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93-536: Taforalt , or Grotte des Pigeons , is a cave in the province of Berkane , Aït Iznasen region, Morocco , possibly the oldest cemetery in North Africa . It contained at least 34 Iberomaurusian adolescent and adult human skeletons, as well as younger ones, from the Upper Palaeolithic between 15,100 and 14,000 calendar years ago. There is archaeological evidence for Iberomaurusian occupation at

186-405: A derivative of Arabic . However, these areas are not generally considered part of North Africa, but rather Southern Europe, due to their proximity to mainland Europe and their European-based cultures and religion. The Maghreb or western North Africa on the whole is believed to have been inhabited by Berbers and their ancestors since at least 10,000 B.C., while the eastern part of North Africa or

279-545: A pre-Mousterian industry where no evidence of the Levallois lithic technology is apparent. The following (newer) layers contain side scrapers, small radial Levallois cores, and thin, bifacially worked foliate points typical of the Aterian technological industries. These Aterian layers were dated to come from approximately 32,000 to >40,000 years ago, though other research has found a non-Levallois industry continuing at

372-530: A city, and its development, was linked to the local agricultural wealth. However the administrative leadership of the fledgling city, which abolished the old political entities of the Bni Iznasen tribes, was behind the French political decision in the colonial period to assign the role of direct leadership to Berkane over the neighboring tribes. The development of the agricultural economy and the improvement of

465-403: A continental scale rather than being confined to a particular corner of Africa. In September 2019, scientists reported the computerized determination, based on 260 CT scans , of a virtual skull shape of the last common human ancestor to modern humans / H. sapiens , representative of the earliest modern humans, and suggested that modern humans arose between 260,000 and 350,000 years ago through

558-613: A date of up to 1.8 million BCE. Recent finds in Jebel Irhoud in Morocco have been found to contain some of the oldest Homo sapiens remains; This suggests that, rather than arising only in East Africa around 200,000 years ago, early Homo sapiens may already have been present across the length of Africa 100,000 years earlier. According to study author Jean-Jacques Hublin, "The idea is that early Homo sapiens dispersed around

651-612: A distinctive Maghrebi ancestry formed from a mixture of Near Eastern and African ancestry, which is still found as a part of the genome of modern Northwest Africans. Later during the Neolithic , from around 7,500 years ago onwards, there was a migration into Northwest Africa of European Neolithic Farmers from the Iberian Peninsula (who had originated in Anatolia several thousand years prior), as well as pastoralists from

744-421: A hoof, and a tooth, alongside plant macro-remains like Ephedra , acorns ( Quercus ), and pine nuts ( Pinus pinaster ). Ephedra , known for its extensive use in traditional medicine, may have held significant importance in the burial rituals, potentially serving both symbolic and practical purposes during these activities. The deep and highly stratified cave floor has yielded hearths, lithics, and shell beads, among

837-660: A large amount of their genetic, ethnic, cultural and linguistic identity and influence with the Middle East / West Asia , a process that began with the Neolithic Revolution c.  10,000 BC and pre Dynastic Egypt. The countries of North Africa are also a major part of the Arab world . The Islamic and Arab influence in North Africa has remained dominant ever since, with the region being major part of

930-597: A merging of populations in East and Southern Africa . The cave paintings found at Tassili n'Ajjer , north of Tamanrasset, Algeria, and at other locations depict vibrant and vivid scenes of everyday life in central North Africa during the Neolithic Subpluvial period (about 8000 to 4000 BCE). Some parts of North Africa began to participate in the Neolithic revolution in the 6th millennium BCE, just before

1023-751: A relationship between the Iberomaurusians, particularly those from Taforalt, and later Maghreb and other North African samples. Thus, some measure of long-term population continuity in the Maghreb and surrounding region is supported, whereas greater North African population heterogeneity during the Late Pleistocene is implied with strong differences with Jebel Sahaba, but similarities between Taforalt and Afalou. In 1999, Colin Groves & Alan Thorne in studying three Northern African samples from

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1116-516: A result of the acorns and pine nuts which would have been collected and processed, resulting in fermentable carbohydrates. The women in the population do not reflect the same proximal tooth wear as their upper central incisors were typically not removed. A 2000 analysis of non-metric dental traits indicated genetic continuity from the terminal Pleistocene onward in the Iberomaurusian and Capsian areas. Based on dentition, Joel D. Irish found

