The Canary Islands, settled by Berber communities from Northwest Africa during the first millennium CE, offer a privileged window into coastal economies and early maritime adaptations that remain poorly documented on the adjacent mainland. Playa Chica (Sardina, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands) preserves a five-phase Indigenous occupation sequence spanning from the 6th to the 13th centuries CE. This study aims to test the practice of specialized marine exploitation during Phase 5 (11th-13th centuries CE) employing a multiproxy approach. Systematic sampling and processing of sediments has provided a large assemblage dominated by molluscs and echinoids, followed by fish remains and crustaceans. Abundant fish scales indicate intensive on-site processing. The bone industry encompasses worked goat horn cores and hundreds of horn flakes interpreted as scaling tools, along with small hooks crafted from pig canines. Seed remains include crops (barley, durum wheat, fig) and smoke-prone plants used as fuels (Euphorbia sp., rhizomes of Cyperus sp., and elements of Pinus canariensis cones), consistent with fish drying or smoking. Low-intensity, smoke-prone fuels identified through anthracological analyses, and twenty-nine hearths reinforce this interpretation. Pottery is scarce and functionally associated with cooking, while lithics are abundant and largely locally sourced. Collectively, these findings define an activity area dedicated to the processing and preservation of marine resources, suggesting integration within coastal-inland exchange networks. As one of the most extensively sampled coastal contexts in the archipelago, Playa Chica provides critical comparative data for understanding the intensification of marine economies among Northwest African-derived populations during the late Holocene.

This experimental study explores entomological succession in mortuary contexts in caves, using the funeral practices of the indigenous populations of the Canary Islands as a model. A pig carcass was deposited in a cave shortly after its death and monitored for a year. The resulting entomological record closely matches the archaeoentomological data from Canarian burial caves. The experiment documented all stages of cadaveric succession and revealed insect species capable of adapting to the low light conditions of caves, including Calliphoridae. Other Diptera families were recovered: Piophilidae, Muscidae, Phoridae, Fanniidae, Sarcophagidae and Drosopholidae. Coleoptera evidences were also recorded: Nitulidae, Cleridae, Dermestidae, Histeridae, Tenebrionidae, Cryptophagidae, Ptinidae and Scarabaeidae. Other orders were documented: Hymenoptera (Formicidae), Lepidoptera (Pyralidae), Blattodea, Hemiptera and Siphonaptera. It is noteworthy that many of the insects identified match those found in archaeological contexts. A central contribution is the demonstration that Calliphoridae can complete their life cycle under near-total darkness, challenging a long-standing assumption in taphonomy and forensic entomology. The data also suggest the existence of consistent patterns of entomological activity in primary funerary contexts, and call into question the desiccation of the cadaver documented by other authors. This pioneering study of experimental funerary archaeoentomology provides a comparative framework for interpreting insect evidence in archaeological deposits in arid, enclosed or low-light environments such as natural caves, catacombs or hypogea.

Although volcanic rocks are commonly found in many assemblages, functional or use-wear studies focusing on these materials are still relatively limited. This study presents a case from the Canary Islands, an archipelago of volcanic origin characterized by the presence of rocks such as basalt and obsidian, and the absence of metal resources. We report the results of functional analyses conducted on stone tools recovered from a site within the Bentayga archaeological complex, dated to the 10th-13th centuries CE. Whitin this big site, a caves complex (C008) initially used as a granary and later repurposed as a burial space, offers exceptional preservation conditions, including desiccated plant remains and soft animal tissues. Our analyses reveal that the stone tools were employed in processing plant materials, working leather, and modifying the cave structure. Notably, a basalt implement bearing use-wear traces consistent with cereal harvesting represents the earliest direct evidence for this activity in the archaeological record of the Canary Islands. The findings suggest that stone tools were actively used during both phases of the site's occupation: first for agricultural and construction tasks during its use as a granary, and subsequently for preparing the space and remains during its reuse as a burial site.

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.

