Mechta-Afalou

The name given to a modern human physical type represented in the archaeological record of the Maghreb, especially on Ibero-Maurusian sites and associated with bladelet industries in the Nile Valley. Cemeteries such as those at Columnata and Afalou bou Rhummel have yielded large numbers of skeletons. The people were of medium height, robustly built, and with a mean cranial capacity of around 1650 cc. Remains from earlier periods suggest that the Mechta-Afalou population was of stock indigenous to northwestern Africa. Mechtoid-related forms are restricted to the western and central Sahara during the last 10,000 years and are considered a North African branch of Cro-Magnon man.

The name given to a human physical type represented in the archaeological record of the Maghreb, especially on Iberomaurusian sites. Cemeteries such as those at Columnata and Afalou bou Rhummel have yielded large numbers of skeletons, with the result that the physical parameters of the population are exceptionally well known. The people were of medium height, robustly built, and with a mean cranial capacity of cl650 cc. Remains from earlier periods suggest that the Mechta-Afalou population was of stock indigenous"to northwestern Africa.