Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – Most Bronze Age settlements have been documented in European regions, but the Maghreb has often been overlooked in historical narratives, mistakenly labeled as uninhabited until the Phoenicians arrived around 800 BC. However, a groundbreaking study led by Hamza Benattia Melgarejo from the University of Barcelona has identified the first Bronze Age settlement in this area, predating Phoenician influence. This discovery is crucial for understanding African and Mediterranean history.
Back: View of Kach Kouch and the Oued Laou estuary, looking east. Credit: H. Benatti.
Left: Chipped stone artefacts from Kach Kouch. Credir: L. Lombardi. Image compilation AncientPages.com
Published in Antiquity, the research details excavations at Kach Kouch in northwest Morocco, revealing human occupation between 2200 and 600 BC. This makes it one of the earliest sites of its kind in Mediterranean Africa outside Egypt. Melgarejo, a Ph.D. student at UB’s Faculty of Geography and History and part of UB’s Classical and Protohistoric Archaeology Research Group, has focused on this prehistoric site near the Lau River.
The site covers about one hectare and is located 10 kilometers from today’s coast near Gibraltar Strait and 30 kilometers southeast of Tétouan. Excavations show multiple phases of occupation: The first phase (2200–2000 BC) is minimally represented but important for indicating early settlement during Iberia’s transition to the Bronze Age.
The north-western Maghreb, showing the location of Kach Kouch and other sites. Credit: H. Benatti.
The second phase (1300–900 BC) marks a vibrant period with evidence of a stable agricultural community—the first proof of sedentary life before Phoenician arrival in Maghreb. Findings include wooden mud-brick buildings, rock-cut silos, grinding stones, barley and wheat crops supplemented by sheep, goats, and cattle.
Kach Kouch is located 10 kilometers from the present-day coast, near the Strait of Gibraltar, and 30 kilometers southeast of Tétouan. Credit: University of Barcelona
In the third phase (800–600 BC), inhabitants demonstrated adaptability by incorporating eastern Mediterranean cultural innovations like wheel-thrown pottery, iron tools, and new stone-based architectural traditions. This blend highlights their active role within Mediterranean exchange networks.
“Kach Kouch is one of the first well-documented examples of continuous settlement in the Maghreb and tells a very different story from the one that has existed for a long time: it shows the history of dynamic local communities that were far from isolated,” says Benattia.
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“The excavations at this site are another step towards correcting these historical biases and reveal that the Maghreb was an active participant in the social, cultural and economic networks of the Mediterranean,” says the UB researcher.
The study was published in Antiquity
Written by Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com Staff Writer
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