Taforalt Cave

Grotte des Pigeons at Taforalt has been excavated on and off since the 1900s and intensively in recent decades, and it has produced findings of first-order importance for human prehistory. Perforated Nassarius shells, deliberately pierced and worn as beads, have been dated here to around eighty-two thousand years ago, among the earliest evidence anywhere for personal ornament and therefore for symbolic behaviour. The cave also holds an Iberomaurusian burial ground of around fifteen thousand years ago containing the remains of dozens of individuals, described as one of the oldest known cemeteries; analysis of their teeth found extensive decay linked to a diet heavy in acorns and pine nuts, pushing the association between carbohydrate-rich food and dental disease far earlier than farming. It is a working scientific site on the plateau above Berkane and it is not set up for visitors.

What you'll find

• Eighty-two-thousand-year beads - pierced shells among the earliest known ornament.
• An early cemetery - dozens of Iberomaurusian burials from about fifteen thousand years ago.
• Very early tooth decay - carbohydrate-linked dental disease long before farming.
• A working excavation - a scientific site rather than a visitor cave.

When to go

Spring and autumn. An hour, and only if access is arranged.

Practical notes

This is an active excavation with restricted access - do not expect to walk in. There is no interpretation on site. Finds are in museums, not at the cave. The plateau road up from Berkane is narrow.

Nearby

Zegzel gorge is below; Berkane and the citrus plain are north.

Key facts