Archaeological research at Oued Bet in the hills of northwest Morocco has identified substantial defensive structures dating to approximately 4,000 to 3,500 years ago. The discovery indicates that communities in the Maghreb were organizing large construction projects during the second millennium BC and participating in wider networks of exchange across the Mediterranean.
A long-lived center in northwest Morocco
Previous work by the Oued Bet Archaeology Project revealed what may be the earliest and largest agricultural complex discovered in Africa outside the Nile Valley. Its origins date to approximately 5,400 to 4,900 years ago. Excavations conducted in 2023, in which the researchers participated, have provided further insight into the site.
The researchers’ new study describes the earliest known large-scale structures in North Africa beyond the Nile Valley that were probably defensive in nature. The structures are approximately 4,000 to 3,500 years old.
It remains unclear which threats the wall-like structures were intended to address. They may have had less to do with defending against “invaders” than with rising competition over land, resources and movement through the landscape. Their construction suggests that communities sought to protect themselves or assert control over strategically important locations.
The discovery pushes back evidence for organized defensive structures in the Maghreb and indicates that societies in the region were more complex and structured than previously recognized.
The research also shows that the Oued Bet ridge became a focus of activity again during the medieval period, from the 11th to the 13th century AD. The defensive structures were rebuilt, settlements or farms were established on nearby hills, and people were buried in cemeteries between the two areas.
Together, these findings offer rare archaeological evidence from rural areas during both prehistoric and medieval periods. They help show how societies developed and persisted in places that are often underrepresented in historical accounts.
The prehistoric heart of the Maghreb
For many years, the later prehistory of the Maghreb—the Mediterranean region encompassing present-day Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia—was poorly understood. Archaeological evidence was often fragmentary compared with that from neighboring regions such as the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe and Athens in the eastern Mediterranean. In recent years, however, that picture has changed substantially.
Excavations at Oued Bet indicate that human activity covered at least 10 hectares. The earliest major phases date from the mid-fourth millennium BC to the early third millennium BC, during the final period of the Neolithic.
Environmental evidence from prehistoric plant and animal remains points to agricultural communities that cultivated crops including barley and wheat. They also gathered wild plants and kept livestock.
Oued Bet was also an important center of craft production. Archaeologists have found thousands of polished stone axes and other tools, as well as finely made pottery, sometimes decorated with painted designs.
It is not yet clear whether prehistoric Oued Bet was a permanent village, a seasonal gathering place or a type of settlement that does not fit those categories. It was, however, clearly an important focal point in the landscape of northwestern Morocco.
A defensive ridge
The possible ancient earthworks and walls at the site have been known since the 1930s. French archaeologist Armand Ruhlmann recorded a configuration of three walls, with the fourth side protected by the ridge’s natural cliffs. He described it as a defensive structure called Éperon Barré, or “barred spur.” Its precise function and date remained unknown.
New excavations have identified multiple ditches, ramparts and walls built across a narrow section of the Oued Bet ridge between the river and the valley. The system cut off and protected the southern end of the ridge.
Radiocarbon dating of sediments associated with the structures established a chronological framework for the site. The earliest structures date to a period corresponding to the Bronze Age in the western Mediterranean, making them the earliest known defensive facility in North Africa outside Egypt.
What was the construction for?
The structures raise important questions about the society that built them. Constructing the ramparts and ditch system would have required planning, coordination and the mobilization of labor. This suggests that the communities at Oued Bet could organize complex, large-scale construction projects.
During the early Neolithic, activity at Oued Bet was concentrated in the site’s larger, more open northern area. By the period examined in the new study, the focus had shifted to the narrower and more defensible southern ridge. This may reflect a change in settlement or land-use strategies.
Connections across the Mediterranean
The second millennium BC was a dynamic period throughout the Mediterranean. In the southern Iberian Peninsula, the Argaric culture, which dates to approximately 2200–1550 BC, developed hilltop settlements in what is now Spain. These communities were characterized by planned architecture, advanced metallurgy—particularly bronze production—and pronounced social hierarchies visible in burial practices. They often built fortified sites and strategically positioned settlements to control the surrounding territory.
Growing evidence indicates that communities in northwest Africa were connected to broader Mediterranean networks, including those extending to present-day Spain and Portugal. The Oued Bet discovery shows that people in the Maghreb were not isolated. They participated in wider processes that shaped the western Mediterranean.
The defensive system may reflect broader changes in social organization and relations between communities. Competition for resources, control over movement and the emergence of more formalized leadership structures may all have played a role.
Reconsidering North Africa’s past
The discovery at Oued Bet highlights how much remains to be learned about North Africa’s deep history. The defensive walls show that the community was capable of coordinating a major construction project, providing evidence of a social transformation that is only now beginning to be recognized.
Medieval remains show that the ridge was used again centuries after the prehistoric settlement was abandoned. Oued Bet was not simply a temporary settlement; it was a landscape repeatedly selected by different communities over thousands of years.
Continued research at the site may help clarify how societies in the Maghreb developed from early rural communities into the medieval rural world.
Source: www.sciencedaily.com