Morocco : Jbel Irhoud registered as a national heritage site

Jbel Irhoud, an archaeological site located just north of the locality known as Tlet Ighoud, about 50 km south-east of the city of Safi in Morocco, has been registered as a national heritage site, announces AFP. The area is known for the rest of the world by the Hominin fossils that have been found there in 1960. The specimens discovered in Jbel Irhoud were later assigned to Homo sapiens and have been dated to over 300,000.

This decision was made public in January by the Moroccan Official Bulletin. «Preserving this site is very important», said Abdelouahed Ben-Ncer, a professo rat the Moroccan Institute of Archeology and

This preservation decision was published in the January issue of the Moroccan Official Bulletin. «The classification of a site of this magnitude is very important for its preservation», said Abdelouahed Ben-Ncer, a professor at the National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage Sciences in Rabat, adding that «it's an asset for researchers».

Registering the site as a national heritage protects the area, since it is a kind of «buffer zone» around Jebel Irhoud, excavated by a team of archaeologists co-led by the French anthropologist Jean-Jacques Hublin.

In addition to that, the Moroccan authorities have launched a development study, including the installation of fences and amenities for better accessibility, adds Abdelouahed Ben-Ncer to the same source. «Protection and enhancement are essential steps towards a World Heritage designation for humanity» by UNESCO, concludes the researcher.