# Prehistory and antiquity

By [lucky_1618](https://paragraph.com/@lucky-1618) · 2021-10-28

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The area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since at least [Paleolithic times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic), beginning sometime between 190,000 and 90,000 BC.[\[23\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco#cite_note-27) A recent publication has suggested that there is evidence for even earlier human habitation of the area: [_Homo sapiens_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_sapiens) fossils that had been discovered in the late 2000s near the [Atlantic coast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Ocean) in [Jebel Irhoud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jebel_Irhoud) were recently dated to roughly 315,000 years ago.[\[24\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco#cite_note-28) During the [Upper Paleolithic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Paleolithic), the [Maghreb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maghreb) was more fertile than it is today, resembling a [savanna](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savanna), in contrast to its modern arid landscape.[\[25\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco#cite_note-29) Twenty-two thousand years ago, the pre-existing [Aterian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aterian) culture was succeeded by the [Iberomaurusian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberomaurusian) culture, which shared similarities with Iberian cultures. Skeletal similarities have been suggested between the human remains found at [Iberomaurusian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberomaurusian) "[Mechta-Afalou](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechta-Afalou)" burial sites and European [Cro-Magnon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cro-Magnon) remains. The Iberomaurusian culture was succeeded by the [Beaker culture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaker_culture) in Morocco.

[Mitochondrial DNA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_DNA) studies have discovered a close ancestral link between [Berbers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbers) and the [Saami](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people) of Scandinavia. This evidence supports the theory that some of the peoples who had been living in the [Franco-Cantabrian refuge area of southwestern Europe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Cantabrian_region) during the late-glacial period migrated to northern Europe, contributing to its repopulation after the last [ice age](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age).[\[26\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco#cite_note-30)

In the early part of the [Classical Antiquity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Antiquity) period, Northwest Africa and Morocco were slowly drawn into the wider emerging [Mediterranean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean) world by the [Phoenicians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenicians), who established trading colonies and settlements there, the most substantial of which were [Chellah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chellah), [Lixus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lixus_\(ancient_city\)), and [Mogador](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogador).[\[27\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco#cite_note-31) Mogador was established as a Phoenician colony as early as the 6th century BC.[\[28\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco#cite_note-32)\[[_page needed_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources)\]

Roman ruins of [Volubilis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volubilis).

Morocco later became a realm of the Northwest African civilisation of [ancient Carthage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Carthage), and part of the Carthaginian empire. The earliest known independent Moroccan state was the [Berber kingdom of Mauretania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauretania), under King [Baga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baga_\(king\)).[\[29\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco#cite_note-33) This ancient kingdom (not to be confused with the modern state of [Mauritania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritania)) flourished around 225 BC or earlier.

[Mauretania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauretania) became a [client](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Client_state) kingdom of the [Roman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire) in 33 BC. Emperor [Claudius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudius) annexed Mauretania directly in 44 AD, making it a [Roman province](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_province) ruled by an imperial [governor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor) (either a _procurator Augusti_, or a _legatus Augusti pro praetore_).

During the so-called "[crisis of the 3rd century](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_of_the_3rd_century)," parts of Mauretania were reconquered by Berber tribes. As a result, by the late 3rd century, direct Roman rule had become confined to a few coastal cities, such as Septum ([Ceuta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceuta)) in [Mauretania Tingitana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauretania_Tingitana) and [Cherchell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherchell) in [Mauretania Caesariensis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauretania_Caesariensis). When, in 429 AD, the area was devastated by the [Vandals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandals), the Roman Empire lost its remaining possessions in Mauretania, and local [Mauro-Roman kings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauro-Roman_kingdom) assumed control of them. In the 530s, the [Eastern Roman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Roman_Empire), under Byzantine control, re-established direct imperial rule of Septum and [Tingi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tingi), fortified Tingis, and erected a church.

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*Originally published on [lucky_1618](https://paragraph.com/@lucky-1618/prehistory-and-antiquity)*