World Atlas Core Records · Technology

Jebel Irhoud

c. 315,000 years ago · Morocco

Fossils and Middle Stone Age tools contribute to a pan-African picture of early Homo sapiens.

Back to World Atlas Core Records Show on world timeline

AI-generated evidence-guided visualization related to Jebel Irhoud, c. 315,000 years ago. — AI-generated visualization based on the cited record and period context. It is not documentary evidence or an authenticated reconstruction of a single event.

How the setting appeared

A semi-arid North African landscape of rocky ridges, seasonal vegetation and mobile groups using fire and prepared stone tools. It was not a permanent village.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-JEBEL-IRHOUDCIT-CORE001-JEBEL-IRHOUD-NATURECIT-CORE001-JEBEL-IRHOUD-SMITHSONIAN Setting and material context · 3 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

How people lived

Small, mobile communities gathered plants and hunted or scavenged animals while maintaining social knowledge across wide territories.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-JEBEL-IRHOUDCIT-CORE001-JEBEL-IRHOUD-NATURECIT-CORE001-JEBEL-IRHOUD-SMITHSONIAN Lifeways and community · 3 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

How people worked

Stone was selected, shaped and resharpened through learned reduction strategies.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-JEBEL-IRHOUDCIT-CORE001-JEBEL-IRHOUD-NATURECIT-CORE001-JEBEL-IRHOUD-SMITHSONIAN Work, tools and exchange · 3 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Belief, ritual and worship

No direct evidence identifies a formal religious system here; symbolic or ritual claims would be inference.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-JEBEL-IRHOUDCIT-CORE001-JEBEL-IRHOUD-NATURECIT-CORE001-JEBEL-IRHOUD-SMITHSONIAN Belief, ritual and evidence limits · 3 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

World-atlas stage: Homo sapiens and migrations
Region: Africa · Morocco
Languages and scripts: Not named in this record
Important people: No individual is centered in this record
Events and changes: Homo sapiens fossils and associated Middle Stone Age artifacts date to c. 315,000 years ago.
Evidence confidence (generic fallback): No record-specific confidence statement is registered. This generic fallback identifies a metadata gap; it is not an evidence assessment.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-JEBEL-IRHOUDCIT-CORE001-JEBEL-IRHOUD-NATURECIT-CORE001-JEBEL-IRHOUD-SMITHSONIAN Dates, place, language, people and events; missing confidence metadata disclosed · 3 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Historical geography

A dated anchor, not an exact border

The local map uses modern coastlines only for orientation. The marker identifies this record's geographic anchor, not the full reach of a community or polity.

Map geometry loads only when requested. Modern outlines are orientation only; historical geography and identities changed through time.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-JEBEL-IRHOUDCIT-CORE001-JEBEL-IRHOUD-NATURECIT-CORE001-JEBEL-IRHOUD-SMITHSONIAN Historical-geography anchor and stated limits · 3 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Evidence register

Guides used for this record

Each registered source ID is paired with its institutional URL for independent checking. Source count is transparent, and duplicate URLs count only once.

CIT-CORE-JEBEL-IRHOUD

Jebel Irhoud: record evidence guide

https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-sapiens

humanorigins.si.edu

CIT-CORE001-JEBEL-IRHOUD-NATURE

New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiens

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22336

Nature

CIT-CORE001-JEBEL-IRHOUD-SMITHSONIAN

Our species arose at least 300,000 years ago

https://humanorigins.si.edu/research/whats-hot-human-origins/our-species-arose-least-300000-years-ago

Smithsonian Human Origins Program

Previous: Zhoukoudian Next: Denisova Cave