Dissertation
From hunter-gathering to food production
Isotopic insights on human diet from the later stone age to Neolithic in Northwest Africa, Morocco
- Author
- Moubtahij, Z.
- Date
- 14 May 2025
- Links
- Scholarly Publications repository
In Northwest Africa, the transition from hunting and gathering to food production developed gradually, driven by human groups migrating from Europe and the Levant. In Morocco, farming practices emerged during the 6th millennium BC, yet local foraging traditions persisted well beyond this period. How did the introduction of farming influence local foragers? What factors shaped this complex shift, and how did ancient populations adapt their diets both before and after the introduction of agriculture?
This dissertation offers new insights through a novel multi-isotopic approach. Human remains from three key Moroccan sites—Taforalt, Kehf el Hammar, and Skhirat—are analyzed using carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, zinc, and strontium isotopes, along with compound-specific isotopic analyses, to directly reconstruct ancient diets. These biochemical signatures provide a direct perspective into what food resources these human groups exploited.
The results show a strong reliance on Mediterranean resources, particularly wild plants, during the Later Stone Age Iberomaurusian period. This dietary pattern continued into the early Holocene and likely persisted during the initial phases of farming. These findings suggest that the Mediterranean region of Northwest Africa acted as an ecological refugium, offering stable food resources throughout different periods. The isotopic data from Skhirat also reveal a more complex dietary pattern for Neolithic coastal human groups, highlighting the importance of direct isotopic tracers for understanding ancient human behavior in archaeological contexts.