![]() ![]() The arrival of Phoenicians on the Moroccan coast heralded many centuries of rule by foreign powers in the north of Morocco. 300 BCE) Phoenician plate with red slip, 7th century BCE, excavated on Mogador Island, Essaouira. In the Chalcolithic period, or the copper age, the Beaker culture reached the north coast of Morocco. Archaeological excavations have suggested that the domestication of cattle and the cultivation of crops both occurred in the region during that period. The coastal regions of present-day Morocco in the early Neolithic shared in the Cardium pottery culture that was common to the entire Mediterranean region. The culture of these Neolithic hunters and herders flourished until the region began to desiccate after 5000 BCE as a result of climatic changes. ![]() ĭuring the Neolithic period, which followed the Mesolithic, the savanna was occupied by hunters and herders. While little is known of settlements in Morocco during that period, excavations elsewhere in the Maghreb region have suggested an abundance of game and forests that would have been hospitable to Mesolithic hunters and gatherers, such as those of the Capsian culture. In Mesolithic times, between 20,0 years ago, the geography of Morocco resembled a savanna more than the present arid landscape. In 2007, small perforated seashell beads were discovered in Taforalt that are 82,000 years old, making them the earliest known evidence of personal adornment found anywhere in the world. The bones of several very early Homo sapiens were excavated at Jebel Irhoud in 1991, these were dated using modern techniques in 2017 and found to be at least 300,000 years old, making them the oldest examples of Homo sapiens discovered anywhere in the world. The fossilized bones of a 400,000-year-old early human ancestor were discovered in Salé in 1971. See also: List of prehistoric sites in MoroccoĪrchaeological excavations have demonstrated the presence of people in Morocco that were ancestral to Homo sapiens, as well as the presence of early human species. The Saadi dynasty ruled the country from 1549 to 1659, followed by the Alaouites from 1667 onwards, who have since been the ruling dynasty of Morocco. Half a century later, the Moroccan state was established by the Idrisid dynasty. The region was conquered by the Muslims in the early 8th century CE, but broke away from the Umayyad Caliphate after the Berber Revolt of 740. ![]() In the mid-5th century CE, it was overrun by Vandals, before being recovered by the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century. Indigenous Berber monarchs ruled the territory from the 3rd century BCE until 40 CE, when it was annexed to the Roman Empire. They remained there until the late 3rd century BCE, while the hinterland was ruled by indigenous monarchs. In the 5th century BCE, the city-state of Carthage extended its hegemony over the coastal areas. The recorded history of Morocco begins with the Phoenician colonization of the Moroccan coast between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE, although the area was inhabited by indigenous Berbers for some two thousand years before that. It dates from the establishment of Mauretania and other ancient Berber kingdoms, to the establishment of the Moroccan state by the Idrisid dynasty followed by other Islamic dynasties, through to the colonial and independence periods.Īrchaeological evidence has shown that the area was inhabited by hominids at least 400,000 years ago. Much later Morocco was part of Iberomaurusian culture, including Taforalt. The history of human habitation in Morocco spans since the Lower Paleolithic, with the earliest known being Jebel Irhoud. ![]()
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