1209-582: A sample of disarticulated bones. Seven bone samples from Sector 10 yielded age estimates between approximately 15,077 and 13,892 years ago, corresponding to the base of the Grey Series deposits seen in Sector 8 excavations. Burials situated toward the front of the cave and those higher within the deposits are likely to be progressively younger, and hence contemporary with higher levels in the Grey Series deposits recorded in Sector 8. A range of funerary practices

1302-514: A second official language after Arabic. French also serves as an administrative language in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The most spoken dialects are Maghrebi Arabic , a form of ancient Arabic dating back from the 8th century AD, and Egyptian Arabic . The largest and most numerous ethnic group in North Africa are the Arabs . In Algeria and Morocco, Berbers are the second largest ethnic group after

1395-461: A variety of artefacts of varying ages. The dryness of the cave has contributed to the notable level of preservation found among the remains and artefacts. The site is located around steep hills, rocky mountains, and the natural vegetation of the thermo-Mediterranean biozone including Tetraclinis articulate and Pinus halenpensis . The area itself is located in the Eastern part of Morocco near

1488-708: Is "no or scanty evidence" of human presence in the Egyptian Nile Valley during these periods, which may be due to problems in site preservation. Several scholars have argued that the African origins of the Egyptian civilisation derived from pastoral communities which emerged in both the Egyptian and Sudanese regions of the Nile Valley in the fifth millennium BCE. When Egypt entered the Bronze Age,

1581-594: Is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of the Western Sahara in the west, to Egypt and Sudan's Red Sea coast in the east. The most common definition for the region's boundaries includes Algeria , Egypt , Libya , Morocco , Tunisia , and Western Sahara ,

1674-603: Is a significant minority of Coptic Christians . The Copts are the largest Christian denomination in the Middle East and North Africa . The Maghreb formerly had a significant Jewish population, almost all of whom emigrated to France or Israel when the North African nations gained independence. Prior to the modern establishment of Israel, there were about 500,000 Jews in Northern Africa, including both Sephardi Jews (refugees from Spain, France and Portugal from

1767-470: Is apparent based on the grave excavations that have taken place. Some remains appear to have been primary inhumations while others appear to have sustained secondary inhumation after removal for potentially ritual practices. Evidence of deliberate post-mortem modification include cut marks that are not indicative of cannibalism and extensive ochre colouring with one grave, Grave XII, containing Individual 1 with both cut marks and ochre colouring present on

1860-601: Is considered a major player in the citrus fruit industry in North-Morocco, and high-quality fresh fruit and vegetables are plentiful year round. It is known for its farms of clementines . Also, a large statue of an orange is at the center of town. It is very close to Saïdia , a popular beach resort town on the Mediterranean, as well as Tafoughalt, a small village in the nearby mountains known for its healthy air and herb markets. Berkane's most popular sport club

1953-486: Is known elsewhere in this region at other points in prehistory and history and likely took place during the entrance to adulthood. The food processing tasks of the teeth are reflected in the heavy chipping, perhaps indicative of a gritty diet involving bone and shell. Half of the surviving teeth (51.2%) exhibited carious lesions while archaeological hunter-gatherers are expected to range between 0% – 14.3% and agriculturalists range between 2.2% - 48.1%. These numbers are likely

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2046-642: Is particularly fertile and most of Egypt lives close to the river. Elsewhere, irrigation is essential to improve crop yields on the desert margins. The inhabitants of North Africa are roughly divided in a manner corresponding to the principal geographic regions of North Africa: the Maghreb , the Nile valley, and the Sahel . The countries making up North Africa all have Modern Standard Arabic as their official language. Additionally, Algeria and Morocco recognize Berber as

2139-467: Is the association football club RS Berkane . Well known in the continental competitions. Rs berkane have won 3 major African titles, including 2 CAF Confederation Cup and 1 CAF Super Cup . Berkane is twinned with: [REDACTED] Media related to Berkane at Wikimedia Commons 34°55′N 2°19′W  /  34.917°N 2.317°W  / 34.917; -2.317 North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa )

2232-529: The Afroasiatic language family . The Tuareg Berber languages are notably more conservative than those of the coastal cities. Over the years, Berbers have been influenced by contact with other cultures: Egyptians , Greeks , Punic people , Romans , Vandals , Arabs , Europeans , and Africans . The cultures of the Maghreb and the Sahara therefore combines Arab, indigenous Berber and African elements. In

