Abstract
Since 2005, the Archaeological Mission of Aghmat (Morocco) has aimed to study, protect and enhance this vast archaeological site, whose state of conservation is exceptional. To date, the programme has focused on the extensive excavation (around 3,000 m²) of the monumental area of the town, where the Great Mosque and its ablutions fountain, the public baths (hammam), an elite residence and a wealthy residential area composed of houses with interior gardens (riads) are located. Although the first phases of occupation (at least from the 10th century) are still poorly documented, the main phase of development of this district seems to date back to the 11th-12th centuries, which coincides with the time when the city became the ephemeral capital (around 1056-1070) of the Almoravid empire. The site then experienced a strong urban dynamism, during which the buildings were constantly restored and even rebuilt (Fili, Messier 2015), until the city was rather abruptly abandoned by its elites (mid-14th century) and reoccupied by populations that gradually ruralized its activities and economic balance (15th-16th century) in an architectural landscape that was inexorably deteriorating (Héritier-Salama et al. 2016). The monumental quarter of the city, finally abandoned, would then have gradually disappeared in a landscape evolving towards a space entirely dedicated to agriculture, which it has remained until today.Since 2016, the MAA has been developing a line of research dedicated to paleoenvironments and ancient agrarian systems, questioning the role played by different socio-economic dynamics on resource and landscape management. Based on the study of some thirty archaeobotanical samples extracted from various contexts (hearths, dumps, plantation pits), dated between the 11th and 17th centuries, this work has made it possible to propose an initial assessment of cultivated/gathered plants (Ros et al. 2021). The awarding of a First Support Exploratory Project (PEPS INEE-NOURANAT) in 2020 made it possible to strengthen this approach and to implement isotopic studies (Carbon, Nitrogen) on 4 taxa (Hordeum vulgare, Triticum aestivum/durum, Olea europaea, Vitis vinifera), in order to shed light on the existence of certain practices (irrigation, fertilisation) and their evolution over time.