The discovery is the first of its kind within the Camel Cave in Zegzel in Berkane, 552.6 kilometers from Rabat.
Rabat – Morocco has discovered rock carvings dating back to the Paleolithic age at the Camel Cave in Zegzel in Berake province, over 500 kilometers from Rabat.
Morocco’s Culture Department announced today that the discovery is the first of its kind within the Camel Cave in Zegzel, located in the Beni Iznassen mountains. The rock carvings are considered to be the oldest in North Africa.
The region is an important karst system registered among Morocco’s national heritage since 1953 for its geological and exploratory value.
The culture department said the discovery is part of a scientific agreement between the National Institute of Archaeological and Heritage Sciences (INSAP) and the Mohammed I University of Oujda on a research and international cooperation project.
The project is on “prehistoric human communities in the Oriental,” the statement said.
Professors from Moroccan and Spanish universities and institutes made the discovery under the supervision of Professor El Hassan Aouragh of the Mohammed I University of Oujda and researcher Ramon Vinas of the Institute of paleoecology and social evolution in Tarragona, Spain.
Professeur Abdelhadi Ewague from Chouaib Doukkali University and Professor Aicha ujaa from INSAP participated in the discovery.
The rock cravings date back to around 12,000 years, corresponding to the last ice age whose effects are believed to have reached northern Morocco.
“This new discovery in the Oriental addts to others in the same region that will have a positive impact on sustainable development,” the department concluded.
Read also: Scientists Discover World’s Oldest Starfish Fossil in Morocco
In 2018, Morocco also discovered ancient carvings of falling meteors in Ida Oukazou village, west of the High Atlas in Essaouira province.
In 2019, the ministry of culture also announced it added four rock carving sites, which form different time periods to Morocco’s National heritage list.
Morocco is home to several discoveries that made international headlines in recent years. This week, an international team of researchers discovered the fossils of Xenodens Calminechari. The discovery is an extinct marine reptile with “shark-like cutting teeth.”
The species lived in modern-day Morocco millions of years ago.
Researchers from Cambridge University and Western Australia University also discovered the World’s oldest starfish fossil in Morocco.
The discovery is believed to be the “missing link” that will help protect modern sea creatures from extinction risks.
