Characterization of the occupations in the Abric of Lajuad 2 and the ancient Neolithic of Western Sahara

Equip investigador: Joaquim Soler Subils (ICRPC-CERCA) i Maria Saña Seguí (UAB)

Període d’execució: 31/10/2023 a 31/12/2024

Import: 3.000,00 €

Organisme finançador: Fundación Palarq

Mission and objectives

This project aims to study a set of archaeological materials of an industrial, archaeozoological and symbolic nature, with a chronology previously determined by radiocarbon at the beginning of the 6th millennium uncal BP, with the aim of obtaining a broader and more precise knowledge about the first Neolithic societies of Western Sahara. The results of the project will initially be made available to the scientific community and, in a later phase, conveniently adapted to that of the general public.

The project, beyond having a positive impact in scientific terms, also aims to develop a discourse that allows providing content to the different elements of the Saharan Neolithic heritage preserved in museum collections, whether in refugee camps or those found in different European institutions, and which due to the lack of the corresponding scientific contextualization currently do not have sufficient social utility.

Description

Western Sahara is a former Spanish possession awaiting decolonization that since 1975 has been immersed in a war between the indigenous population and the kingdom of Morocco, which militarily occupies most of it. Since 1995, the University of Girona (UdG) has been developing, in coordination with the Ministry of Culture of the Sahrawi Democratic Republic, an intense program of scientific cooperation that has resulted in numerous scientific and educational publications and the construction of three museums in the refugee camps (a first National Museum of the Saharawi People in the Bojador camp and more recently two more museum facilities in the Auserd and Dakhla camps).

The Catalan Institute for Research in Cultural Heritage (ICRPC-CERCA) joined these research and cooperation activities in heritage in 2006. Currently, the research group has the participation of research and technical staff from ICRPC-CERCA, the UdG and the UAB. The ICRPC-CERCA project “Characterization of the occupations in the shelter of Lajuad 2 and the early Neolithic of Western Sahara” is part of this collaborative framework and involves the participation of all the aforementioned institutions.

The problem addressed is complex since the characterization of the early Neolithic of Western Sahara is not only a question that can be resolved based on the mere description and dating of sets of archaeological materials but also involves facing theoretical questions related to the definition of the phenomenon of neolithization in this geographical area.

To carry it out, the materials resulting from the excavation of the sites of Lajuad 2 (Tiris region) and Ashash (Zemmur region), currently in provisional storage in Girona, and the materials deposited in the Museo Nacional del Pueblo Saharaui (Tindouf refugee camps) are available.

Methodology and phases

1 – Techno-typological description of the elements of material culture (lithic, bone and ceramic industries), both those linked to the subsistence and symbolic areas, the sites of Lajuad 2 and Ashash.

2 – Analysis of the archaeozoological remains (remains of mammals, fish, marine and continental snails) at the anatomical and molecular level (ZooMS).

3 – Comparison and interpretation of the studied materials with respect to similar sets recovered within the area of ??geographical interest and within the same chronological scope.

4 – Writing of articles and dissemination materials in order to make them known to both the scientific community and the population of Western Sahara.