Occupied 1,400 years earlier
Challenging conventional beliefs, the Maghreb region in Morocco was not an “empty land” until the arrival of the Phoenicians around 800 BCE. A new study published in the journal Antiquity details three phases of occupation extending back to 2200 BCE. This timeline imbues the Kach Kouch site with considerable significance as it rewrites the previously held, inaccurate historical account.
Under the direction of Hamza Benattia Melgarejo, the research team identified the initial phase of human occupation, dating between 2200 and 2000 BCE. While limited physical evidence was recovered from this earliest period, its very existence is considered a notable, if not groundbreaking, finding, even without substantial details about the site’s initial inhabitants, according to the press release.