Jebel Irhoud is an archaeological cave site located near Sidi Moktar, about 100 km west of Marrakesh, Morocco. Since circa 1991 7 significant hominid fossils have been discovered, and are currently dated to circa 160,000 years ago. The fossils include portions of two adult skulls (Irhoud 1 and Irhoud 2), a child’s mandible (Irhoud 3), and a child’s humerus (Irhoud 4). The significance of the original discoveries of Irhoud 1, 2 & 3, (found during quarrying for Barytes) was not fully understood until 2007, as they were initially considered to be North African Neandertals. They are now grouped with other early anatomically modern humans such as Omo Kibush 1 & 2 and Homo sapiens idaltu at Herto Bouri in Ethiopia, Qafzeh and Es Skhul in Israel.
In 2007, the Max Planck Institute announced that Synchrotron analysis of a tooth from the Irhoud 3 child's mandible revealed that 'long childhood' and consequent brain and social development was a key element in the earliest Homo sapiens.
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