2325-532: The Aterian culture, and potential rock palettes . Animal remains found at the site largely appear to be food waste though excavations in the 1950s and 2000s, 2010s have revealed burials associated with antelope horns, bovine horns, and at least one horse tooth. The more sedentary Grey Series phase includes a substantial amount of land Mollusca remains in conjunction with hearths indicating extensive land snail collection and cooking. The earliest layers from approximately 80,000 years ago contain shell beads of

2418-484: The Levant , both of whom also significantly contributed to the ancestry of modern Northwest Africans. The proto-Berber tribes evolved from these prehistoric communities during the late Bronze - and early Iron ages. The majority of the people of the Maghreb and the Sahara regions speak varieties of Arabic and almost exclusively follow Islam. The Arabic and Berber languages are distantly related, both being members of

2511-600: The Middle Ages much of the area was loosely under the control of the Ottoman Empire . The Barbary pirates operated from the largely independent Barbary states located on the coast of North Africa. The Spanish Empire conquered several coastal cities between the 16th and 18th centuries. After the 19th century, the imperial and colonial presence of France , the United Kingdom , Spain and Italy left

2604-731: The Muslim world . North Africa is associated with the Middle East in the realm of geopolitics to form the Middle East-North Africa region. North Africa has three main geographic features: the Sahara desert in the south, the Atlas Mountains in the west, and the Nile River and delta in the east. The Atlas Mountains extend across much of northern Algeria , Morocco , and Tunisia . These mountains are part of

2697-492: The N. gibbosulus however analysis of these shells indicate that they were collected along the Mediterranean shore after they had been dead. Ash lenses from the Aterian levels around 80,000 BP contain large Otala punctate indicating small scale exploitation of land snails prior to the Grey Series. The vegetation species found inside the cave provide an idea what the environment was like during periods of human habitation with

2790-653: The Nile Valley has mainly been home to the Egyptians and Nubians . Ancient Egyptians record extensive contact in their Western desert with people that appear to have been Berber or proto-Berber. As the Tassili n'Ajjer and other rock art findings in the Sahara have shown, the Sahara also hosted various populations before its rapid desertification in 3500 B.C and even today continues to host small populations of nomadic trans-Saharan peoples . Laboratory examination of

2883-523: The Strait of Gibraltar , whereupon they overcame the fickle Roman defense. The loss of North Africa is considered a pinnacle point in the fall of the Western Roman Empire as Africa had previously been an important grain province that maintained Roman prosperity despite the barbarian incursions, and the wealth required to create new armies. The issue of regaining North Africa became paramount to

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2976-748: The Uan Muhuggiag child mummy and Tin Hanakaten child, suggested that the Central Saharan peoples from the Epipaleolithic , Mesolithic , and Pastoral periods possessed dark skin complexions. The archaeological evidence from the Holocene period has shown that Nilo-Saharan speaking groups had populated the central and southern Sahara before the influx of Berber and Arabic speakers, around 1500 years ago, who now largely populate

3069-602: The eastern part of North Africa has been home to the Egyptians . In the seventh and eighth centuries, Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula swept across the region during the early Muslim conquests . The Arab migrations to the Maghreb began immediately after, which started a long process of Islamization and Arabization that has defined the cultural landscape of North Africa ever since. Many but not all Berbers and Egyptians gradually merged into Arab - Islamic culture . The countries and people of North Africa share

3162-538: The fold mountain system that also runs through much of Southern Europe . They recede to the south and east, becoming a steppe landscape before meeting the Sahara desert, which covers more than 75 percent of the region. The tallest peaks are in the High Atlas range in south-central Morocco, which has many snow-capped peaks. South of the Atlas Mountains is the dry and barren expanse of the Sahara desert,

3255-506: The 1950s, form a contiguous and spatially demarcated collective burial area with dozens of closely spaced burials. The presence of both articulated and disarticulated bones indicates extensive use and reuse of the burial area with evidence of secondary burial and selective bone removal being practiced, often disturbing or truncating earlier burials. Some burials were covered by large stones preventing future disturbances by burials. The Roche excavations originally estimated that they had recovered

3348-668: The Arab majority. Arabs constitute 70% to 80% of the population of Algeria, 92% 97% of Libya, 67% to 70% of Morocco and 98% of Tunisia's population. The Berbers comprise 20% of Algeria, 10% of Libya, 35% of Morocco and 1% of Tunisia's population. The region is predominantly Muslim with a Jewish minority in Morocco and Tunisia , and significant Christian minority—the Copts —in Egypt , Algeria , Morocco, Libya, and Tunisia. In 2001,

