Journal
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Volume 40, Issue 6, Pages 2659-2669Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2013.01.026
Keywords
Origin of agriculture; Wild plant gathering; Basketry; Archaeobotany; Morocco; Epipalaeolithic; Early Neolithic
Funding
- European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)/ERC [230561]
- CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) [I-COOP0011]
- Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain [TPC-CSD2OO7-00058, CGL2011-30512-C02-01, HAR2008-09120/HIST]
- German Research Foundation (DFG)
- European Research Council (ERC) [230561] Funding Source: European Research Council (ERC)
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This research aims to shed light on the early stages of agricultural development in Northern Africa through the analysis of the rich macro-botanical assemblages obtained from Ifri Oudadane, an Epipalaeolithic-Early Neolithic site from North-East Morocco. Results indicate the presence of domesticated plants, cereals (Hordeum vulgare, Triticum monococcum/dicoccum, Triticum durum and Triticum aestivum/durum) and pulses (Lens culinaris and Pisum sativum) in the Early Neolithic. One lentil has been dated to 7611 +/- 37 cal BP representing the oldest direct date of a domesticated plant seed in Morocco and, by extension, in North Africa. Similarities in both radiocarbon dates and crop assemblages from Early Neolithic sites in Northern Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula suggest a simultaneous East to West maritime spread of agriculture along the shores of the Western Mediterranean. Wild plants were abundantly collected in both the Epipalaeolithic and the Early Neolithic periods pointing to the important role of these resources during the two periods. In addition to fruits and seeds that could have been consumed by both humans and domesticated animals, fragments of esparto grass (Stipa tenacissima) rhizomes have been identified. This is a western Mediterranean native plant that may have been used as a source of fibres for basketry. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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