OASCIV: Making Oasis Civilisation in the Moroccan Sahara

The OASCIV project aims to identify when, how and why complex societies emerged in the oases of the western Sahara and their impact on the subsequent development of Saharan trading networks and the medieval Islamic empires. This AHRC-funded project is a collaboration between the University of Leicester, University College London, and the Moroccan Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine (INSAP).

Satellite remote sensing and extensive survey undertaken as part of the previous phase of the project, the Middle Draa Project, recorded hundreds of sites in the Wadi Draa region of southern Morocco, including hilltop settlements, oasis settlements, cairn cemeteries, and agricultural field and irrigation systems.

Below image shows the location of the Wadi Draa and distribution of sites recorded by the Middle Draa and OasCiv Projects (maps by G. Marchiori).

Continuing on from this work, the OASCIV project has conducted the first scientific excavations at a selected group of these sites dating from the North African Iron Age and Medieval periods, to further our understanding of the communities living along the edge of the Sahara during these periods. Between 2021 and 2024, excavations have been carried out in an Iron Age cemetery and adjacent settlement, a fortified mudbrick building, an early modern house, and two hilltop settlements. View a 3D model of the LAR002 Hilltop Settlement.

Below image shows a chapel tomb in the Wadi Draa with painted stone slab found in the interior (Images courtesy OasCiv Project).

Meet the team

Principal investigators

• Professor David Mattingly (University of Leicester)
• Professor Corisande Fenwick (University College London)
• Professor Youssef Bokbot (National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage INSAP)
• Dr Martin Sterry (Honorary Visiting Fellow, Leicester)

Team members

• Dr Giorgia Marchiori
• Dr Nichole Sheldrick

Publications

• Fenwick, C., Sterry, M., Mattingly, D. J., Rayne, L., & Bokbot, Y. (2022). A Medieval Boom in the North-west Sahara: Evolving Oasis Landscapes in the Wadi Draa, Morocco (c.700–1500 AD). Journal of Islamic Archaeology, 8(2), 139–165. Access online via the Journal of Islamic Archaeology.
• Bokbot, Y., Fenwick, C., Mattingly, D. J., Sheldrick, N., & Sterry, M. (2021). Horses and Habitations: Iron Age Rock Art from Fortified Hilltop Settlements in the Wadi Draa, Morocco. Journal of African Archaeology, 19(2), 159-186. Access via BRILL.
• Mattingly, D. J., Bokbot, Y., Sterry, M., Cuénod, A., Fenwick, C., Gatto, M. C., Ray, N., Rayne, L., Janin, K., Lamb, A., Mugnai, N., & Nikolaus, J. (2017). Long-term History in a Moroccan Oasis Zone: The Middle Draa Project 2015. Journal of African Archaeology, 15(2), 141–172. University of Leicester staff and students can access via BRILL.