Chronostratigraphy, site formation processes and pollen record of Ifri n'Etsedda, NE Morocco

Abstract

The rock shelter of Ifri n'Etsedda is located at the southern flank of the Kebdana Mountains, North-east Morocco, at an altitude of around 300 m a.s.l. Twenty-one radiocarbon ages attest an occupation of the shelter between 10.0 and 6.0 ka cal BP. Comb decorated pottery, also known from other Late Neolithic sites of the area, suggest a later occupation. The presence of both Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic deposits offers the opportunity to study the Neolithic transition in the area, although the Ifri n'Etsedda deposits contain a short hiatus. Next to the Ifri Oudadane shelter west of the Melilla Peninsula, it is one of the few sites in the area allowing this approach.The paper combines stratigraphic, sedimentological and micromorphological studies in order to reconstruct the complex site formation processes. Pollen analysis offers exciting insights into environmental change, human land-use and subsistence strategies. A short overview about the artefact assemblage allows the reconstruction of occupation history and a first placement of the site within the archaeological context of the area.The Epipalaeolithic occupation seems to be clearly bipartite and the ongoing study of the lithic assemblage promises the possibility of further subdivision in the area for the first time. Discontinuities of the Epipalaeolithic might be connected to Early Holocene Rapid-Climate-Change-events (RCC). The Neolithic occurred at about 7.2 ka cal BP, marked by the appearance of pottery, perforated snails, ovicaprides and cereals. Hunting, gathering and the use of terrestrial molluscs still played an important role during the Neolithic, as the main occupation phase, the late Early Neolithic between 6.7 to about 6.0 ka cal BP, appears. Striking similarities to other contemporary sites such as El Zafrín at the nearby coast and the Mtlili open air sites within the lower reaches of the Moulouya River suggest that Ifri n'Etsedda is part of a larger settlement cluster, providing particular adaptations to mountainous landscapes.