First results on the Aterian of Bizmoune Cave (Essaouira, Morocco)
Résumé
Bizmoune cave is located in southwestern Morocco on the south-facing slopes of Jebel
Hadid, about 15 km northeast of the modern city of Essaouira. The cave was first identified
as a Paleolithic site in 2008. The current project, a collaboration between Moroccan, French,
German and American researchers and institutions, began in 2014. Archaeological deposits at
the site span the Neolithic, Upper Paleolithic/LSA (Ibero-Maurusian) and MSA (Aterian):
the majority of the stratigraphic sequence contains Aterian assemblages. Bizmoune cave
holds the potential to provide much unique information about Aterian adaptations in a
little-explored area of western North Africa. Current chronometric information places the
Aterian deposts in MIS 4 and 5, but it is likely that the earliest archaeological deposits
predate the last Interglacial. Aterian layers document changing occupational intensity, with
sparse remains at the top of the sequence and deposits very rich in organics and archaeological
materials in the lower part of the sequence. Typical Aterian shaped tools such as tanged
pieces and bifacial foliates are relatively abundant, and shell beads have been recovered
from the earliest Aterian layers as well. The faunal assemblages, which consist mainly of
African bovids, appear to be primarily or entirely anthropogenic in origin. The presence of
shells of typical marine food species such as Mytilus is noteworthy given the site’s distance
from the sea during the Pleistocene. The density of land snail shells is very high in the
Neolithic, Ibero-Maurusian but also in the earliest MSA deposits. Further study is required
to determine whether the Aterian snail shells were accumulated by hominins or were the
results of natural deaths within the cave.