UNEARTHING THE PAST SINCE 1900
  • BECOME A MEMBER
  • RENEW
  • GIVE NOW
  • SEARCH
  • ONLINE PORTAL
  • American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR)American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR)
  • ABOUT
    • WELCOME FROM ASOR OFFICERS
    • HISTORY OF ASOR
    • MISSION, BYLAWS, & STRATEGIC PLAN
    • Board of Trustees
    • COMMITTEES
    • POLICIES
    • FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS
    • CONTACT US
  • CULTURAL
    HERITAGE
    • ABOUT CULTURAL HERITAGE INITIATIVES
    • UPDATES
    • TUTORIALS
    • Who We Are
  • ANNUAL
    MEETING
    • REGISTRATION
    • HOTEL RESERVATIONS
    • ANNUAL MEETING SCHEDULES
    • SPONSOR & EXHIBIT
    • ASOR Online Library
    • HONORS & AWARDS
    • ANNUAL MEETING SCHOLARSHIPS
    • PAST & FUTURE ANNUAL MEETINGS
  • MEMBERSHIP
    & RESOURCES
    • INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIPS
    • INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
    • NEWS@ASOR
    • AFFILIATED PROJECTS
    • AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTERS
    • ARCHIVES
    • PAST ASOR NEWS, MONTH BY MONTH
    • ONLINE RESOURCES
      • PHOTO COLLECTION
    • EARLY CAREER MEMBER RESOURCES
  • FELLOWSHIPS
    & GRANTS
    • SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FIELDWORK PARTICIPATION
    • GRANTS FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECTS
    • RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS FOR MEMBERS
    • MEMBERSHIP & ANNUAL MEETING SCHOLARSHIPS
    • ASOR-AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTERS FELLOWSHIPS
    • OTHER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS
  • PUBLICATIONS
    • BOOK SERIES & MONOGRAPHS
    • BULLETIN OF ASOR
    • JOURNAL OF CUNEIFORM STUDIES
    • MAARAV
    • NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY
    • THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY
    • News@ASOR
    • LEVANTINE CERAMICS PROJECT
  • FRIENDS
    OF ASOR
    • Webinars
    • TOURS
    • THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY
    • ASOR ONLINE LIBRARY
  • Donate
    • FY25 HONOR ROLL OF DONORS
    • LIFETIME HONOR ROLL OF DONORS
    • ASOR LEGACY CIRCLE
    • WAYS TO DONATE
Kach Kouch 1920x400

 SHARE

 
 
 
 
 

NEWS@ASOR E-NEWSLETTER

ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY E-NEWSLETTER

PAST ASOR NEWS, MONTH BY MONTH

ASOR LEGACY CIRCLE MEMBERS

LIFETIME HONOR ROLL OF DONORS

FY25 HONOR ROLL OF DONORS

ASOR ANNUAL MEETING

ASOR-Affiliated Morocco Project Publishes Evidence About Bronze Age North Africa

Media Release
February 20, 2025

ASOR-affiliated archaeology project finds new evidence of earliest farming in NW Africa

 

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A new study in the journal Antiquity presents the first evidence of a Bronze Age-era farming settlement in the northwest Maghreb following an ASOR-affiliated excavation in Kach Kouch, Morocco.

The study, titled “Rethinking late prehistoric Mediterranean Africa: architecture, farming and materiality at Kach Kouch, Morocco,” was published on February 17 in the journal Antiquity by Cambridge University Press. Authors Hamza Benattia, Youssef Bokbot, Jorge Onrubia-Pintado and the rest of the Kach Kouch Archaeological Project team, primarily comprising students from the National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage of Morocco (INSAP), have been conducting excavations and surveys at Kach Kouch, Morocco since 2021 to further the understanding of this hitherto little-known period. They revealed in the Antiquity study the remains of a settlement occupied from 1300 to 600 BCE that was a farming economy before the arrival of the Phoenician conquest.

