Multiple metallurgies in Medieval Tamdult, a mining, smelting and caravan town in southern Morocco
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Published
June 28, 2026
Thilo Rehren
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9169-1198
Sam Nixon
Youssef Bokbot
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9983-6530
Brunella Santarelli
Biyang Wang
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5182-0944
Meghna Desai
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5096-0951
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9169-1198
Sam Nixon
Youssef Bokbot
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9983-6530
Brunella Santarelli
Biyang Wang
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5182-0944
Meghna Desai
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5096-0951
Abstract
The early Islamic settlement of Tamdult in southern Morocco is at the centre of an archaeological mining-metallurgical landscape with strong evidence for the production and working of lead, silver, copper and brass. Here, we provide an overview of the various metallurgies identified, and discuss their likely common origin from a sulfidic complex lead-zinc-copper ore mineralisation, leading to two distinct primary products: silver pellets and brass ingots. The presence of ancient mining traces, multiple locales of copper and lead smelting, fragments of litharge, numerous coin moulds with silver traces, and various types of ore, slag, crucibles and moulds linked to brass making, constitutes the most comprehensive inter-connected set of chaînes opératoires for copper, brass, lead and silver production in northwestern Africa. The initial results presented here allow key aspects of the raw material procurement and processing to be reconstructed, and to identify remaining gaps in our understanding and documentation of early medieval metal production on the western fringes of the Sahara.
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Keywords
polymetallic, archaeometallurgy, lead, silver, copper, smelting, brass, Africa, zinc, morocco
References
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Asmus, B. (2012). Medieval Copper Smelting in the Harz Mountains, Germany. Bochum: Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum (Montanregion Harz 10).
Asmus, B. (2014). Theophilus und die mittelalterliche Verhüttungstechnologie. Der Anschnitt 66, 126–140.
Baron, S., Souhassou, M. & Fauvelle, F.-X. (2020). Medieval Silver Production around Sijilmâsa, Morocco. Archaeometry 62, 593–611. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12546
Babalola, A. B., Desai, M., Rademakers, F., Cisse, M. Degryse, P. & Rehren, Th. (2025). Leaded Copper Crescent-Shaped Objects and a Brass Ring from Medieval Gao, Mali. Metalla 29, 33–55. https://doi.org/10.46586/metalla.v29.2025.i1.33-55
Bokbot, Y., Nixon, S., Saghir, M., Rehren, Th., Wexler, J., De Juan Ares, J., Cáceres, Y., El Mehdaoui, R., Bravin, A., Ouakrim, Z. & Benattia, H. (In press). Jbel Bani Projet Archéologique (province de Tata, Maroc): campagnes de terrain 2018-2020 et résultats de recherche intermédiaires. Bulletin d’Archéologie Marocaine (BAM).
Boum, A. (2010). From ‘Little Jerusalems’ to the Promised Land: Zionism, Moroccan nationalism, and rural Jewish emigration. The Journal of North African Studies 15, 51–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629380902745876
Cohen, C., Rehren, Th. & Van Buren, M. (2009). When the wind blows: environmental adaptability in current day silver production within the Bolivian Andes. In: J.-F. Moreau, R. Auger, J. Chabot (Eds.), Proceedings ISA 2006 – 36th International Symposium on Archaeometry (pp. 465–475). Quebec: CELAT, University Laval.
Courcier, A., Essaid, E., Abdoullah Ould Bagga, M., Celauro, A. & Maass, A. (2019). La métallurgie du cuivre dans la région de l’Inchiri, en Mauritanie au cours de l’Holocène récent. Etat de la recherche à la lumière des nouvelles recherches menées par le projet franco-mauritanien CUPRUM. In: Les annales de l’IMRS (Institut Mauritanien de Recherche Scientifique). SAGEP
Cressier, P. (2004). Du Sud au Nord du Sahara: la question de Tamdult (Maroc). In: A. Bazzana & H. Bocoum (Eds.), Du nord au sud du Sahara. Cinquante ans d’archéologie française en Afrique de l’Ouest et au Maghreb (pp.275–284), Paris: Bilan et perspectives. Sépia.
