Kehf el Baroud,[1] sometimes mistakenly spelled Kelif el Boroud, is an archaeological site in
Morocco. It is located to the south of
Rabat, near
Dar es Soltan.[2]
Fregel et al. 2018 examined the remains of 8 individuals buried at Kelif el Boroud c. 3780-3650
BCE during the Neolithic.[3] The 1 sample of
Y-DNA extracted belonged to the paternal haplogroup
T-M184, while the 6 samples of
mtDNA extracted belonged to the maternal haplogroups
X2b (two samples),
K1a1b1 (two samples),
K1a4a1 and
T2b3.[4] The examined individuals were found to share genetic affinities with individuals buried at both the Early Neolithic sites of
Ifri N'Amr Ou Moussa in Morocco and the Early Neolithic
Cave of El Toro in Spain. They were modelled as being of about 50%
Early European Farmer (EEF) ancestry and 50% local North African ancestry, suggesting substantial migration from Iberia into North Africa during the Neolithic. They had a lower amount of
sub-Saharan African admixture than earlier North Africans buried at Ifri N'Amr Ou Moussa. They also carried alleles associated with
light skin and light
eye color. They were found to be closely related to the
Guanches of the
Canary Islands,[5] and ancestral to todays North African population. "We show that Early Neolithic Moroccans (~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]