The team’s research demonstrated that settled occupation in this region stems from social and economic dynamics within local North African communities since at least 2200 BCE, rather than being a result of later interactions with Phoenician communities. Despite the settlement of Phoenician communities along the northern Moroccan coast from the eighth century BCE onwards, local cultural traditions persisted in the inner valleys of the western Rif, Morocco, until the sixth to fifth centuries BCE.

The Kach Kouch settlement practiced animal husbandry and crop cultivation, with crops being processed and stored on site, based on the published findings. Farming, herding, building, and material culture continued from the eighth to seventh centuries BCE to further emphasize the “primary role played by local communities in shaping the social, cultural and economic dynamics of the emergent Moroccan Bronze Age and subsequent Early Mauretanian period” at Kach Kouch, according to the study.

Thanks to the support of an ASOR Stevan B. Dana Grant, the Kach Kouch team continued the research in northwestern Morocco’s Rif mountains in 2023 and early 2024. Extensive survey and targeted excavation along the valleys of Oued Laou and Stehat identified five previously undocumented sites. The newly discovered sites attest to a more stable settled occupation in the region than previously thought, spanning from the Late Prehistory to the Early Mauretanian Period (from c. 2200-400BC), a novel signature for non-Nilotic North Africa.

The publication’s findings stimulate interest in the overlooked region and encourage new narratives in the scholarly discourse on North African archaeology.

 

About ASOR

The American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to initiate, encourage, and support research into, and public understanding of, the history and cultures of the Near East and wider Mediterranean world, from the earliest times. ASOR fosters original research, archaeological excavations, and explorations; encourages scholarship in the Near East’s basic languages, cultural histories, and traditions; builds support for Near Eastern studies; and advocates high academic standards. ASOR is apolitical and has no religious affiliation.

###

The American Society of Overseas Research
The James F. Strange Center
209 Commerce Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
E-mail: info@asor.org
Telephone: 703-789-9229

BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE

  • Join the Committee on Growth, Innovation, and Visibility
  • 2025 Student Paper Award
  • Shepard Grant Report: Kurd Qaburstan Tablet Conservation
  • FOA Webinar: Kevin McGeough, Jennie Ebeling, and Bill Caraher

Latest Posts from @ASORResearch

asor_research

Initiating and supporting research of the history and cultures of the Near East and wider Mediterranean world.


ASOR is accepting applications for the 2025 Studen
ASOR is accepting applications for the 2025 Student Paper Award (pictured is Nicole Constantine, winner of the 2024 award). The award is accompanied by a $500 prize—applications and recorded paper presentations are both due by November 5. Read more about eligibility and how to apply by clicking the link (https://buff.ly/NcjivIT) in our bio.


Biblical Archaeology Review is looking for a new A
Biblical Archaeology Review is looking for a new Assistant Editor! Biblical Archaeology Review is a quarterly archaeology magazine that acts as a bridge between the academic study of archaeology and a broad general audience eager to understand the world of the Bible better. See their job announcement for more details: https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/about-the-biblical-archaeology-society/employment/


The #ImageoftheWeek from this week’s ANE Today:
The #ImageoftheWeek from this week’s ANE Today: 12,000 year old rock art panel of life-sized camels discovered in the Nefed Desert, Saudi Arabia. Orthophoto with tracings digitally outlined in color. Image source: M. Guagnin et al. 2025 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63417-y). CC By 4.0. #Archaeology #RockArt #SaudiArabia


The Ark of the Covenant is an ancient biblical art
The Ark of the Covenant is an ancient biblical artifact that is easy for people to imagine. Because its function is ambiguous, there is a rich and diverse interpretive history of the object that is as old as the Bible itself. Read more in the newest ANE Today by Kevin McGeough by clicking the link (https://anetoday.org/imagining-the-ark/) in our bio.


ASOR is seeking a volunteer photographer to help c
ASOR is seeking a volunteer photographer to help capture our upcoming 2025 Annual Meeting at the Hilton Boston Park Plaza from November 19–22, 2025, including our 125th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday evening. This is an uncompensated position, but reimbursements and hotel nights are negotiable. Read more by clicking the link (https://buff.ly/aZQB5kS) in our bio. Applications due October 15th.


