Introduction
Morocco's pre-Saharan regions are desert zones where human implantation is tied to water management around the wadis. Water management is key to the development of oases and has yielded a specific type of sedentary settlement, whether Ksour[1] or ighrm[2], igoudar[3], they are local communities wherein the religious influence is patent. Oasis life abides by an unusual associative model combining individual ownership of the land with farming constraints demanding community practices such as watching over the site and defending it from enemy aggressions (from a neighbouring oasis clan, or more frequently from nomads), the management of canals for water distribution. Because of its isolation from Northern Africa and its situation as a gateway to Sub-Saharan Africa, this region was perceived as a zone of political, economic and religious conflicts but also as a safe haven notably for diverse trends in Judaism and Islam. Pre-Saharan Morocco harbours numerous geological vestiges that testify to the density of occupation and the age-old human presence in these valleys.
