Kehf el Baroud,[1] sometimes mistakenly spelledKelif el Boroud, is an archaeological site inMorocco. It is located to the south ofRabat, near the Aterian industry ofDar es Soltan.[2]
Fregel et al. 2018 examined the remains of 8 individuals buried at Kelif el Boroud (c. 3780-3650BCE) during the Late Neolithic.[3] The 1 sample ofY-DNA extracted belonged to the paternal haplogroupT-M184, while the 6 samples ofmtDNA extracted belonged to the maternal haplogroupsX2b (two samples),K1a1b1 (two samples),K1a4a1 and lastlyT2b3, with the other being undetermined.[4]
The examined individuals were found to share genetic affinities with individuals buried at both the Early Neolithic sites ofIfri N'Amr Ou Moussa in Morocco and the Early NeolithicCave of El Toro in Spain. They were modelled as being of about 50%Early European Farmer (EEF) ancestry and 50% local North African (IAM) ancestry, suggesting substantial migration fromIberia into North Africa during the Neolithic era of human history. Moreover, they were found to have had a lower amount ofSub-Saharan African admixture than earlier North Africans buried at Ifri N'Amr Ou Moussa, but as well as present North Africans, suggesting that trans-Saharan migrations occurred after. Furthermore, unlike the earlier Ifri N'Amr population, they were fair skinned, and carried various alleles associated withlight skin and lighteye colors.[5]
The Kelif el Boroud inhabitants were additionally found to be closely related to the nativeGuanches of theCanary Islands with them having similar admixture profiles, and being ancestral to today's North African populations. Geneticists who conducted these investigations concluded that: "We show that Early Neolithic Moroccans (c. ~5,000 BCE) are similar to Later Stone Age individuals from the same region and possess an endemic element retained in present-day Maghrebi populations, confirming a long-term genetic continuity in the region."[6]
Later research by Simões, Luciana G et al. 2023, showed KEB can be modelled as a mix of ancestries present in northwestern Africa during the Early and Middle Neolithic periods (7,400-6,000 ya). The newcomers fromEurope and theLevant brought new ways of life, farming practices, goat and sheep domestication and pottery traditions. These distinct genetic groups coexisted in close proximity, the local hunter-gatherers, farmers from Iberia, and Levantine pastoralists.[7]