Daily life at Taforalt during the Later Stone Age
At Taforalt’s Grotte des Pigeons in Morocco, plant remains, animal bones and human teeth reveal aspects of life among Later Stone Age hunter-gatherers.
A cave used across generations
This account focuses on deposits dated to approximately 15,000–13,700 calibrated years BP; BP counts from 1950. These layers belong to the Iberomaurusian Later Stone Age, within a much longer occupation sequence. They cannot represent one household or a single moment. Humphrey and colleagues’ study.
Gathering and preparing wild plants
Preserved plant remains include acorns and pine nuts. Researchers interpret them as evidence of systematic harvesting and processing. Gathering and preparing these foods therefore formed part of subsistence work, although the remains do not identify who performed each task or preserve a daily menu.
The 2014 study identifies holm oak acorns and maritime pine nuts as the most abundant edible plants recovered. Acorn cupules and pine seed scales provide evidence beyond the edible portions themselves: their presence helps researchers trace the collection and handling of these resources at the cave. The authors suggest that acorns could have been stored before shelling and cooking, while pine nuts were probably kept inside their cones. These are interpretations of the remains, rather than directly observed recipes.
Seasonality also matters. The botanical evidence suggests occupation from at least late spring into autumn. Stored nuts could have supplied food during winter, but that possibility does not establish continuous residence. Gathering, storage and preparation help explain how wild plants could support repeated cave use without demonstrating farming. Plant and dental evidence.
Plants and hunted animals
A 2024 analysis of chemical signatures in human teeth and bones supports substantial plant consumption. Cut-marked animal bones, particularly Barbary sheep, also attest to butchery. These findings describe a mixed diet before local farming; heavy plant consumption alone does not demonstrate cultivation.
The researchers combined several kinds of isotope evidence, including zinc in tooth enamel and carbon and nitrogen in collagen. They compared human results with animal remains from Taforalt to establish a local basis for interpreting diet. This comparison matters because chemical measurements need an environmental context; a human value considered in isolation cannot simply be translated into a list of foods.
The different evidence answers different questions. Plant remains identify resources brought to the site, while cut marks record the processing of animal bodies. Chemical signatures in human tissues help test whether plants contributed substantially to the food people actually consumed. Together, these findings support an important role for gathered foods alongside meat. They do not show an exclusively plant-based diet or reveal the contents of individual meals. Taforalt therefore challenges the assumption that hunter-gatherer subsistence necessarily depended mainly on animal food. Isotopic study.
Food left traces on teeth
The 2014 study identified decay in 51.2% of examined adult teeth. This measures teeth in the archaeological sample, not the percentage of all inhabitants affected. The authors linked the unusually high frequency to carbohydrate-rich wild foods and food processing. Dental damage supplies evidence about health, but cannot reconstruct each person’s experience of pain. Dental study.
Returning to a shared place
Repeated cave use and burials of adults and children indicate an enduring connection with the site. Researchers interpret such evidence as suggesting reduced mobility, but it does not establish that every inhabitant stayed throughout the year. The cited evidence leaves household arrangements, spoken language and divisions of work unresolved. Archaeological context.
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