The intimate relationship between humans and crop plants means that traces of human cultural practices become embedded in the crop genome. Genetic analyses of archaeological crop remains thus allow cultural consequences of societal change to be studied. The Canary Islands have a unique cultural history where the Hispanic colonization in the 15th century led to eradication of the indigenous culture, partial replacement of the human gene pool and a rapid transformation of the islands into a globalization hub between the Old and the New World. Although many aspects of these events are well known, the interconnections between the cultural turnover and cultivated crops have rarely been studied. In this study full genome sequencing and KASP genotyping have, for the first time, been successfully carried out on millennium old seeds of lentil (Lens culinaris). Comparisons with present day lentils reveal that indigenous lentils were kept in continuous cultivation on the Canary Islands until the present. We suggest that this was facilitated by a gendered division of agricultural responsibilities and inheritance as well as adaptation to the local climate. We confirm a previously suggested long-term inter-island isolation prior to the arrival of Europeans and demonstrate continuous lentil cultivation also on islands where they were believed lost prior to the arrival of Europeans. The results furthermore hint to a role of Canarian lentils in the cultivation and consumption of lentils on the European mainland. To conclude, this first analysis of ancient lentil DNA show how understudied archaeological plant remains can reveal aspects of past cultures not documented in written records.

Paleogenomic and radiocarbon data indicate that, excluding the temporal occupation of the islet of Lobos by Romans, the Canary Islands were permanently colonized by North Africans around the 3rd century CE. The archipelago was seemingly forgotten in the following centuries by Western societies until the beginning of the European Age of Exploration in the 14th century. In this study, we present 52 mitogenomes of ancient Canarian goats, including samples from the Roman site of Lobos, and the indigenous and colonial periods. We observe that the mitogenomes of indigenous goats are consistent with a North African origin for the human Canarian population. Goats from Lobos share the same haplotypes as the indigenous population, indicating that both settlements briefly overlapped, and goats in Lobos were probably taken from neighboring islands. We also detect temporal continuity from the indigenous period to the colonial and present-day goats, suggesting European settlers exploited this well-adapted species.

The European expansion of the Early Modern period led to unparalleled intercontinental plant and animal translocations. This study explores the dietary changes resulting from the movement of plants and animals, such as maize, into local diets beyond the Americas. The analysis focuses on the Canary Islands (Spain), which play a key role in the transatlantic trade network linking Europe, Africa, and America. In this study, stable isotope dietary (δ13Ccollagen, δ15Ncollagen, and δ13Cenamel) analyses of 66 human and 42 terrestrial animal samples from several sites in Gran Canaria, dated between the 16th and 18th centuries, were used to trace the introduction of nonnative C4 plants into the diet. Additionally, Bayesian modeling through FRUITS is applied to deepen our understanding of this dietary transition. This approach provides an evolutionary perspective on changes in dietary practices over time. The isotopic data indicate a gradual increase in C4 plant consumption and evidence of manuring in cultivated fields from the 16th to the 18th centuries. This dietary shift, characterized by the introduction of new foodstuffs, is reflected in less negative carbon and elevated nitrogen isotope values in both human (δ13Ccollagen, δ15Ncollagen, and δ13Cenamel) and animal samples (δ13Ccollagen and δ15Ncollagen). The findings suggest the slow yet progressive incorporation of C4 plants, most likely maize, into the local food system, which coincides with the introduction of other new crops, livestock, and innovative agricultural techniques such as manuring. This study thus offers a singular lens through which to view these early dietary shifts and the extensive effects of the global spread of crops and animals beyond their native territories.

This paper explores how plant use among Iberomaurusian groups from north-western Africa adapted to the rapid climate changes of the Late Pleistocene. To achieve this, we analyse archaeological seeds and fruit remains from the site of Ifri El Baroud, Morocco (c. 23–13 ka cal BP), which provides high-resolution and well-contextualised data to assess changes and continuity in plant exploitation over approximately 10,000 years. A total of nine taxa that could be used as food have been identified. Wild legumes, including vetch (Lathyrus/Vicia spp.) and wild lentil (Vicia lens subsp. lamottei), are the most frequent. Other taxa identified include juniper (Juniperus sp.), ephedra (Ephedra sp.), acorns (Quercus sp.), elderberry (Sambucus nigra), lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus), grasses (Poaceae), and geophytes. Results indicate that between c. 23 and 16 ka cal BP, during the cold and arid conditions of Greenland Stadial 2.1, plant gathering focused on a small number of annual plants and shrubs. After c. 15.5 ka cal BP, the wetter and warmer conditions of Greenland Interstadial 1 allowed for an increase in the number of plant taxa collected. We argue that the improvement in climatic conditions after c. 15 ka cal BP led to an intensification of plant exploitation through improved processing methods (use of fire, stone boiling, storage), which enabled the consumption of previously underutilised plants and enhanced nutrient extraction from foods already in use. We suggest that this shift in the exploitation of plant resources may have allowed Late Iberomaurusian people to occupy settlements for longer periods and develop a semi-sedentary lifestyle.

