Mobility, Seasonal Encampments, and Temporary Dwellings of Charcoal Burners: New Insights from an Ethnoarchaeological Study in Morocco

ABSTRACT

Pre-industrial economic activities related to the seasonal exploitation of forest resources, including charcoal production, are associated with temporary settlements and mobility in European and Mediterranean outlands. Because they have left few, ephemeral traces in the archaeological record, these temporary dwellings and the itinerant lifestyles associated with them are largely unknown. To better detect and interpret such remains, we conducted an ethnoarchaeological study in Morocco, where some charcoal burners still maintain an itinerant lifestyle. We first examine the types of seasonal temporary encampments of contemporary charcoal burners in two regional contrasting regions, Gharb and Middle Atlas. We then address three archaeological issues: 1) the individual variation and the skills and dispositions of charcoal burners in adapting the architecture and organization of their encampments, 2) the impact of natural and anthropogenic post-depositional processes on site formation, and 3) the difficulty of associating a temporary dwelling with a particular economic activity.

KEYWORDS:

• Temporary dwelling
• mobility
• residential strategies
• activity areas
• charcoal production
• site formation process
• seasonal encampment
• Morocco

Acknowledgments

This research was carried out as part of S. Burri's doctoral thesis, defended in 2012 at the University of Aix Marseille (France). Special thanks to the former Haut-Commissariat aux Eaux et Forêts et à la lutte contre la Désertification and the Direction du Patrimoine du Maroc for their authorization. Thanks to C. Vaschalde and L. Maggiori for their participation in the 2012 fieldwork and to H. Tombs and E. Costello for the English editing.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Ethnoarchaeological surveys in Morocco carried out in 2008, 2009 and 2012 were supported by the CNRS GDR 2517 (PI: P. Anderson CEPAM UMR 7298), the ARC HOMERE MMSH (PI: A. Durand and M.-C. Bailly-Maître) and the International Relations Office of the University of Aix Marseille.