Archaeologists unearth Maghreb’s most ancient pre-Phoenician settlement in Morocco

A group of archaeologists discovered the Maghreb’s first pre-Phoenician settlement, where they found evidence of a bronze age village that challenges assumptions about the region’s history.

The archaeologists, led by Hamza Benattia from the University of Barcelona, made the excavations in Kach Kouch, in the northern Oued Laou valley near the Strait of Gibraltar.

The site offers a glimpse into an era 2200-600 BC. During the 1300–900 BC period in particular, the kach Kouch settlement was home to a stable farming community, the first definitive evidence of settled life predating the Phoenician presence along the Mediterranean coast of the Maghreb, the archaeologists said in a statement.

The findings were summed up in an article on the indexed journal Antiquity of Cambridge University Press.

“Wattle and daub houses, rock-cut silos and grinding stones reveal a flourishing agricultural economy based on crops like barley, wheat and beans, supplemented by sheep, goats and cattle,” the statement added.

The phase from 800 to 600 BC demonstrates the flexibility and adaptability of Kach Kouch’s inhabitants, it said, adding that this period saw the introduction of eastern Mediterranean cultural innovations, including wheel-thrown pottery, iron tools and architectural traditions.

“One remarkable structure from this phase combines local wattle and daub techniques with a Phoenician-inspired stone plinth. This fusion of local and foreign practices illustrates how the community actively engaged with Mediterranean exchange networks, integrating new influences while retaining their distinct identity,” it said.

The discovery challenges assumptions about the Maghreb’s late prehistoric past and offers evidence of continuous settlement in the region over a span of more than a millennium.

“For decades, this region has been seen as marginal in the context of Mediterranean history, overshadowed by its more studied neighbours,” the statement said, noting that “evidence from Kach Kouch tells a story of dynamic local communities that were far from isolated.”