Excavations carried out in 2023 at Oued Beht in north-west Morocco have revealed a major ancient structure. Built around 4,000 to 3,500 years ago, it probably protected part of a ridge beside a river. It is the earliest known large-scale construction with a likely defensive purpose in north Africa beyond the Nile Valley.
The system included a ditch, a raised bank of earth and a wall across a narrow section of the ridge. Building it required planning and an organised workforce. Although its exact purpose remains uncertain, researchers suggest that competition for land, resources and control of routes was more likely than attacks by invaders.
Earlier activity at Oued Beht dates to around 5,400 to 4,900 years ago, when a farming community grew wheat and barley and kept livestock. People also produced stone tools and pottery, although researchers do not know whether the settlement was permanent. The later structure adds to evidence that north-west African communities had connections across the Mediterranean, including with present-day Spain and Portugal.
The ridge was used again between the 11th and 13th centuries. People rebuilt the defensive structure and established a small village or farm on a nearby hilltop. A cemetery lay between these two areas.