3441-563: The Aterian and the Iberomaurusian dating to c. 24,500 cal BP. These industries date from the Middle Stone Age and the Later Stone Age . Excavations of the Iberomaurusian layers dating from 15,100 to 14,000 years ago have recovered dozens of burials with some showing evidence of postmortem processing. Some burials suggest potential ritualistic practices, as evidenced by the inclusion of animal remains such as horns, mandibles,

3534-522: The Berkane agglomeration is 306,901, that is, an estimated 12.5 percent of the population of the eastern region, with a high density of 145.7 people per square kilometer compared to 25.7 people per square kilometer in relation to the region and a high urbanization rate of 63.2 percent. The population rose from 368 in 1917 to 3,600 in 1936 and then doubled in 1947, it reached 7,545, then jumped to 20,496 in 1960, then to 60,490 in 1982 and 77,026 in 1994. In

3627-696: The Epipaleolithic Natufian and Pre-Pottery Neolithic cultures of the Levant , possibly suggesting geneflow. According to Loosdrecht, since the Natufian samples, which are chronologically younger than the Taforalt samples by several thousands of years, were inferred to lack substantial African ancestry, the researchers also hypothesized that a Maghreb center of evolution for the Natufian-related ancestry could only be plausible if

3720-514: The Maghreb remained focused on small-scale subsistence in small, highly mobile groups. Some Phoenician and Greek colonies were established along the Mediterranean coast during the 7th century BCE. The most notable nations of antiquity in western North Africa are Carthage , Numidia and Mauretania . The Phoenicians colonized much of North Africa including Carthage and parts of present-day Morocco (including Chellah , Essaouira and Volubilis ). The Carthaginians were of Phoenician origin, with

3813-626: The Natufians than later Neolithic Levantines. A two-way admixture scenario using Holocene Levantines and modern West African samples as reference populations inferred that the Taforalt individuals bore 63.5% Levantine-related and 36.5% Sub-Saharan African-related ancestries, with no evidence for additional gene flow from the Epigravettian culture of Upper Paleolithic Europe. The Taforalt individuals also show evidence of limited Neanderthal ancestry. When compared against modern populations,

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3906-503: The North African Later Stone Age. Starting in the 1960s, it has been dated with both conventional and AMS radiocarbon dating , OSL , TL , and U-series . Looking at all dates recovered from excavations, the habitation dates in this cave stretch from 12,500 cal BP ago to 85,000 years ago with a shift to sedentary habitation about 15,000 cal BP. The local environmental data helps establish the seasonality of

3999-628: The Pleistocene/Holocene, Taforalt was described as "Caucasoid" and resembled late Pleistocene Europeans, while Afalou was Intermediate. In contrast, the Sudanese remains from Jebel Sahaba included was described as "Negroid". The inhabitants of Grotte des Pigeons were hunter-gatherers equipped with the knowledge of harvesting plants and animals as the archaeological context suggests some of the burials contained evidence of baskets and grind stones which were used for food preparation. Some of

4092-633: The Renaissance era) as well as indigenous Mizrahi Jews . Today, less than 3,000 remain in the region, almost all in Morocco and Tunisia, and are mostly part of a French-speaking urban elite. (See Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries .) Due to the recent African origin of modern humans , the history of Prehistoric North Africa is important to the understanding of pre-hominid and early modern human history in Africa. Some researchers have postulated that North Africa rather than East Africa served as

4185-554: The Roman myth of their origin being that Dido , a Phoenician princess, was granted land by a local ruler based on how much land she could cover with a piece of cowhide. She ingeniously devised a method to extend the cowhide to a high proportion, thus gaining a large territory. She was also rejected by the Trojan prince Aeneas according to Virgil , thus creating a historical enmity between Carthage and Rome , as Aeneas would eventually lay

4278-633: The Romans, resulting in the Carthaginian North African territories becoming the Roman province of Africa in 146 B.C. This led to tension and eventually conflict between Numidia and Rome. The Numidian wars are notable for launching the careers of both Gaius Marius , and Sulla , and stretching the constitutional burden of the Roman republic as Marius required a professional army, something previously contrary to Roman values, to overcome

4371-420: The Sahara in the modern era. After migrating to North Africa in the 1st millennium BC, Semitic Phoenician settlers from the Levant established over 300 coastal colonies throughout the region and built a powerful empire that controlled most of the region from the 8th century BC until the middle of the 2nd century BC. Several waves of Arab migrations to the Maghreb began in the 7th century, including

