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Human Burial Evidence from Hattab II Cave and the Question of Continuity in Late Pleistocene–Holocene Mortuary Practices in Northwest Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2008

Nick Barton ,
Abdeljalil Bouzouggar ,
Louise Humphrey ,
Peter Berridge ,
Simon Collcutt ,
Rowena Gale ,
Simon Parfitt ,
Adrian Parker ,
Edward Rhodes  and
Jean-Luc Schwenninger
Nick Barton
Affiliation:
University of Oxford Institute of Archaeology, Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PG, UK; [email protected].
Abdeljalil Bouzouggar
Affiliation:
Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine, Hay Riad, Madinat Al Irfane, Angle rues 5 et 7, Rabat-Instituts 10 000, Rabat, Morocco.
Louise Humphrey
Affiliation:
Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK.
Peter Berridge
Affiliation:
Colchester Museums, Colchester, CO1 1YG, UK.
Simon Collcutt
Affiliation:
Oxford Archaeological Associates Ltd, Oxford, OX4 1LH, UK.
Rowena Gale
Affiliation:
Honorary Research Associate, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK.
Simon Parfitt
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, WC1 0PY, UK.
Adrian Parker
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology & Geography, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK.
Edward Rhodes
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental & Geographical Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Chester Street, Manchester, M1 5GD, UK.
Jean-Luc Schwenninger
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology & the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK.
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Abstract

Archaeological excavations in 2002–3 at Hattab II Cave in northwestern Morocco revealed an undisturbed Late Palaeolithic Iberomaurusian human burial. This is the first Iberomaurusian inhumation discovered in the region. The skeleton is probably that of a male aged between 25 and 30 years. The individual shows a characteristic absence of the central upper incisors reported in other Iberomaurusian burials. Accompanying the burial are a stone core and a number of grave goods including bone points, a marine gastropod and a gazelle horn core. Thermoluminescence dating of a burnt stone artefact in association with the burial has provided an age of 8900?1100 bp. This is one of the youngest ages reported for the Iberomaurusian and raises questions about persistence of hunter-gatherer societies in the Maghreb and the potential for continuity in burial practices with the earliest Neolithic.

Keywords

Hattab II Cavehuman remainsIberomaurusian burialhunter-gatherers
Type
Research Article
Information
Cambridge Archaeological Journal , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 195 - 214
Copyright
2008 The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

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