Jebel Irhoud or Adrar n Ighoud (Standard Moroccan Tamazight: ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵉⵖⵓⴷ, romanized: Adrar n Iɣud; Arabic: جبل إيغود, Moroccan Arabic: žbəl iġud), is an archaeological site located just north of the town of Tlet Ighoud in Youssoufia Province, approximately 50 km (30 mi) south-east of the city of Safi in Morocco.

Eventually, it was handed over to the University of Rabat, which organized a joint French-Moroccan expedition to the site that was headed by anthropologist Émile Ennouchi.

Before beginning excavation, Ennouchi’s team removed 2000 tons of debris that covered the archaeological layers using low-level explosives.

[11] Another excavation was carried out by Jacques Tixier and Roger de Bayle des Hermens in 1967 and 1969, during which 22 layers were identified in the cave in search of more hominin fossils.

Dating carried out by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig revealed that the Jebel Irhoud site was far older than first thought.

Fresh excavations carried out in 2004 by the Hublin team revealed more than 20 new bones from the remains of at least five people, and a number of stone tools.

The finds included part of a skull, a jawbone, teeth, and limb bones that had come from three adults, a juvenile, and a child aged about seven-and-a-half years old.

Researchers used thermoluminescence dating to ascertain when the burning of these stone tools occurred and, by proxy, the age of the fossil bones that were found in the same deposit layer.

"[19] Early humans may have comprised a large, interbreeding population dispersed across Africa approximately 330,000 to 300,000 years ago.

[22] Since then, they have also been suggested as being an early form of H. sapiens that interbred with Neanderthals, or they represented a different late-surviving archaic population in Africa.

[22] Recent research disputes these claims, concluding that the Jebel Irhoud hominin remains represent an early form of the H. sapiens clade, present during the Middle Pleistocene.

[6][23][16] Hublin and colleagues recently discovered Irhoud 10 and 11, both of which were identified as adults and were integral in determining the species classification of the hominin remains.

Genomic analysis would have provided necessary evidence supporting the conclusion that these fossils are representative of the main lineage leading up to modern humanity and that Homo sapiens had dispersed and developed all across Africa.

[25] The most important anatomical considerations when classifying the Jebel Irhoud remains are these specimens' facial/cranial, dental, and mandibular morphologies.

The finds included part of a skull, a jawbone, teeth, and limb bones that had come from three adults, a juvenile, and a child aged about seven-and-a-half years old.

[26] The facial characteristics of the skull resemble modern H. sapiens but had much larger lower jaws and more elongated posterior braincases.

[22] When comparing the Jebel Irhoud fossils with those of modern humans, the main difference is the elongated shape of the braincase.

[30] The dental morphology of the Jebel Irhoud individuals also aligns more closely to early modern humans than to archaic hominins.

Despite this, it was noted that the Jebel Irhoud specimen, whose cranium was complete enough to assess, showed "hints of 'modern' basicranial flexion in the relationship of the face and vault," and the teeth of another Jebel Irhoud specimen were subjected to synchrotron analysis that suggested "a modern developmental pattern.

[35][34] The faunal assemblage from Jebel Irhoud includes numerous rodents, golden jackal, gazelle (outnumbers all other bovids), Alcelaphine species, leopards, lions, small cats, hyena, and wild boar.

[35] Also among the faunal assemblages are ostrich egg shells, although more work is needed before assuming that this results from anthropogenic accumulation.

[35] The rodent assemblage was likely accumulated by a carnivore (such as an owl), indicating a Late Middle Pleistocene date for the site.

[15][39] Proposals to increase tourism to the site have been made, believing that it will enhance the living conditions and socio-economic opportunities for nearby populations.

[15] Challenges It has been acknowledged that continued work on on-site safety, posters, brochures, trail marking, and the geopark's role as an educational and tourist attraction can be improved.