Morocco’s farming story began with people crossing the Mediterranean—and it did not end with one migration.

Ancient DNA from nine newly studied individuals, compared with earlier genomes, reveals a local Maghrebi lineage lasting roughly 8,000 years. Then, around 7,400 years before present, farmers with mostly European Neolithic-related ancestry appeared at Kaf Taht el-Ghar in northern Morocco. Iberia is the best-supported source; some contribution via Sicily cannot be excluded.

These farmers already carried a mixture shaped by earlier migrations across Europe. One model estimates 72% Anatolian Neolithic-related, 10% European hunter-gatherer-related and 18% local Maghrebi-related ancestry. Contact with local groups was dated to about 6–13 generations before the sampled people.

Yet nearby history took another path. At Ifri n’ Amr o’Moussa, people adopted farming practices while retaining their local genetic background, with no detectable incoming European farmer ancestry. Ideas could spread without the same movement of genes.

Later, around 6,700–6,100 years before present, Skhirat-Rouazi people show a different mixture: about 76% Levant Neolithic-related and 24% local Maghrebi-related ancestry. This suggests a separate eastern influx, potentially linked to pastoralism—not proof of a particular language or exact route.

By the Late Neolithic, all three ancestry backgrounds were present together at Kehf el Baroud. North African diversity had deep prehistoric roots, long before later historical migrations.

These are model estimates for ancient sampled communities, not ethnic percentages or a breakdown of Moroccan DNA today. Dates “before present” use AD 1950 as their reference.

📚 Source: Simões et al. (2023), Nature
Northwest African Neolithic initiated by migrants from Iberia and Levant

🧬 Curious about your own ancestry?
🌍 Explore your DNA at https://www.worldgenetics.app/