Gabrielle Puckett, a 2025 Eric and Carol Meyers Fi
Gabrielle Puckett, a 2025 Eric and Carol Meyers Fieldwork Scholarship Recipient, excavated at Makounta-Voules in Cyprus this summer. With a strong interest in zooarchaeology, Gabrielle shares her experience digging with views of the Mediterranean in the background. Read her report by clicking the link (https://buff.ly/2CSjLkn) in our bio.
#Fieldwork #Archaeology #Cyprus


Join Friends of ASOR on our very first archaeologi
Join Friends of ASOR on our very first archaeological tour of Cyprus! Experience exclusive, behind-the-scenes access as scholars, archaeologists, and museum curators personally guide you through a specially curated itinerary of sites and museums. The Early Bird rates are only till tomorrow, September 30. Read more about how to reserve your spot here: https://buff.ly/GHulteg
#Cyprus


The American Academy of Religion, Southeastern reg
The American Academy of Religion, Southeastern region, invites abstracts for its annual conference. With opportunity to participate in more than 20 units and 50 sessions, scholars and students of religious studies, theology, and biblical literature located in the southeast are encouraged to apply. There will be ASOR member-sponsored sessions on Field Reports and Related Scholarship, and Shifting Identities and the Archaeology of the Ancient World.
The Call for Papers deadline is October 1, 2025. Learn more at https://relse.org.


Join us for our next webinar on October 8 at 7:00p
Join us for our next webinar on October 8 at 7:00pm ET: "Readers of the Lost Ark: The Ark of the Covenant from Biblical Religion to Contemporary Culture" presented by Kevin McGeough with panelists Jennie Ebeling and Bill Caraher. Since the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Ark of the Covenant has become one of, if not the most famous biblical “artifact,” despite the fact that scholars don’t agree on what might have happened to it or if it even really existed. Introducing his new book, Readers of the Lost Ark, Kevin will discuss how the Ark has been understood in different communities, from ancient Jewish and Christian commentators, through Medieval theologians, to modern ancient aliens theorists, misguided explorers, and Indiana Jones fan communities. Register for the free webinar by clicking the link (https://buff.ly/1oKIpSA) in our bio.


ASOR is pleased to announce, with support from the
ASOR is pleased to announce, with support from the American Institute for Roman Culture, the Cyrene Conservation Initiative—a 12-month conservation and heritage education project at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cyrene in eastern Libya. Developed in close collaboration with the Libyan Department of Antiquities, the Cyrene Conservation Initiative is a response to the impacts of Storm Daniel, which caused catastrophic flooding in September 2023. The project will focus on key areas of the ancient city that were particularly affected by the flood, including Valley Street and the Sanctuary of Apollo terrace, one of the most iconic districts in the city. Read more about the project by clicking the link (https://www.asor.org/chi/updates/2025/09/cyrene-conservation-announcement) in our bio!
#Libya #Cyrene #Conservation


Remember to join us TOMORROW at 7:00 pm ET for our
Remember to join us TOMORROW at 7:00 pm ET for our next FOA webinar, "Visions of Antiquity: Paintings of Robert Duncanson and Sculptures of Edmonia Lewis", presented by Dr. Tasha Vorderstrasse. Click the link (https://buff.ly/2uKaM6u) in our bio to register if you haven't already! #foa #foawebinars #foatours


A 2025 ASOR Harris Grant helped launch the Craftin
A 2025 ASOR Harris Grant helped launch the Crafting Landscape Project (CraftLand) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The project's objective is to investigate the use of natural resources and the organization of ceramic production in the Chamchamal region through archaeological survey, landscape analyses, and interviews with traditional potters. Read the project report from Dr. Claire Padovani by clicking the link (https://buff.ly/BAee9K1) in our bio.
📸 C. Padovani
#Fieldwork #Iraq