Cressier, P. & González-Villaescusa, R. (2025). A Look Back at the Irrigated Areas of the Medieval Town of Tāmdult (Morocco). Land 15, 69. https://doi.org/10.3390/land15010069
El Ouad, Z., Souhassou, M. & Ikenne, M. (2023). Métallurgie Ancienne du site de Tamdûlt, Anti-Atlas Marocain: Contexte Géologique et Minier. Journal of African Archaeology 21, 201–212. https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10031
El Ouad, Z., Souhassou, M., Ikenne, M., Hibti, M., Said, I., El Hassan, A., Moundi, Y., Madi, A. & Karfal, A. (2024). Geology and mineralogy of Pb-Ag-Cu veins of the Central Plateau Deposits of the Jbel Addana District (Western Anti-Atlas, Morocco). SEG 2024 Conference: Sustainable Mineral Exploration and Development, Namibia.
El Ouad, Z., Jabbour, M., Souhassou, M., Ikenne, M., Belfoul, M. A., Hibti, M., Said, I., Nathwani, Ch., Moundi, Y., Madi, A. & Karfal, A. (2025). Mineralogical data and structural contol of Pb-Fe-Zn-Cu mineralizations of the Bou-Oudadene deposit (Jbel Addana District, Western Anti-Atlas, Morocco): implications for mineral exploration. In: E. Anderson & G. Graham (Eds.) Mineral Resources for Our Ever-Changing World (Vol. 1, pp. 297–300), 18th SGA Biennial Meeting 2025.
Erbati, E., Fauvelle, F-X. & Mensan, R. (2020). Sijilmâsa, cité islamique du Maroc médiéval: recherches archéologiques maroco-française 2011-2016. Rabat: INSAP (« Vesam » 9).
Fentress, E., Fenwick, C. & Limane, H. (2022). Urban life in early Islamic Morocco: new light from the excavations at Walīla (Roman Volubilis). Archaeology International 25, 111–131. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444.ai.2022.08
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, 139–165. https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.20440
Freestone, I. C. & Tite, M. S. (1986). Refractories in the ancient and preindustrial world. In: W. D. Kingery & E. Lense (Eds.) High-Technology Ceramics – Past, Present, and Future (pp. 35–63). Westerville, Ohio: American Ceramic Society.
Garenne Marot, L. (2009). ‘Fils à double tête’ and copper-based ingots: copper money-objects at the time of the Sahelian Empires of Ancient Ghana and Mali. In: C. Eagleton, H. Fuller & J. Perkins, (Eds.) Money in Africa (pp. 1–8). London: British Museum (British Museum Research Publications 171).
Garenne Marot, L. (2017). Cuivre. In: A. Livingstone Smith, E. Cornelissen, O. Gosselain, & S. MacEachern (Eds.) Manuel de terrain en Archéologie africaine (pp. 190–196). Tervuren: Musée royal de l’Afrique centrale.
Garenne Marot, L. & Mille, B. (2007). Copper-based metal in the Inland Niger delta: metal and technology at the time of the Empire of Mali. In: S. La Niece, D. Hook, P. Craddock (Eds.) Metals and Mines. Studies in Archaeometallurgy (pp. 159–169). London: Archetype.
Handaine, M. (2008). Tamedoult: Histoire d’un Carrefour de la civilisation maroco-touarégue. Rabat: Editions & Impressions Bouregreg.
Heinrichs, J. & Rehren, Th. (1996). Keltische Münzschrötlingsformen aus Bonn - Naturwissenschaftlich-numismatischer Vorbericht und historische Interpretation. Metalla 3, 83–100.
IGN (1953). Institut National de l’Information Géographique et Forestière (France) – no. LXXX, TATA region.
Justinard, L. (1933). Notes sur l’histoire du Sous au XVIe siècle. I – Sidi Ahmed ou Moussa. II – Carnet d’un lieutenant d’Al Mansour. Paris: Honoré Champion (Archives Marocaines 29)
Levtzion, N. & Hopkins, J. (Eds.). (2000). Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History. Princeton: Markus Wiener.
Martinón-Torres, M. & Rehren, Th. (2002). Agricola and Zwickau: theory and practice of Renaissance brass production in SE Germany. Historical Metallurgy 36, 95–111.
