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Human burial evidence from Hattab II Cave and the question of continuity in Late Pleistocene-Holocene mortuary practices in Northwest Africa

Barton, N; Bouzouggar, A; Humphrey, L; Berridge, P; Collcutt, S; Gale, R; Parfitt, S; ... Schwenninger, JL; + view all (2008) Human burial evidence from Hattab II Cave and the question of continuity in Late Pleistocene-Holocene mortuary practices in Northwest Africa. CAMB ARCHAEOL J , 18 (2) 195 - 214. 10.1017/S0959774308000255. Green open access

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Abstract

Archaeological excavations in 2002-3 at Hattab H Cave in northwestern Morocco revealed all undisturbed Late Palaeolithic Iberomaurusian human burial. This is the first Iberomaurusian inhumation discovered in the region. The skeleton is probably that Of a male aged between 25 and 30 years. The individual shows a characteristic absence of the central upper incisors reported in other Iberomaurusian burials. Accompanying the burial are a stone core and a number of grave goods including bone points, a marine gastropod and a gazelle horn core. Thermoluminescence dating of a burnt stone artefact in association with the burial has provided an age of 8900 +/- 1100 BP. This is one of the youngest ages reported for the Iberomaurusian and raises questions about persistence of hunter-gatherer societies in the Maghreb and the potential for continuity in burial practices with the earliest Neolithic.

Type: Article
Title: Human burial evidence from Hattab II Cave and the question of continuity in Late Pleistocene-Holocene mortuary practices in Northwest Africa
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1017/S0959774308000255
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0959774308000255
Language: English
Additional information: © 2008 McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research
Keywords: PENINSULA, PHYTOLITH, ALGERIA, EUROPE
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology > Institute of Archaeology Gordon Square
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1353814
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