A Million Year Old Technique Has Been Discovered in Casablanca

In the archaeological site “Thomas I” in Casablanca, a French-Moroccan team of scientists has discovered a new technique that is a million years old, dating back to the ancient phases of the Acheulean civilization in Africa.

It consists a discovery of small flint stones not exceeding 6 centimeters in length, shaped by a special technique known as “Bipolar percussion on anvil” which attempts to make very small elongated tools, said Monday a press release from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports – Department of Culture.

These flint tools were found at the Acheulean archaeological level (level L1) at the site of “Thomas I” in Casablanca which goes back at least one million years, the statement said, stressing that two-sided stone axes and other large tools made of Quartzite stone, such as three-faceted axes, spherical and hemispherical shaped cores, various polyhedral cores, concentric and circular carving cores and several hammers were also found at the said site.

With its findings published in the journal “Scientific reports”, the study provides very important elements concerning the technical and economic diversity of the ancient African Acheulean people, as well as evidence of their great ability in terms of technical skills and knowledge and their ability to adapt to the needs of human groups during the later stages of the Lower Pleistocene period.

In addition, the technology of making blades from fragments, combined with the carving of large cutting tools, is considered to be specific to the African Acheulean civilization, the department added, pointing out that this technique appeared unexpectedly with the end of the Lower Pleistocene period and was not followed by the development of the Achaemenid civilization.

Given the heritage and scientific value of the archaeological site “Thomas I”, in terms of both the city of Casablanca and the Kingdom of Morocco in general, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports – Department of Culture, which supervises excavations and studies at various archaeological levels, will carry out a rehabilitation project for the preservation of the oldest archaeological site in Morocco, while ensuring the necessary conditions for the continuation of scientific research, the statement concluded.