At Bir El-Ater is the archaeological site which gave its name to the Aterian , industrial facies of North Africa which corresponds more or less to the end of the Middle Paleolithic and early Upper Paleolithic (40 000 30 000 years BP, even up to 20 000 years BP Sahara ).
Former wealth of this area is evidenced by numerous wells and some Roman villas Roman . These remains are listed on maps of Staff. Wells are dry today. A few kilometers north of Bir el-Ater are the ruins of a large Roman oil mill, stored on two floors