4464-444: The Sahara, the distinction between sedentary oasis inhabitants and nomadic Bedouin Arabs and Tuaregs is particularly marked. Egyptians over the centuries have shifted their language from Egyptian (in its late form, varieties of Coptic ) to modern Egyptian Arabic while retaining a sense of national identity that has historically set them apart from other people in the region. Most Egyptians are Sunni Muslim , although there

4557-541: The Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla , and the plazas de soberanía . It can also be considered to include Malta , as well as other Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish regions such as Lampedusa and Lampione , Madeira , and the Canary Islands , which are all closer or as close to the African continent than Europe. Northwest Africa has been inhabited by Berbers since the beginning of recorded history , while

4650-414: The Taforalt individuals form a distinct cluster and do not cluster genetically with any modern population; however, they were found to cluster between Middle Easterners or modern North Africans and West/East Africans. The Taforalt individuals also exhibited higher levels of indigenous African ("Sub-Saharan African") ancestry than do modern North Africans. The Sub-Saharan African DNA in Taforalt individuals has

4743-585: The Taforalt individuals were all closely related to each other, showing evidence of a population bottleneck event in their past." Loosdrecht found the Taforalt to be composed of three major components: a Holocene West-Eurasian/ Levantine component, a Hadza hunter-gatherer component from Tanzania , and a West African component. According to Loosdrecht, the West-Eurasian component shows the relative closest genetic affinity for ancient Epipaleolithic Natufian individuals, with slightly greater affinity for

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4836-719: The Taforalt sample, can be better modeled as an admixture between a Dzudzuana-like [West-Eurasian] component and an "Ancient North African" component, "that may represent an even earlier split than the Basal Eurasians ." Iosif Lazaridis et al. (2018) also argued that an Iberomaurusian/Taforalt-like population contributed to the genetic composition of Natufians "and not the other way around", and that this Iberomaurusian/Taforalt lineage also contributed around 13% ancestry to modern West Africans "rather than Taforalt having ancestry from an unknown Sub-Saharan African source". Fregel (2021) summarized: "More evidence will be needed to determine

4929-696: The Western Empire, but was frustrated by Vandal victories. The focus of Roman energy had to be on the emerging threat of the Huns . In 468 AD, the Romans made one last serious attempt to invade North Africa but were repelled. This perhaps marks the point of terminal decline for the Western Roman Empire . The last Roman emperor was deposed in 476 by the Heruli general Odoacer . Trade routes between Europe and North Africa remained intact until

5022-448: The admixture that was inferred for the Taforalt individuals either occurred after the population ancestral to the Natufians had moved into the Levant or if that admixture event was a locally confined phenomenon at Taforalt. Iosif Lazaridis et al. (2018), as summarized by Rosa Fregel (2021), contested the conclusion of Loosdrecht (2018) and argued instead that the Iberomaurusian population of Upper Paleolithic North Africa , represented by

5115-410: The ancestral SLC24A4 allele associated with dark eye color, suggesting that the West-Eurasian migrant group may not have evolved light skin yet. Berkane The city recorded a population of 109,237 in the 2014 Moroccan census . The eastern dialect of Moroccan Arabic is spoken by most citizens, although Berber is also spoken by some people. According to the 2014 census, the population of

5208-433: The case of Roche's excavations, differs slightly throughout the cave but follows a simple pattern based on their colour: the Grey Series overlies the Yellow Series. The Yellow series goes from the beginning of the occupation of the cave about 85,000 years ago to c. 15,000 cal BP. The overlying Grey Series dates from c. 15,000 to 12,500 cal BP ago, and hence accumulated rapidly in some 2500 years. The Grey Series, associated with

5301-464: The charcoal record concerns the fluctuating presence of cedar in the C–F sequence. Cedrus currently grows in Morocco only from ≈1,300–2,600 m in the Rif , the Middle Atlas , and Eastern High Atlas , and its presence throughout the Taforalt record highlights a significant vegetation shift since the Holocene . In particular, the vegetation excavated by Barton in Group E is dominated by the presence of Cedrus atlantica and deciduous Quercus , with

5394-401: The charred remains of Holm oak ( Quercus ilex L.) acorns, Maritime pine ( Pinus pinaster Aiton) pine nuts, Juniper ( Juniperus phoenicea L.), Terebinth pistachio ( Pistacia terebinthus L.), and wild oat ( Avena sp.) being recovered after likely being collected and processed by the previous inhabitants. Sector 10, excavated by Humphrey, and the burial deposits excavated by Roche in

