Between 1936 and 1947, the American School of Prehistoric Research carried out a series of excavations at Mugharet el ‘Aliya, or “The High Cave,” located on Cape Ashakar just south of Tangier, Morocco. Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, this prominent cave preserved one of the longest archaeological sequences known from the region, ranging from the Levalloiso-Mousterian…
Excavations at Kouali Point, Algeria (1949)
In the spring of 1949, after completing work at the caves near Tipasa, the joint Tufts University–American School of Prehistoric Research expedition shifted its focus to a new site: Kouali Point. Situated along the coastal cliffs just north of Tipasa, Kouali offered the possibility of connecting archaeological horizons with fluctuations in sea level, which could…
Neolithic Remains from Northwest Africa: Laboratory Analysis by the ASPR
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, ASPR-supported scholars turned their attention to the laboratory, where they examined human remains from Stone Age contexts across Northwest Africa. These studies focused on cranial specimens recovered from Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia—an area stretching from the Libyan frontier to the Atlantic coast and from the Mediterranean south into…
Excavations near Tipasa, Algeria (1949)
In the spring of 1949, the American School of Prehistoric Research joined forces with Tufts University to carry out archaeological investigations near Tipasa, a coastal town about 70 kilometers west of Algiers. The expedition was directed by Dr. Hugh Hencken, Director of the ASPR, working alongside Professor Charles E. Stearns of Tufts University, Dr. Lloyd…
Teshik-Tash Cave, Uzbekistan: Middle Paleolithic Cccupation and Burials (1938–39)
In 1938–39, a Soviet field team led by A. P. Okladnikov excavated a small limestone grotto in the Baisun-Tau (Baysun) mountains of southern Uzbekistan that would become one of Central Asia’s most famous Paleolithic sites. Over two seasons they opened roughly 137 square meters of deposits and documented a sequence of repeated Mousterian occupations, hearths,…