In the hills of north-west Morocco, overlooking the river that gives the site its name, research at Oued Beht is bringing to light a previously unknown chapter of the region’s past. The discovery of a substantial built structure suggests that, during the second millennium BC, communities in north-west Africa were actively shaping their environment. They were also engaging in broader networks of interaction across the Mediterranean world. Map of Oued Beht in today’s Morocco, separated from Spain above it by the ocean. (Toby Wilkinson/OBAP Archive) Previous research by the Oued Beht Archaeological Project had already brought to light what is likely the earliest and largest agricultural complex ever discovered in Africa outside the Nile Valley. It dates to around 5,400