This study explores the dynamic interplay between biogeography, climate variability, and human agency in shaping the population trajectories of Amazigh communities in the Canary Islands (1st to fifteenth centuries cal CE). Using radiocarbon dating as a proxy for population size, this research suggests potential links between demographic trends and environmental factors, highlighting how climatic phases influence agricultural productivity and settlement patterns. Favorable conditions during the Roman Warm Period (RWP) facilitated population expansion, whereas climatic stress during positive phases of the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO) (700-800 cal CE) led to significant demographic declines, particularly on smaller and more arid islands. Larger and ecologically more diverse islands, such as Gran Canaria and Tenerife, showed resilience due to their ecological diversity, agricultural innovations, and food security strategies, which supported sustained growth even during challenging periods such as the Early Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA, 800-1150 cal CE). From 1150 to 1350 cal CE, cooler sea surface temperatures and a prevailing negative NAO phase increased marine productivity, enabling demographic recovery across islands. However, the arrival of Europeans in the fourteenth-fifteenth centuries introduced external disruptions, including slave raids, novel pathogens, and land seizures, leading to societal collapse. Overall, this study highlights the critical role of environmental diversity and agricultural adaptability in supporting human populations through climatic change and offers valuable perspectives on the relationships among climate, biogeography and human societies.

The taxonomic complexity of Phoenix palms in the Canary Islands, where multiple morphotypes representing at least four taxa currently exist, presents significant challenges for archaeobotanical identification. We developed a Bayesian probabilistic framework to identify archaeological Phoenix seeds within the context of genus-wide morphological diversity. Our analysis incorporated thousands of specimens including modern reference collections, archaeological materials from pre-Hispanic sites in Gran Canaria and La Gomera (3–16th centuries CE), and fossil remains. We recorded quantitative measurements and qualitative characteristics for each specimen. To understand taphonomic effects, we conducted experimental carbonization of modern P. canariensis seeds and documented the resulting morphological alterations. We performed a hierarchical cluster analysis using Ward’s minimum variance method and calculated taxonomic assignment probabilities for archaeological specimens using Bayesian inference, where likelihood was derived from taxon proportions within assigned clusters. The results indicated a high probability (0.69–1.00) that the archaeological specimens belong to P. canariensis var. canariensis, with no evidence for P. dactylifera presence. These findings provide critical insights into pre-Hispanic exploitation of Phoenix palms, particularly the endemic P. canariensis, which served as a vital resource, providing food, fiber, and construction materials. Our methodological approach offers a robust framework for addressing taxonomic uncertainty in archaeobotanical research while enhancing understanding of historical palm biogeography and resource use patterns in the Canary Islands.

The state of the surfaces of prehistoric stone tools must be assessed before initiating traceological research as they may have suffered from post-depositional surface modifications (PDSM) stemming from sediment and aeolian abrasion and trampling that could have eliminated their original use-wear traces. PDSM research not only serves to avoid misinterpreting the use-wear but can shed light on formation processes of archaeological sites. Recognising these modifications helps determine the choice of which stones to study, especially in the case of industrial volcanic rock assemblages where use-wear analyses require a deep understanding of their physical characteristics. Observations of tools from two coastal indigenous settlements on the Island of Gran Canaria, notably Playa Chica (sixth-thirteenth centuries AD) and Dunas de Maspalomas (eighth-eleventh centuries AD), reveal the problems of identifying the use-wear in the framework of activities carried out in open, sandy environments. Moreover, the composition and granulometry of the sands of each site differ. The objective of this study is thus to identify the effects of the mechanical alterations provoked by these sands on the macro and micro use-wear of the different archaeological tools hewn from obsidian and other volcanic rocks. This was carried out by means of a programme of experimentation involving knapping a series of tools of both obsidian and other volcanic rocks, working them with different types of contact materials (animal and plant) to observe their use-wear, and ultimately simulate the PDSM they suffered in a vibration device using sand samples collected at each of the two sites. The findings shed new light on the post-depositional taphonomic alterations affecting the surfaces and use-wear of archaeological volcanic rocks tools.

