The IPHES carries out an archaeological exploration in Morocco to locate remains of two million years of antiquity

The Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES), in collaboration with the University of Ujda (Morocco) and the University of Burgos (Spain) carries out explorations in the mentioned African country to locate archaeological remains of two million years which contribute to the study of the human evolution. The project is codirected by the professors Robert Sala (Universitat Rovira I Virgili at Tarragona) and Hassan Auraghe, from Ujda, and it is framed in the joint tasks that impel this two institutions to socialize the research.

Robert Sala points out: “at present we develop a research project in Algeria, but the idea is to extend our field of action to other countries of the African continent in order to obtain a regional vision of the human settlement.” In the area of the locality of Ujda have been located packets of sediment of two million years and now it is intended to find the archaeological remains inside a stratigraphy (in chronological sequence) to deepen in their knowledge.

Sala assures: “we consider that this one is a rich area of the Mediterranean, because already there have been findings in the surface, but it is still little explored”. Until now no step had been given to systematize a serious research with regard to the Quaternary in this geographical area.

After these explorations, which are useful to assure the validity of the project, we will proceed to complete this intervention with others of the same type, or directly to execute an excavation possibly the spring of 2007, according to the results that we obtain these days. In a third phase, the initiatives properly said of socialization will be carried out.