Expanding Oued Beht: Final Neolithic, Bronze Age, medieval and later discoveries from excavation and survey in 2023

Abstract

Abstract Oued Beht, Morocco, is emerging as a key site for understanding later prehistory in the northwestern Maghreb. Previous fieldwork by the Oued Beht Archaeological Project (OBAP) in 2022 revealed major evidence of a large and complex focus of activity across the ridge during the mid-to-late fourth to earliest third millennium BC, associated with a previously little-known Final Neolithic phase interacting with contemporary southern Iberian developments. Here, we present the results of OBAP’s third field season (October–November 2023), which aimed to refine the site’s chronology, spatial patterning, and the extent of prehistoric and later activity. Crucially, the 2023 investigations provide the first evidence of activity at Oued Beht in the second millennium BC, expanding our understanding of site use beyond the Final Neolithic. Excavation and survey addressed the dating of linear walls in the Southern Sector, investigated potential cemeteries, mapped intra-site spatial and chronological variation, and explored wider landscape use. Geological studies complemented the fieldwork, shedding light on ridge formation, lithic and mineral resources, and pottery production. Together, these findings underscore Oued Beht’s centrality for revising long-term settlement and socio-economic patterns in northwestern Morocco, bridging prehistoric and later periods, and highlight the site’s broader significance for understanding cross-Mediterranean interactions during later prehistory and beyond.