The Maghreb (north-west Africa) played an important role during the Palaeolithic and later in connecting the western Mediterranean from the Phoenician to Islamic periods. Yet, knowledge of its later prehistory is limited, particularly between c. 4000 and 1000 BC. Here, the authors present the first results of investigations at Oued Beht, Morocco, revealing a hitherto unknown farming society dated to c. 3400-2900 BC. This is currently the earliest and largest agricultural complex in Africa beyond the Nile corridor. Pottery and lithics, together with numerous pits, point to a community that brings the Maghreb into dialogue with contemporaneous wider western Mediterranean developments.

The human colonization of the Canary Islands represents the sole known expansion of Berber communities into the Atlantic Ocean and is an example of marine dispersal carried out by an African population. While this island colonization shows similarities to the populating of other islands across the world, several questions still need to be answered before this case can be included in wider debates regarding patterns of initial colonization and human settlement, human-environment interactions, and the emergence of island identities. Specifically, the chronology of the first human settlement of the Canary Islands remains disputed due to differing estimates of the timing of its first colonization. This absence of a consensus has resulted in divergent hypotheses regarding the motivations that led early settlers to migrate to the islands, e.g., ecological or demographic. Distinct motivations would imply differences in the strategies and dynamics of colonization; thus, identifying them is crucial to understanding how these populations developed in such environments. In response, the current study assembles a comprehensive dataset of the most reliable radiocarbon dates, which were used for building Bayesian models of colonization. The findings suggest that i) the Romans most likely discovered the islands around the 1st century BCE; ii) Berber groups from western North Africa first set foot on one of the islands closest to the African mainland sometime between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE; iii) Roman and Berber societies did not live simultaneously in the Canary Islands; and iv) the Berber people rapidly spread throughout the archipelago.

Landraces are described as genetically diverse, dynamic populations of unimproved crops. However, studying the development of a landrace population over longer periods of time has rarely been done due to a lack of suitable archaeological materials. The indigenous grain silos of Gran Canaria provide a unique opportunity for genetically analysing multiple specimens from the same time period as well as sampling the same population at multiple time points. Here we report a genetic study of a landrace barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) sampled repeatedly over a period of 1400 years. We successfully enriched extracted aDNA for the barley exome using capture techniques and present sequencing data from ten archaeological and six extant samples. The results show that the landrace barley population of Gran Canaria has not undergone any dramatic genetic turnover or influx of new genetic material since the 7th century CE, but that the scale of cultivation seems to have varied. We detect smaller temporal changes of the genetic composition during the studied period and suggest that these changes reflect natural selection for adaptation to a changing climate and a dynamic agricultural society.

Abstract This report presents the first in-depth publication of preliminary data from Oued Beht, northwest Morocco, a remarkable site initially identified in the 1930s and now newly investigated. It is based on fieldwork undertaken in 2021–2022 (photogrammetry, survey and excavation), and associated study and analyses. Oued Beht is shown to be a large site of ca. 9–10 hectares in main extent, with many deep pits and convincing evidence for a full package of domesticated crops and animals. Its material culture is abundant and dense, comprising ceramics (including a local painted tradition hitherto barely attested in northwest Africa but comparable to finds in Iberia), numerous polished stone axes, grinding stones and other macrolithics, and a chipped-stone industry. Radiocarbon dates so far cluster at ca. 3400–2900 BC, but there are also indications of earlier and later prehistoric activity. What social activities Oued Beht reflects remains open to interpretation, but it emerges as a phenomenon of strong comparative interest for understanding the wider dynamics of north Africa and the Mediterranean during the fourth and third millennia BC.