5487-470: The closest affinity, most of all, to that of modern West Africans (e.g. Yoruba , or Mende ). In addition to having similarity with the remnant of a more basal Sub-Saharan African lineage (e.g., a basal West African lineage shared between Yoruba and Mende peoples), the Sub-Saharan African DNA in the Taforalt individuals of the Iberomaurusian culture may be best represented by modern West Africans. Aizpurua-Iraola, Julen et al. (2023) would state that none of

5580-468: The coast (Taforalt) and further. While the meaning behind the beads cannot be discerned, the presence of an apparently widespread exchange network to facilitate their transport as well as their being worked for apparent ornamentation indicate some significance behind them. This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on 1 July 1995, in the Cultural category under the name "Grotte de Taforalt". In 2018, van de Loosdrecht et al. performed

5673-401: The coming of Islam. Some Berbers were members of the Early African Church (but evolved their own Donatist doctrine ), some were Berber Jews , and some adhered to traditional Berber religion . African pope Victor I served during the reign of Roman emperor Septimius Severus . Furthermore, during the rule of the Romans, Byzantines, Vandals, Ottomans and Carthaginians the Kabyle people were

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5766-443: The community of Taforalt (Tafoughalt) at (34°48′38″ N, 2°24′30″ W). The large mouth of the cave opens to the northeast and has an area > 400 m (4,305.6 sq ft). Today the site lies around 40 km (24.9 mi) from the Mediterranean coast and at an altitude of 720 m (2,362.2 ft) above sea level. The earliest layers of human habitation in the cave, dating from 85,000 to 82,000 years ago, contain evidence of

5859-438: The continent and elements of human modernity appeared in different places, and so different parts of Africa contributed to the emergence of what we call modern humans today." Early humans may have comprised a large, interbreeding population dispersed across Africa whose spread was facilitated by a wetter climate that created a "green Sahara", around 330,000 to 300,000 years ago. The rise of modern humans may thus have taken place on

5952-658: The desert: Tripolitania in the northwest and Cyrenaica in the northeast. Most of Egypt is also desert, with the exception of the Nile River and the irrigated land along its banks. The Nile Valley forms a narrow fertile thread that runs along the length of the country. Sheltered valleys in the Atlas Mountains, the Nile Valley and Delta , and the Mediterranean coast are the main sources of fertile farming land. A wide variety of valuable crops including cereals, rice and cotton, and woods such as cedar and cork , are grown. Typical Mediterranean crops, such as olives, figs, dates and citrus fruits, also thrive in these areas. The Nile Valley

6045-458: The eleventh century, a reformist movement made up of members that called themselves the Almoravid dynasty expanded south into Sub-Saharan Africa . North Africa's populous and flourishing civilization collapsed after exhausting its resources in internal fighting and suffering devastation from the invasion of the Banu Sulaym and Banu Hilal . Ibn Khaldun noted that the lands ravaged by Banu Hilal invaders had become completely arid desert. After

6138-479: The entirety of the region under one form of European occupation. In World War II from 1940 to 1943 the area was the setting for the North African Campaign . During the 1950s and 1960s all of the North African states gained independence. There remains a dispute over Western Sahara between Morocco and the Algerian -backed Polisario Front . The wider protest movement known as the Arab Spring began with revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt which ultimately led to

6231-438: The exit point for the modern humans who first trekked out of the continent in the Out of Africa migration. The earliest inhabitants of central North Africa have left behind significant remains: early remnants of hominid occupation in North Africa, for example, were found in Ain el Hanech, near Saïda ( c.  200,000 BCE ); in fact, more recent investigations have found signs of Oldowan technology there, and indicate

6324-430: The first aDNA tests on the ancient Taforalt individuals, directly dated to between 15,100 and 13,900 cal BP. The Taforalt samples are the oldest human DNA samples from Africa yet recovered. DNA analysis was performed on seven individuals: six males and one female. Only five of the individuals, including four of the males, with higher coverage genomes were used in the nuclear DNA analysis. Nuclear DNA analysis reveals that

6417-529: The foods harvested from their local environment included acorns, pine nuts, and land molluscs. The site exhibits evidence that the people that lived in this area used the cave year round by the Grey Series while staying there seasonally during the Yellow Series. The perforated marine shells present from the 85,000 – 82,000 year old level at Grotte des Pigeons and other sites in the nearby Maghreb dated from that period reflect an exchange network that likely existed in order to provide shells to communities 40 km from

