The prehistoric site of Oued Beht, Khémisset, Morocco: an interpretative report on 2021-2022 fieldwork and associated research

Abstract

This report presents the first in-depth publication of preliminary data from Oued Beht, northwest Morocco, a remarkable site initially identified in the 1930s and now newly investigated. It is based on fieldwork undertaken in 2021-2022 (photogrammetry, survey and excavation), and associated study and analyses. Oued Beht is shown to be a large site of ca. 9-10 hectares in main extent, with many deep pits and convincing evidence for a full package of domesticated crops and animals. Its material culture is abundant and dense, comprising ceramics (including a local painted tradition hitherto barely attested in northwest Africa but comparable to finds in Iberia), numerous polished stone axes, grinding stones and other macrolithics, and a chipped-stone industry. Radiocarbon dates so far cluster at ca. 3400-2900 BC, but there are also indications of earlier and later prehistoric activity. What social activities Oued Beht reflects remains open to interpretation, but it emerges as a phenomenon of strong comparative interest for understanding the wider dynamics of north Africa and the Mediterranean during the fourth and third millennia BC.