The active compounds found in many plants have been widely used in traditional medicine and ritual activities. However, archaeological evidence for the use of such plants, especially in the Palaeolithic period, is limited due to the poor preservation and fragility of seed, fruit, and other botanical macro-remains. In this study, we investigate the presence and possible uses of Ephedra during the Late Pleistocene based on the analysis of exceptionally preserved plant macrofossils recovered from c. 15 ka year-old archaeological deposits at Grotte des Pigeons in northeastern Morocco. This cave has yielded the earliest carbonized plant macrofossils of Ephedra, which were found concentrated in a human burial deposit along with other special finds. Ephedra is a plant known to produce high amounts of alkaloids, primarily ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, which have been utilized in traditional medicine. Direct radiocarbon dates on both Ephedra and the human remains indicate that they were contemporaneous. To understand the uses of Ephedra by people at the site, we discuss the different pathways through which plant remains could have arrived. We suggest that the charred cone bracts of Ephedra likely represent residues of the processing and consumption of the plant’s fleshy cones, which may have been valued for both their nutritional and therapeutic properties. Furthermore, we interpret the presence of Ephedra and its deposition in the burial area as evidence that this plant played a significant role during the funerary activities.

Archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence from the Armenian Highlands and wider southern Caucasus region emphasises the significance of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 (c. 57–29 ka) as a crucial period for understanding hominin behaviours amidst environmental fluctuations. Ararat-1 cave, situated in the Ararat Depression, Republic of Armenia, presents potential for resolving emerging key debates regarding hominin land use adaptations during this interval, due to its well-preserved lithic artefacts and faunal assemblages. We present the first results of combined sedimentological, geochronological (luminescence and radiocarbon), archaeological and palaeoecological (macrofauna, microfauna and microcharcoal) study of the Ararat-1 sequence. We demonstrate sediment accumulation occurred between 52 and 35 ka and was caused by a combination of aeolian activity, cave rockfall and water action. Whilst the upper strata of the Ararat-1 sequence experienced post-depositional disturbance due to faunal and anthropogenic processes, the lower strata remain relatively undisturbed. We suggest that during a stable period within MIS 3, Ararat-1 was inhabited by Middle Palaeolithic hominins amidst a mosaic of semi-arid shrub, grassland, and temperate woodland ecosystems. These hominins utilised local and distant toolstone raw materials, indicating their ability to adapt to diverse ecological and elevation gradients. Through comparison of Ararat-1 with other sequences in the region, we highlight the spatial variability of MIS 3 environments and its on hominin land use adaptations. This demonstrates the importance of the Armenian Highlands for understanding regional MP settlement dynamics during a critical period of hominin dispersals and evolution.

The Canary Islands were settled ca. 1,800 years ago by Amazigh/Berber farming populations originating in North Africa. This historical event represents the last and westernmost expansion of the Mediterranean farming package in Antiquity, and investigating it yields information about crop dispersal along the periphery of the Mediterranean world around the turn of the first millennium ce . The current study focuses on archaeobotanical evidence recorded in a series of pre-Hispanic/Amazigh sites of the Canary Islands (ca. 2nd–15th centuries ce ). It offers new, unpublished archaeobotanical findings and direct radiocarbon datings of plant remains from the different islands. The general goal is to gain a better grasp of how the first settlers of the Canary Islands adapted their farming activities to the different natural conditions of each island. The results suggest a shared crop ‘package’ throughout the islands since at least the 3rd–5th centuries ce . This set of plants was likely introduced from north-western Africa and consists of Hordeum vulgare (hulled barley), Triticum durum (durum wheat), Lens culinaris (lentil), Vicia faba (broad bean), Pisum sativum (pea), and Ficus carica (fig). The crop ‘package’ probably arrived in a single episode during the initial colonisation and was not followed by any other plants. Subsequent to the initial settling and until the arrival of the European seafarers, the islands remained isolated from each other and from the outside world, a condition that over time led to a decline in crop diversity in all of the islands except Gran Canaria.

The indigenous population of the Canary Islands, which colonized the archipelago around the 3 rd century CE, provides both a window into the past of North Africa and a unique model to explore the effects of insularity. We generate genome-wide data from 40 individuals from the seven islands, dated between the 3 rd –16 rd centuries CE. Along with components already present in Moroccan Neolithic populations, the Canarian natives show signatures related to Bronze Age expansions in Eurasia and trans-Saharan migrations. The lack of gene flow between islands and constant or decreasing effective population sizes suggest that populations were isolated. While some island populations maintained relatively high genetic diversity, with the only detected bottleneck coinciding with the colonization time, other islands with fewer natural resources show the effects of insularity and isolation. Finally, consistent genetic differentiation between eastern and western islands points to a more complex colonization process than previously thought.