Messier, R. & Miller, J. (2015). The Last Civilized place. Sijilmasa and its Saharan Destiny. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. https://doi.org/10.7560/766655
Milot, J., Baron, S. & Poitrasson, F. (2018). Potential use of Fe isotopes for ancient non-ferrous metals tracing through the example of a lead-silver production site (Imiter mine, Anti-Atlas, Morocco). Journal of Archaeological Science 98, 22–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2018.07.004
Monod, Th. (1969). Le Ma’den Ijafen: une épave caravanière ancienne dans la Majabat al-Koubra. In: Actes, 1er Colloque Internationale d’Archéologie Africaine. Fort Lamy: Institut national tchadien des sciences humaines.
Nixon, S., Rehren, Th. & Guerra, M. F. (2011). New light on the early Islamic West African gold trade: coin moulds from Tadmekka, Mali. Antiquity 85, 1353–1368. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00062104
Nixon, S., Bokbot, Y. , Saghir, M., Rehren, Th., Wexler, J., De Juan Ares, J., Bigoulimen, A., Cáceres, Y., Hachami, H., El Mehdaoui, R., Bravin, A., Ouakrim, Z. & Benattia, H. (Submitted). The Jbel Bani Archaeological Project (Tata Province, Morocco): fieldwork seasons 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023 and interim research results.
Rehren, Th. & Klappauf, L. (1995). … ut oleum aquis – Vom Schwimmen des Silbers auf Bleiglaette. Metalla 2, 19–28.
Rehren, Th., Lietz, E., Hauptmann, A. & Deutmann, K. H. (1993). Schlacken und Tiegel aus dem Adlerturm in Dortmund: Zeugen einer mittelalterlichen Messingproduktion. In: H. Steuer & U. Zimmermann (Eds.) Montanarchäologie in Europa (pp. 303–314). Sigmaringen: Thorbeke (Archäologie und Geschichte - Freiburger Forschungen zum ersten Jahrtausend in Südwestdeutschland 4).
Rosenberger, B. (1970). Tamdult: Cité minière et caravanière presaharienne, IX-XIVe S., Hesperis Tamuda 11,103–139.
Skowronek, T. B., DeCorse, C. R., Denk, R., Birr, S. D., Kingsley, S., Cook, G. D., Benito Dominguez, A. M., Clifford, B., Barker, A., Otero, J. S. & Moreira, V. C. (2023). German brass for Benin bronzes: Geochemical analysis insights into the early Atlantic trade. PLoS ONE 18(4), e0283415. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283415
Willet, F. & Sayre, E. V. (2006). Lead isotopes in West African copper alloys. Journal of African Archaeology 4, 55–90. https://doi.org/10.3213/1612-1651-10063
Asmus, B. (2012). Medieval Copper Smelting in the Harz Mountains, Germany. Bochum: Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum (Montanregion Harz 10).
Asmus, B. (2014). Theophilus und die mittelalterliche Verhüttungstechnologie. Der Anschnitt 66, 126–140.
Baron, S., Souhassou, M. & Fauvelle, F.-X. (2020). Medieval Silver Production around Sijilmâsa, Morocco. Archaeometry 62, 593–611. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12546
Babalola, A. B., Desai, M., Rademakers, F., Cisse, M. Degryse, P. & Rehren, Th. (2025). Leaded Copper Crescent-Shaped Objects and a Brass Ring from Medieval Gao, Mali. Metalla 29, 33–55. https://doi.org/10.46586/metalla.v29.2025.i1.33-55
Bokbot, Y., Nixon, S., Saghir, M., Rehren, Th., Wexler, J., De Juan Ares, J., Cáceres, Y., El Mehdaoui, R., Bravin, A., Ouakrim, Z. & Benattia, H. (In press). Jbel Bani Projet Archéologique (province de Tata, Maroc): campagnes de terrain 2018-2020 et résultats de recherche intermédiaires. Bulletin d’Archéologie Marocaine (BAM).
