord, qui comprend des occupations Middle Stone Age côtières ayant livré des coquilles de mollusques marins, apparaît être également une zone clef pour apporter de nouvelles données à ce débat. Cette présentation vise à fournir des premiers éléments de réflexion sur la complémentarité des ressources animales, terrestres et marines, au Middle Stone Age sur la façade atlantique marocaine en croisant les données issues de l’analyse du matériel archéologique, des thanatocénoses Pléistocènes et d’ observations ethnologiques