Hassi Berkane and Late Iberomaurusian Land Use in the Eastern Rif, Morocco

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that climate events have the potential to significantly impact hunter-gatherer land
use patterns in the Western Mediterranean. Especially Heinrich Event 1 (18-15.6 ka calBP) affected the long-term stability of
Magdalenian groups on the South of the Iberian Peninsula, while it did not impact the contemporaneous Iberomaurusian
groups in Morocco to the same degree. It remains unclear which role the mass exploitation of land snails, beginning in
Greenland Interstadial 1 (from ca. 15.6 ka calBP), played in the establishment of these land use patterns. To examine this
further, studies on a regional scale are needed.
Survey projects in the Eastern Rif of Morocco led to the discovery of multiple new Late Iberomaurusan sites, one of these
being Hassi Berkane, discovered in 2013 and surveyed intensively in 2014. This paper presents the results of these works and
ties Hassi Berkane into the Late Iberomaurusian landscape of the Eastern Rif. Together with other sites, such as Ifri el Baroud
and Ifri n’Ammar, we were able to analyze settlement orientation and mobility patterns. These show that the Late Iberomaurusian groups chose site locations mainly based on fresh water sources and were mobile in daily activities, but not particularly
mobile outside of ranges accessible in a day’s walk. This impression of a fairly immobile society can be linked to previous land
use models which point to considerable settlement stability for Moroccan hunter-gatherers during GI1 and the Younger Dryas
(ca. 15-11.7 ka calBP).

Resources

Bibliography

Otto, T., Brückner, H., Weniger, G. (2019): Hassi Berkane and Late Iberomaurusian Land Use in the Eastern Rif, Morocco. – In: Quartär, Vol. 66, p: 201-223, DOI: 10.7485/QU66_10