Boum, A. (2010). From ‘Little Jerusalems’ to the Promised Land: Zionism, Moroccan nationalism, and rural Jewish emigration. The Journal of North African Studies 15, 51–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629380902745876
Cohen, C., Rehren, Th. & Van Buren, M. (2009). When the wind blows: environmental adaptability in current day silver production within the Bolivian Andes. In: J.-F. Moreau, R. Auger, J. Chabot (Eds.), Proceedings ISA 2006 – 36th International Symposium on Archaeometry (pp. 465–475). Quebec: CELAT, University Laval.
Courcier, A., Essaid, E., Abdoullah Ould Bagga, M., Celauro, A. & Maass, A. (2019). La métallurgie du cuivre dans la région de l’Inchiri, en Mauritanie au cours de l’Holocène récent. Etat de la recherche à la lumière des nouvelles recherches menées par le projet franco-mauritanien CUPRUM. In: Les annales de l’IMRS (Institut Mauritanien de Recherche Scientifique). SAGEP
Cressier, P. (2004). Du Sud au Nord du Sahara: la question de Tamdult (Maroc). In: A. Bazzana & H. Bocoum (Eds.), Du nord au sud du Sahara. Cinquante ans d’archéologie française en Afrique de l’Ouest et au Maghreb (pp.275–284), Paris: Bilan et perspectives. Sépia.
Cressier, P. & González-Villaescusa, R. (2025). A Look Back at the Irrigated Areas of the Medieval Town of Tāmdult (Morocco). Land 15, 69. https://doi.org/10.3390/land15010069
El Ouad, Z., Souhassou, M. & Ikenne, M. (2023). Métallurgie Ancienne du site de Tamdûlt, Anti-Atlas Marocain: Contexte Géologique et Minier. Journal of African Archaeology 21, 201–212. https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-bja10031
El Ouad, Z., Souhassou, M., Ikenne, M., Hibti, M., Said, I., El Hassan, A., Moundi, Y., Madi, A. & Karfal, A. (2024). Geology and mineralogy of Pb-Ag-Cu veins of the Central Plateau Deposits of the Jbel Addana District (Western Anti-Atlas, Morocco). SEG 2024 Conference: Sustainable Mineral Exploration and Development, Namibia.
El Ouad, Z., Jabbour, M., Souhassou, M., Ikenne, M., Belfoul, M. A., Hibti, M., Said, I., Nathwani, Ch., Moundi, Y., Madi, A. & Karfal, A. (2025). Mineralogical data and structural contol of Pb-Fe-Zn-Cu mineralizations of the Bou-Oudadene deposit (Jbel Addana District, Western Anti-Atlas, Morocco): implications for mineral exploration. In: E. Anderson & G. Graham (Eds.) Mineral Resources for Our Ever-Changing World (Vol. 1, pp. 297–300), 18th SGA Biennial Meeting 2025.
Erbati, E., Fauvelle, F-X. & Mensan, R. (2020). Sijilmâsa, cité islamique du Maroc médiéval: recherches archéologiques maroco-française 2011-2016. Rabat: INSAP (« Vesam » 9).
Fentress, E., Fenwick, C. & Limane, H. (2022). Urban life in early Islamic Morocco: new light from the excavations at Walīla (Roman Volubilis). Archaeology International 25, 111–131. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444.ai.2022.08
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, 139–165. https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.20440
Freestone, I. C. & Tite, M. S. (1986). Refractories in the ancient and preindustrial world. In: W. D. Kingery & E. Lense (Eds.) High-Technology Ceramics – Past, Present, and Future (pp. 35–63). Westerville, Ohio: American Ceramic Society.
Garenne Marot, L. (2009). ‘Fils à double tête’ and copper-based ingots: copper money-objects at the time of the Sahelian Empires of Ancient Ghana and Mali. In: C. Eagleton, H. Fuller & J. Perkins, (Eds.) Money in Africa (pp. 1–8). London: British Museum (British Museum Research Publications 171).
Garenne Marot, L. (2017). Cuivre. In: A. Livingstone Smith, E. Cornelissen, O. Gosselain, & S. MacEachern (Eds.) Manuel de terrain en Archéologie africaine (pp. 190–196). Tervuren: Musée royal de l’Afrique centrale.
Garenne Marot, L. & Mille, B. (2007). Copper-based metal in the Inland Niger delta: metal and technology at the time of the Empire of Mali. In: S. La Niece, D. Hook, P. Craddock (Eds.) Metals and Mines. Studies in Archaeometallurgy (pp. 159–169). London: Archetype.
