The Baht River is a watercourse in Morocco that is a tributary to the Sebou River. Also known as the Oued Beht, this river rises in the Middle Atlas mountain range. [1] The Baht is impounded by the El Kansera irrigation dam about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Sidi Slimane. [2]
In the upper parts of the watershed within the Middle Atlas is the prehistoric range of the endangered primate Barbary macaque, which prehistorically had a much larger range in North Africa. [3]
The Oued Beht Archaeological Project (OBAP) is a multi-national archaeological survey of the Oued Beht archaeological site on the edge of the Baht River, led by Youssef Bokbot (INSAP), Cyprian Broodbank (Cambridge University), and Giulio Lucarini (CNR-ISPC and ISMEO). [4] The investigation identified a Final Neolithic Period (3400 to 2900 BC) site extending up to 10 hectares; [5] "the largest agricultural complex from this period in Africa outside of the Nile region". [6] The site had first been discovered in the 1930s by colonial French, who had found a number of polished stone axes. [7] Since 2021, the OBAP has undertaken investigations at the site. [8]
Evidence uncovered by the archaeologists includes storage pits containing cultivated barley, wheat, peas and legumes, in addition to wild olives and wild pistachios. [7] [8] The was also evidence of domesticated animals such as cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. [7] In addition to macrolithics such as polished axes and grinding implements, almost 1300 prehistoric pottery sherds were collected; this included decorated pieces, with c. 25% slipped and burnished, and up to 7% was "dark-on-light painted pottery". [5]
In 2025, the OBAP was awarded the "Field Discovery Award" at the 6th Shanghai World Archaeology Forum. [6] [9] The Oued Beht, Morocco: a complex early farming society in north-west Africa and its implications for western Mediterranean interaction during later prehistory article won the 2025 Antiquity prize. [10]
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