An ancient farming community, dating back thousands of years, has been unearthed at an archaeological site in Morocco that remained largely unexplored for decades.

The Oued Beht archaeological site in Morocco was first discovered in the 1930s, according to a study published on July 31, 2024, in the journal “Antiquity.”

Following its initial discovery, the site remained largely untouched for many years.

In 2021, new fieldwork was initiated by the British-Italian-Moroccan Oued Beht Archaeological Project (OBAP), revealing strong evidence of past agricultural practices in the area.

Carbon dating of charcoal and seeds collected from deep pits during excavations placed the site’s occupation between 3400 B.C. and 2900 B.C., according to the study.

The site is considered “currently the earliest and most significant outside the Nile corridor,” the study noted.

Prior to this fieldwork, little was known about the inhabitants of this region during that period.

“For over 30 years I have been convinced that Mediterranean archaeology has been missing something fundamental in later prehistoric North Africa,” stated Cyprian Broodbank of the University of Cambridge, a leading researcher in the project, as reported by Morocco World News. “Now, at last, we know that was right, and we can begin to think in new ways that acknowledge the dynamic contribution of Africans to the emergence and interactions of early Mediterranean societies.”

Among the artifacts recovered from the site were chipped stone tools, axes, and microliths. Excavations also uncovered several “bell-shaped” pits, along with the remains of sheep, cattle, and pigs.

The study highlights striking similarities between this site and similarly aged sites in Iberia, with numerous findings of African ivory and ostrich eggshells indicating a strong connection between the Iberians and Africa.

“For more than a century, the last great unknown of later Mediterranean prehistory has been the role played by the societies of Mediterranean’s southern Africa shores west of Egypt,” the authors wrote about their recent findings, as reported in a press release by Newsweek. “Our discoveries prove that this gap has been due not to any lack of major prehistoric activity, but to the relative lack of investigation and publishing. Oued Beht now affirms the central role of the Maghreb in the emergence of both Mediterranean and wider African societies.”