Taforalt

Taforalt
	The cave in September 2017
	location in Morocco
Alternative name	Grotte des Pigeons
Location	near Taforalt village, Iznasen mountains
Region	Morocco
Coordinates	34°48′38″N 2°24′30″W / 34.81056°N 2.40833°W
History
Periods	Middle Paleolithic, Epipalaeolithic
Cultures	pre-Mousterian, Aterian, Iberomaurusian
Site notes
Excavation dates	1944–1947, 1950–1955, 1969-1977, 2003-2018, 2022
Archaeologists	Ruhlmann, Roche, Bouzouggar, Barton, Humphrey
Public access	No

Taforalt, or Grotte des Pigeons, is a cave in the province of Berkane, Aït Iznasen region, Morocco, possibly the oldest cemetery in North Africa.^[1] It contained at least 34^[2]^: 347 Iberomaurusian adolescent and adult human skeletons, as well as younger ones, from the Upper Palaeolithic between 15,100 and 14,000 calendar years ago. There is archaeological evidence for Iberomaurusian occupation at the site between 23,200 and 12,600 calendar years ago, as well as evidence for Aterian occupation as old as 85,000 years.^[3]^[4]

^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ V. Mariotti; B. Bonfiglioli; F. Facchini; S. Condemi; M.G. Belcastro (2009). "Funerary practices of the Iberomaurusian population of Taforalt (Tafoughalt; Morocco, 11-12,000 BP): new hypotheses based on grave skeletal inventory and evidence of deliberate human modification of the remains". Journal of Human Evolution. 56 (4): 340–354. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.01.001. ISSN 0047-2484. PMID 19362729. The highest value [for the Minimum Number of Individuals] is given by the right femur, according to which there are at least 34 individuals. On the basis of cranial specimens (unmarked fragments were not considered), the MNI is 33. Therefore, the MNI of the whole necropolis can be plausibly estimated at 35-40 individuals. This is much less than the value given by Ferembach (1962) of 86 adults and adolescents, obtained simply by adding the individuals in each grave.
^ Bouzouggar, Abdeljalil; Barton, Nick; Vanhaeren, Marian; d'Errico, Francesco; Collcutt, Simon; Higham, Tom; Hodge, Edward; Parfitt, Simon; Rhodes, Edward (12 June 2007). "82,000-year-old shell beads from North Africa and implications for the origins of modern human behavior". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104 (24): 9964–9969. doi:10.1073/pnas.0703877104. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 1891266. PMID 17548808.
^ Barton, R. N. E.; Bouzouggar, A.; Collcutt, S. N.; Carrión Marco, Y.; Clark-Balzan, L.; Debenham, N. C.; Morales, J. (2016). "Reconsidering the MSA to LSA transition at Taforalt Cave (Morocco) in the light of new multi-proxy dating evidence". Quaternary International. 413: 36–49. Bibcode:2016QuInt.413...36B. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.11.085.

[:3-1] Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] V. Mariotti; B. Bonfiglioli; F. Facchini; S. Condemi; M.G. Belcastro (2009). "Funerary practices of the Iberomaurusian population of Taforalt (Tafoughalt; Morocco, 11-12,000 BP): new hypotheses based on grave skeletal inventory and evidence of deliberate human modification of the remains". Journal of Human Evolution. 56 (4): 340–354. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.01.001. ISSN 0047-2484. PMID 19362729. The highest value [for the Minimum Number of Individuals] is given by the right femur, according to which there are at least 34 individuals. On the basis of cranial specimens (unmarked fragments were not considered), the MNI is 33. Therefore, the MNI of the whole necropolis can be plausibly estimated at 35-40 individuals. This is much less than the value given by Ferembach (1962) of 86 adults and adolescents, obtained simply by adding the individuals in each grave.

[:0-3] Bouzouggar, Abdeljalil; Barton, Nick; Vanhaeren, Marian; d'Errico, Francesco; Collcutt, Simon; Higham, Tom; Hodge, Edward; Parfitt, Simon; Rhodes, Edward (12 June 2007). "82,000-year-old shell beads from North Africa and implications for the origins of modern human behavior". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104 (24): 9964–9969. doi:10.1073/pnas.0703877104. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 1891266. PMID 17548808.

[:1-4] Barton, R. N. E.; Bouzouggar, A.; Collcutt, S. N.; Carrión Marco, Y.; Clark-Balzan, L.; Debenham, N. C.; Morales, J. (2016). "Reconsidering the MSA to LSA transition at Taforalt Cave (Morocco) in the light of new multi-proxy dating evidence". Quaternary International. 413: 36–49. Bibcode:2016QuInt.413...36B. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.11.085.

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