6510-411: The foundations for Rome. Ancient Carthage was a commercial power and had a strong navy, but relied on mercenaries for land soldiers. The Carthaginians developed an empire in the Iberian Peninsula , Malta , Sardinia , Corsica and northwest Sicily , the latter being the cause of First Punic War with the Romans . Over a hundred years and more, all Carthaginian territory was eventually conquered by

6603-496: The largest sand desert in the world. In places the desert is cut by irregular watercourses called wadis —streams that flow only after rainfall but are usually dry. The Sahara's major landforms include ergs , large seas of sand that sometimes form into huge dunes ; the hammada , a level rocky plateau without soil or sand; and the reg , a desert pavement . The Sahara covers the southern part of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, and most of Libya. Only two regions of Libya are outside

6696-405: The later Iberomaurusian, is characterized by extensive hearths and charcoal deposits (hence its colour), along with all of the site's burials. The Yellow Series is associated with the earlier Iberomaurusian, as well as with Levallois artefacts of the Aterian industry. The increased density of artefacts and evidence of food production in the Grey Series is seen as a sign of year-round occupation at

6789-719: The latter declining at the expense of Cedrus . This is consistent with environmental cooling and drying that comes with a change to a montane climate. This climatic shift coincides with the dates recovered from Group E and validates the dates recovered there. The lithic collections recovered from the excavations at Grotte des Pigeons reflect a wide range of technologies and include unretouched and retouched flakes and bladelets, single and opposed platform bladelet cores, river cobbles, microburins , La Mouillah points, backed bladelets, Ouchtata bladelets, obtuse-ended backed bladelets, side scrapers, large bifacial tools, shell beads associated with bifacial foliates and tanged tools associated with

6882-413: The majority of the nearly intact skeleton. Roche's excavations in the 1950s yielded a single mandible from the Aterian levels. A 2003 analysis of masticatory and non-masticatory dental modifications among the remains recovered in the 1950s reflected a very high rate (90%) of avulsion of the upper central incisors which subsequently led to increased usage of the proximal teeth. Ritual tooth removal

6975-648: The migration of the Banu Hilal and the Banu Sulaym westward into the Maghreb in the eleventh century, which introduced Arab culture and language to the countryside. Historians mark their movement as a critical moment in the Arabization of North Africa. As Arab nomads spread, the territories of the local Berber tribes were moved and shrank. The Zenata were pushed to the west and the Kabyles were pushed to

7068-482: The north. The Berbers took refuge in the mountains whereas the plains were Arabized. This heavily shifted the demographics of the Maghreb. The trans-Saharan slave trade resulted in increased levels of sub-Saharan African ancestry in North Africa. The Haratin are commonly perceived as an endogamous group of former slaves or descendants of slaves. DNA studies of Iberomaurusian peoples at Taforalt , Morocco dating to around 15,000 years ago have found them to have

7161-544: The number of Christians in North Africa was estimated at 9 million, the majority of whom live in Egypt, with the remainder live in Maghreb countries. The inhabitants of the Spanish Canary Islands are of mixed Spanish and North African Berber ancestry, and the people of Malta are of primarily Southern Italian/Sicilian, as well as, to a lesser extent, North African and Middle Eastern ancestry and speak

7254-485: The only or one of the few in North Africa who remained independent. The Kabyle people were incredibly resistible so much so that even during the Arab conquest of North Africa they still had control and possession over their mountains. The early Muslim conquests included North Africa by 640. By 700, most of North Africa had come under Muslim rule. Indigenous Berbers subsequently started to form their own polities in response in places such as Fez and Sijilmasa . In

7347-533: The present-day (Hadza/East/West) or ancient Holocene African groups were found to be a suitable proxy population for the source of this component. A 2018 DNA analysis shows that the Taforalt individuals belonged to the mtDNA haplogroups U6a and M1b , as well as to the Y-DNA haplogroup E1b1b1a1 (M78), which is closely related to the E1b1b1b (M123) sublineage that has been observed in skeletal remains belonging to

7440-464: The rapid desertification of the Sahara around 3500 B.C. largely due to a tilt in the Earth's orbit. It was during this period that domesticated plants and animals were introduced in the region, spreading from the north and east to the southwest. There has been an inferred connection between areas of rapid drying and the introduction of livestock in which the natural (orbital) aridification was amplified by

7533-405: The remains of approximately 180 individuals, but subsequent research adjusted this estimate to between 35 and 40 individuals. These remains were not directly dated by Roche but based on the stratigraphy they were from a greater depth, and therefore greater age, than those in Sector 10. The recent excavations taking place in Sector 10 have recovered thirteen partially articulated skeletons along with

