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Caves and rock shelters are important archives for archaeological research. Prehistoric men not only sheltered in caves but also set up camps in open-air locations. Over the last 15 years a joint research group, comprising INSAP (Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine du Maroc), KAAK (Kommission für Archäologie Außereuropäischer Kulturen, German Archaeology Institute) and the University of Cologne, has been carrying out surveys and excavations in the area of the Eastern Rif...

Since 1995 archaeological research has been undertaken in the Eastern Rif (Morocco) by a Moroccan-German research team with participation of the “Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine du Maroc” (INSAP), the “Kommission für die Archäologie Außereuropäischer Kulturen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts” (KAAK), and the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology of the University of Cologne. In the course of these studies, several hundred sites have been discovered and a number of...

The Neolithisation of the southern Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean Maghreb, here termed “Alboran territory”, must be considered as the same integrative process. By the mid-8th millennium calBP, both sides of the Western Mediterranean were inhabited by hunter-gatherer groups which probably maintained intercontinental contacts. However, from around 7.6 ka calBP, Neolithic groups from the Eastern Mediterranean arrived in the region along the littoral of what is today Andalusia. Neolithic innovations...

The Neolithic transition, since decades in a particular focus of the Western Mediterranean archaeological research, recently receives new input concerning the chronological frame (Carvalho 2010), the development of regional groups (Manen et al. 2010) or raw material supply (Binder et al. 2010). One of the most interesting topics about this is the variability of the archaeological record in the Southern Iberian Peninsula. This seems to be closely linked to the complexity of the environment and the...

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 EpipalaeolithicEarly 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 ...

Shells of terrestrial gastropods (Helicidae, Sphincterochilidae) are common in rock shelter sediments and open-air sites of Iberomaurusian to Neolithic age in NE Morocco. Excavations at numerous sites in the eastern Rif yielded new sites with a rich record of well-preserved terrestrial gastropods, among which species of the genera Otala, Sphincterochila and Alabastrina dominate. In sites with sediments younger than 7500 calBP, such as Taghit Haddouch, Hassi Ouenzga, Ifri Oudadane, Ifri Armas and Mtlili, a...

This paper presents the Early and Late Neolithic pottery of Ifri Oudadane, a littoral shelter in Northeast Morocco containing both Epipalaeolithic as well as Neolithic deposits. The transition is indicated by the appearance of domesticated plant and animal species, pottery and diverse changes in lithic technology. A domesticated lentil dated to 7.6 ka cal BP may mark the onset of this transitional process. With the help of 22 14C-ages the Early Neolithic deposit can be subdivided in three phases (ENA, ENB,...

Abstract (The Palaeolithic site Sima de las Palomas de Teba, Southern Spain Site formation processes and chronostratigraphy: The rockshelter sequence consists of 6 m thick stonerich silty clay loam including several archaeological levels with artefacts of Mousterian affinity, bone and charcoal. Stratigraphy and site formation processes were characterised by sedimentological, geochemical and micromorphological investigations. Sediments were dated using IRSL and OSL and the time of the last heating of burnt...

Past environmental changes were frequently accompanied by changes in fire regimes. However, the extent to which the residue of ancient fires (black carbon, BC) is abundant in Pleistocene palaeosols remains largely unknown, and whether, and to which degree its occurrence and composition relates to pedogenetic processes and palaeoenvironmental change. We studied three Pleistocene loesspalaeosol sequences from western Germany for systematic variation in BC quantity and quality during Marine Isotope Stages 5e...

The littoral site of Ifri Oudadane is one of the most important recently excavated sites in the Mediterranean Maghreb. The shelter presents Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic layers and therefore offers the possibility to investigate the Neolithic transition in the region. Besides introducing the archaeological context, this paper focuses on palaeobotanical data in order to reconstruct Holocene environmental change and human use of plant resources for the period c. 11 to 5.7 ka cal. BP. Results show intense...

The cave of Arbreda provides a detailed archaeological record of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic and is a key site for studying human occupation and cultural transitions in NE Iberia. Recently, studies of lake archives and archaeological sites presented new evidence on climate changes in NE Iberia correlating with Heinrich events. It, therefore, needs to be determined whether climate signals can be identified in the cave sequence of Arbreda, and if so, whether these signals can be correlated with...

Previous geochronological and archaeological studies on the rock shelter Jarama VI suggested a late survival of Neanderthals in central Iberia and the presence of lithic assemblages of Early Upper Paleolithic affinity. New data on granulometry, mineralogical composition, geochemical fingerprints and micromorphology of the sequence corroborate the previous notion that the archaeological units JVI.2.1 to JVI.2.3 are slackwater deposits of superfloods, which did not experience significant post-depositional...