The Early and Middle Holocene Lithic Industries of Ifri n’Etsedda (Eastern Rif, Morocco)

Abstract

Archaeological research has been carried out in the Eastern Rif (Morocco) since 1995 by a collaborative Moroccan-German research team. A major topic of the project is the transition from hunting-gathering to food production and related cultural developments. Innovations such as pottery and domesticated species appeared around 7.6 ka calBP. The cultivation of cereals and pulses is evident at that time. Two of the most important sites in the area are Ifri Oudadane and Ifri n’Etsedda. Both provide Epipaleolithic as well as Neolithic deposits. While innovative technologies such as pottery production and cultivation indicate external influences, lithic artifacts demonstrate local technological and behavioral traditions. Therefore, the study of lithic industries is crucial to understanding the nature of cultural continuity and discontinuity between the hunting-gathering and agricultural populations in the Eastern Rif. Ifri n’Etsedda provides two distinct Epipaleolithic deposits and thus offers the opportunity to study possible changes throughout the Epipalaeolithic and relationship to the later Early Neolithic (ENC). In combination with the earlier phases of Early Neolithic assemblages (ENA, ENB) at Ifri Oudadane, we are now in a better position to understand the development of early-to-mid Holocene lithic technology in the Eastern Rif. We show that the lithic record of Ifri n’Etsedda does not indicate any significant change in raw material supply, blank production, and tool distribution from the Early Epipaleolithic to the Early Neolithic B. Therefore, we argue for behavioral continuity from the Epipaleolithic to the Neolithic period. In contrast, the assemblages of the Early Neolithic C show changes in lithic technology.

Food and Ornament: Use of Shellfish at Ifri Oudadane, a Holocene Settlement in NE Morocco

“…The so-called "polisher shells" appeared in both Epipaleolithic and Neolithic layers, although their function is not yet clear. The analysis of the stone tools from Ifri Oudadane and Ifri n'Etsedda also support settlement and cultural continuity during the transition from the Epipaleolithic to the Early Neolithic (Broich et al 2020;Linstädter et al 2015).…”

Spatiotemporal Patterns on the Appearance of the First Trapeze Industries in the Late Mesolithic of the Iberian Peninsula

“…Therefore, the north African origin hypothesis still remains to be demonstrated, especially if we consider the significant distance between the Gibraltar strait and the core area of the Upper Capsian technocomplex (Perrin et al 2020), in eastern Algeria and Tunisia. Recent studies from the northern Morocco sites of Ifri Oudadane (Linstädter et al 2015) and Ifri n’Etsedda (Broich et al 2021) have reported assemblages with few trapezes and microburins, among other kind of armatures such as triangles of backed bladelets within thick sedimentary deposits considered “Epipalaeolithic.” However, nowadays such evidence remains inconclusive to establish a clear link with the Mesolithic of trapezes documented in the south of the Iberian Peninsula.…”

Hunting and fishing weapons, land and marine resources, technology and ways of life in the Neolithic sites of the Strait of Gibraltar region

“…Narrower and asymmetric shapes are also found in the Mesolithic of Alentejo, along the Atlantic coast of Portugal (Soares et al 2018), although the arrival of the Neolithic witnessed the widespread adoption of segments with abrupt retouches (Soares et al 2016). These are the most characteristic hunting weapon in the southern Iberian early Neolithic (Cortés Sánchez et al 2012;Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al 2013), alongside segments with abrupt retouches on the Mediterranean coast of Africa (Broich et al 2020), as attested in Ifri n'Etsedda (Eastern Rif). Within this context, the geometric microliths in El Retamar and Embarcadero de río Palmones, which are inspired by Mesolithic traditions, are exceptional.…”