Dar es-Soltan is a cave on the Atlantic coast of Morocco near the modern town of Rabat. The cave is 43 meters deep and six meters wide, with archaeological deposits of at least 8 meters in thickness. Occupations in the cave include three Aterian occupations and one Neolithic occupation, separated from the others by a massive rockfall. The Neolithic level consists of mainly a 1.5 meter thick shell midden.
Stratigraphic Sequence at Dar es-Soltan
The oldest Aterian sequence at Dar es-Soltan is made up of fine-grained flint and quartzite flakes and small cores related to Levallois industries. The flint was probably from nearby river cobbles. Retouched tools inclde side scrapers, end scrapers and denticulates. Other tools include Levallois and non-Levallois blanks, and tanged-points and pedunculate points with retouch. Two mammoth ivory objects were recovered, one a pont and one a small plaquette.
The middle Aterian level contains Levallois and discoidal core technology, laminate flakes and a few true blades. Flint and quartzite. Side scrapers, tanged points, pedunculate point, including the Aterian point.
The youngest Aterian occupation has small discoidal cores, cobbles, and bladelets. Side scrapers, an atypical Mousterian point and a bifacially flaked rectangular form and two pedunculate points.
Dating Dar es-Soltan
The importance of Dar es-Soltan to the Aterian redating cannot be understated. OSL dates suggest that the lower Aterian levels of Dar es-Soltan may be the oldest expression of the Aterian to date, perhaps as old as 110,000 years ago. Most other Aterian sites date to 60,000-80,000 or so, but the interpretation and study of this important site, and the Aterian stone complex, is still under investigation.
Dar es-Soltan was excavated by Armand Ruhlmann of the Inspection des Antiquites du Maroc in the 1930s, but he died before completing the reports. A reassessment of Ruhlmann's excavations was conducted in the early 21st century by R.N.E. Barton and associates.
Sources
This glossary entry is part of the Guide to the Middle Stone Age and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Barton RNE, Bouzouggar A, Collcutt SN, Schwenninger JL, and Clark-Balzan L. 2009. OSL dating of the Aterian levels at Dar es-Soltan I (Rabat, Morocco) and implications for the dispersal of modern Homo sapiens. Quaternary Science Reviews 28(19-20):1914-1931.
Bouzouggar, A., et al. 2007 82,000-year-old shell beads from North Africa and implications for the origins of modern human behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(24):9964-9969.
Garcea, Elena A. A. 1995 New investigations in the Tadrart Acacus, Libyan Sahara. Nyame Akuma 4435-27.