7626-464: The site as much of the modern vegetation was utilized by the prehistoric population and follows a set seasonal process of food production. The presence of plant remains that would have been harvested in spring indicate that the cave or nearby environs were inhabited during that season. Proxies for environmental conditions during the phases of cave occupation are available from both wood charcoal and small mammal evidence. A feature of considerable interest in

7719-543: The site between 23,200 and 12,600 calendar years ago, as well as evidence for Aterian occupation as old as 85,000 years. La Grotte des Pigeons is a cave in eastern Morocco near the village of Taforalt. Human occupation and natural processes in the cave have produced a 10 m (32.8 ft) thick sequence of archaeological layers dating between at least 85,000 and 10,000 years ago. These occupation layers include pre- Mousterian , Aterian , and Iberomaurusian lithic industries, plus an unusual non-Levallois industry between

7812-493: The site until 25,000 years ago. By about 21,000 years ago, the Iberomaurusian industry marked by microlithic backed bladelets became the dominant archaeological material, which has been found at the site. These Iberomaurusian layers contain microlithics, ostrich egg shells, potentially ritualized primary and secondary burials, and a notable increase in land snail remains indicating a shift in dietary practices. The cave

7905-490: The site whereas the Yellow Series is seen as evidence of seasonal habitation with occasional periods without humans. There is a theorized 2,000 year gap of habitation between 18,000 and 20,000 uncal BP with this sterile layer being noted in Sector 8 of Barton's excavations, though other excavations near the mouth of the cave challenge this finding. With 67 radiocarbon dates, Taforalt is the most extensively dated site of

7998-545: The specific origin of the North African Upper Paleolithic populations." Phenotypic analysis was performed on four of the Taforalt individuals with higher genomic coverage. The Taforalt individuals tested did not carry either of the derived SLC24A5 alleles associated with lighter skin color, the derived OCA2 allele associated with blue eye color, or the derived MCM6 allele associated with lactase persistence . However, they were found to carry

8091-616: The spread of shrubs and open land due to grazing. Nevertheless, changes in northern Africa's ecology after 3500 BCE provided the backdrop for the formation of dynastic civilizations and the construction of monumental architecture such as the Pyramids of Giza . Archaeological evidence has attested that population settlements occurred in Nubia as early as the Late Pleistocene era and from the 5th millennium BC onwards, whereas there

8184-464: The standard of living in the city have contributed to emptying the tribes from their population and displacing the human weight from the mountain fortress to the open plain and facilitated the process of military control of the French occupation of the region. The massive influx of workers in the agriculture sector from different Moroccan regions has also disrupted the homogeneous tribal fabric. Berkane

8277-558: The subsequent excavations in other parts of the cave. Because of the dozens of skeletons located by Roche in the 1950s and the burials located during the Bouzouggar, Barton, and Humphrey excavations taking place since 2003, Grotte des Pigeons represents what is likely the earliest and most extensively used known prehistoric cemetery in North Africa . The stratigraphy in Grotte des Pigeons, going as deep as 10 m (32.8 ft) as in

8370-576: The talented military leader Jugurtha . Kingdom of Mauretania remained independent until being annexed to the Roman Empire by Emperor Claudius in 42 AD. North Africa remained a part of the Roman Empire, producing notable citizens, including Augustine of Hippo , until incompetent leadership from Roman commanders in the early fifth century allowed the Germanic peoples , the Vandals , to cross

8463-637: The territory disputed between Morocco and the partially recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic . The United Nations ' definition includes all these countries as well as the Sudan . The African Union defines the region similarly, only differing from the UN in excluding the Sudan. The Sahel , south of the Sahara Desert , can be considered as the southern boundary of North Africa. North Africa includes

8556-458: The year 1996, the city's population was estimated at 82,000. The city of Berkane is considered an agricultural city as a result of the irrigation policy that colonialism followed, starting in the middle of the first half of the twentieth century, in the major irrigated circles. Especially since it is located on one of the richest plains in Morocco , the Tarifa plain. The emergence of Berkane as

8649-444: Was discovered in 1908 and was excavated in 1944–1947, 1950–1955, 1969–1977, and 2003–2018. Much of the field records from the early excavations have been lost. In 1951, Roche's team discovered human remains associated with the Iberomaurusian . The Roche excavation encountered 10 metres of archaeological deposits with the Iberomaurusian occupying the top 2 to 3 m (6.6 to 9.8 ft). This same stratification has been encountered in

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