Handaine, M. (2008). Tamedoult: Histoire d’un Carrefour de la civilisation maroco-touarégue. Rabat: Editions & Impressions Bouregreg.
Heinrichs, J. & Rehren, Th. (1996). Keltische Münzschrötlingsformen aus Bonn - Naturwissenschaftlich-numismatischer Vorbericht und historische Interpretation. Metalla 3, 83–100.
IGN (1953). Institut National de l’Information Géographique et Forestière (France) – no. LXXX, TATA region.
Justinard, L. (1933). Notes sur l’histoire du Sous au XVIe siècle. I – Sidi Ahmed ou Moussa. II – Carnet d’un lieutenant d’Al Mansour. Paris: Honoré Champion (Archives Marocaines 29)
Levtzion, N. & Hopkins, J. (Eds.). (2000). Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History. Princeton: Markus Wiener.
Martinón-Torres, M. & Rehren, Th. (2002). Agricola and Zwickau: theory and practice of Renaissance brass production in SE Germany. Historical Metallurgy 36, 95–111.
Messier, R. & Miller, J. (2015). The Last Civilized place. Sijilmasa and its Saharan Destiny. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. https://doi.org/10.7560/766655
Milot, J., Baron, S. & Poitrasson, F. (2018). Potential use of Fe isotopes for ancient non-ferrous metals tracing through the example of a lead-silver production site (Imiter mine, Anti-Atlas, Morocco). Journal of Archaeological Science 98, 22–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2018.07.004
Monod, Th. (1969). Le Ma’den Ijafen: une épave caravanière ancienne dans la Majabat al-Koubra. In: Actes, 1er Colloque Internationale d’Archéologie Africaine. Fort Lamy: Institut national tchadien des sciences humaines.
Nixon, S., Rehren, Th. & Guerra, M. F. (2011). New light on the early Islamic West African gold trade: coin moulds from Tadmekka, Mali. Antiquity 85, 1353–1368. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00062104
Nixon, S., Bokbot, Y. , Saghir, M., Rehren, Th., Wexler, J., De Juan Ares, J., Bigoulimen, A., Cáceres, Y., Hachami, H., El Mehdaoui, R., Bravin, A., Ouakrim, Z. & Benattia, H. (Submitted). The Jbel Bani Archaeological Project (Tata Province, Morocco): fieldwork seasons 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023 and interim research results.
Rehren, Th. & Klappauf, L. (1995). … ut oleum aquis – Vom Schwimmen des Silbers auf Bleiglaette. Metalla 2, 19–28.
Rehren, Th., Lietz, E., Hauptmann, A. & Deutmann, K. H. (1993). Schlacken und Tiegel aus dem Adlerturm in Dortmund: Zeugen einer mittelalterlichen Messingproduktion. In: H. Steuer & U. Zimmermann (Eds.) Montanarchäologie in Europa (pp. 303–314). Sigmaringen: Thorbeke (Archäologie und Geschichte - Freiburger Forschungen zum ersten Jahrtausend in Südwestdeutschland 4).
Rosenberger, B. (1970). Tamdult: Cité minière et caravanière presaharienne, IX-XIVe S., Hesperis Tamuda 11,103–139.
Skowronek, T. B., DeCorse, C. R., Denk, R., Birr, S. D., Kingsley, S., Cook, G. D., Benito Dominguez, A. M., Clifford, B., Barker, A., Otero, J. S. & Moreira, V. C. (2023). German brass for Benin bronzes: Geochemical analysis insights into the early Atlantic trade. PLoS ONE 18(4), e0283415. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283415
Willet, F. & Sayre, E. V. (2006). Lead isotopes in West African copper alloys. Journal of African Archaeology 4, 55–90. https://doi.org/10.3213/1612-1651-10063
How to Cite
Thilo Rehren, Sam Nixon, Bokbot, Y., Brunella Santarelli, Biyang Wang, & Desai, M. (2026). Multiple metallurgies in Medieval Tamdult, a mining, smelting and caravan town in southern Morocco. Historical Metallurgy, 56(1), 2-18. https://doi.org/10.54841/hm.686
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