Moroccan archaeologist Abdeljalil Bouzouggar is calling for a reassessment of the country’s prehistoric eras, arguing that long-standing classifications shaped by European perspectives no longer reflect recent discoveries.
In a new article published by the Royal Anthropological Institute of Britain and Ireland, Bouzouggar and a team of international researchers reassess 25 years of archaeological data from Morocco. The paper, “Reevaluating Prehistory in Morocco from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic,” was co-authored with Nick Barton and Stacey Carolin of Oxford University and Louise Humphrey of London’s Natural History Museum.
Bouzouggar, director of Morocco’s National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage Sciences, said prehistoric terminology in Morocco has often been borrowed from European models, particularly French.
“Due to historical and linguistic reasons, the names of some prehistoric periods in Morocco were linked to what happened in Europe,” he said. “This Euro-Asian-centered tendency was prominent. But to be fair, I cannot generalize.”
The study revisits the link between the Mousterian and Aterian stone tool traditions, once thought to represent separate eras. “Years later it became clear that the Mousterian and Aterian belong to the same period, though their relationship is not yet fully understood,” Bouzouggar said.
Dating methods have also complicated Morocco’s prehistoric timeline. Until 2003, the Aterian was believed to span 40,000 to 20,000 years ago, based on carbon dating. But more advanced techniques, such as electron spin resonance on gazelle teeth from a cave near Tangier, suggest the Aterian may date back more than 150,000 years.
That finding prompted wider use of multiple dating techniques to resolve gaps between the Middle and Upper Paleolithic. “Excavation methods and dating techniques from the 1950s created a gap of thousands of years,” Bouzouggar said.
“Now we have identified a culture between these two periods, dated roughly between 27,000 and 23,000 years ago. We will need to give it a name.”
Bouzouggar praised younger researchers for advancing the field. “Many students at our institute and other universities are quietly doing groundbreaking work on stone tools, fauna, human remains, and resource use,” he said.
“This generation will speak out and show that Morocco’s history is truly extraordinary.”
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