The #ObjectoftheWeek from this week's ANE Today: A
The #ObjectoftheWeek from this week's ANE Today: A faience figurine of the Egyptian dwarf god Pataikos was recently found in Perre, Türkiye (ancient region of Commagene), in a tomb context dating to ca. 75 BCE. Image Source: https://whyrwe.com/nieuws/2025/250902-1316.htm
#Archaeology #Egyptian #Turkiye


Through the ages, the Book of Esther has been one
Through the ages, the Book of Esther has been one of the most beloved biblical books across Jewish communities. Why has it been neglected by Christians? Read the newest ANE Today by Isaac Kalimi by clicking the link (https://anetoday.org/book-of-esther/) in our bio.
#Archaeology #Bible #BookofEsther


Check out our newest Early Career Scholars Resourc
Check out our newest Early Career Scholars Resource video from Bet Hucks (Heidelberg University), "Digital Publications: Issues and Solutions". This video came out of discussions as part of the Digging Up Data program. Topics covered include author's/artist's rights, review of contracts, funding publications, and marketing strategies. Click the link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PedozEl7QRA) in our bio to watch on YouTube.


Check out Near Eastern Archaeology 88.3, part two
Check out Near Eastern Archaeology 88.3, part two of the special issue on Megiddo. Read the Table of Contents by clicking the link (https://buff.ly/JW7hS2V) in our bio.


Friends of ASOR is pleased to announce our next we
Friends of ASOR is pleased to announce our next webinar, "Visions of Antiquity: Paintings of Robert Duncanson and Sculptures of Edmonia Lewis" presented by Dr. Tasha Vorderstrasse, is on September 24 at 7:00pm ET! In the middle of the 19th century, Robert Duncanson (1821-1872) and Edmonia Lewis (ca. 1844-1907) created their unique visions for the ancient world, its ruins, and the people who lived in it. In this lecture, Dr. Vorderstrasse will examine the way in which both artists conceptualized the ancient world through different artistic media and the historical context in which they lived, specifically against the backdrop of the Abolitionist movement, the Civil War, and the racism that both experienced in the course of their careers. Register for the free webinar by clicking the link (https://buff.ly/JdUpaud) in our bio!


Joshua Micallef, a 2025 P.E. MacAllister Fieldwork
Joshua Micallef, a 2025 P.E. MacAllister Fieldwork Scholarship Recipient, excavated at Tell Hesban in Jordan. Interested in landscape archaeology, Joshua shares what it was like to explore and excavate in the trenches of the wadi. Click the link (https://buff.ly/O1zlcdl) in our bio to read the report! 
#fieldwork #archaeology #jordan


Friends of ASOR is pleased to share information on
Friends of ASOR is pleased to share information on BAF & BASONOVA lectures. On Monday, September 15 at 7:45pm, Samuel Collins (George Mason University) will present "The Emperor and the Divine: Between Diocletian and Constantine". This lecture will explore the shifting ground of religious change between the old gods and Christianity in the reigns of these two emperors and ask again the very old question of exactly what Constantine intended for the state when he turned his back on the traditional pantheon and embraced the new Christian God. The event will be held in the Social Hall of the Bender JCC: 6125 Montrose Road, Rockville, MD 20852.


Just 10 weeks until ASOR’s 2025 Annual Meeting i
Just 10 weeks until ASOR’s 2025 Annual Meeting in Boston! 📚 Join scholars, students, and colleagues as we gather to share the latest in archaeology and cultural heritage, and to celebrate 125 years together 🎊 
Don’t forget: the Super Saver registration deadline is coming up on September 15. Lock in the lowest rates while you can! Learn more and register here: https://www.asor.org/am/2025/annual-meeting-registration-2025



Instagram

Stay updated with the latest insights, photos, and news by following us on Instagram!

Follow Us on Instagram

American Society of Overseas Research
The James F. Strange Center
209 Commerce Street
Alexandria, VA 22314

E-mail: info@asor.org

© 2025 ASOR
All rights reserved.
Images licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Contact Us
Membership
Give
Friends of ASOR
ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives
Terms of Use
News

Please follow & like us :)
Facebook
YouTube
LinkedIn