Unknown human lineage lived in 'Green Sahara' 7,000 years ago, ancient DNA reveals

Live Science ^ | April 04, 2025 | Skyler Ware

[Red Badger]

Researchers analyzed the ancient DNA of two mummies from what is now Libya to learn about people who lived in the "Green Sahara" 7,000 years ago.

Naturally mummified human remains found in the Takarkori rock shelter in the Sahara desert point to a previously unknown human population. (Image credit: © Archaeological Mission in the Sahara, Sapienza University of Rome) Two 7,000-year-old mummies belong to a previously unknown human lineage that remained isolated in North Africa for thousands of years, a new study finds.

The mummies are the remains of women who once lived in the "Green Sahara," also known as the African Humid Period. Between 14,500 and 5,000 years ago, the now-inhospitable Sahara was a humid and verdant savanna, home to humans who hunted and eventually herded animals alongside lakes and rivers.

DNA from the two mummies revealed that the never-before-seen North African lineage was distinct and isolated from populations living in sub-Saharan Africa around the same time. The findings, reported April 2 in the journal Nature, suggest there was little genetic exchange across the Green Sahara during this time, though some cultural practices may have spread through the region.

Between 2003 and 2006, archaeologists unearthed the remains of 15 individuals in the Takarkori rock shelter, located near the middle of the Sahara in what is now southwestern Libya. The site included evidence of human occupation and pastoralism, or herding, dating back more than 8,000 years. Of the 15 individuals, most of whom were women and children, two had naturally mummified, which helped preserve their DNA.

[Red Badger]

PinGGG!.........................

[wizardoz]

Betcha that’s where the modern day Basque came from.

[b4me]

It’s all a guess.

[monkeyshine]

Then they discovered fire and caused the green to turn to desert with carbon emissions.

[mgstarr]

[Carry_Okie]

“Abel.” And I’m not just speculating.

[Stonewall1]

Richat structure as possible site of Atlantis in Western Sahara . https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r9Gj_6dmNcM

[Sirius Lee]

"Look at me, Ma! I'm king of the world!"

[Adder]

Lesbians...

[Psalm 73]

"Betcha that’s where the modern day Basque came from."

Interesting thought, seeing they have no idea where the Basque came from and the western Med would have been fairly easy to navigate even 7K years ago.

[desertsolitaire]

Who cares if someone is an actor actress these days?

[mn-bush-man]

You win today.

[SMARTY]

Those guys are totally unique...even their language is like no other

[Chickensoup]

You don’t think that the Basques DNA line hasn’t already been cataloged?

No known.

[SunkenCiv]

selections from the 'sahara' keyword:

• The Tassili n'Ajjer [Algeria] : birthplace of ancient Egypt ? [04/05/2008]
• Egypt's Earliest Agricultural Settlement Unearthed [02/15/2008]
• Ruins of 7,000-year-old city found in Egypt oasis [01/29/2008]
• Climate Key To Sphinx's Riddle [01/08/2007]
• Exodus From Drying Sahara Gave Rise to Pharaohs, Study Says [07/22/2006]
• Space Data Unveils Evidence of Ancient Mega-lake in Northern Darfur

[SunkenCiv]

selections from the 'sahara' keyword:

• Climate change in antiquity: mass emigration due to water scarcity [07/18/2022]
• Ancient rivers reveal multiple Sahara Desert greenings [01/29/2021]
• Ancient Africans used 'no fly zones' to bring herds south [03/12/2015]
• Violence and climate change in prehistoric Egypt and Sudan [07/21/2014]
• Fish Swam the Sahara, Bolstering Out of Africa Theory [12/29/2010]
• How Earth's orbital shift shaped the Sahara [12/21/2010]
• Strange Ancient Crocodiles Swam the Sahara [11/19/2009]
• Mini ice age took hold of Europe in months [11/13/2009]
• Stone Age humans crossed Sahara in the rain [11/12/2009]
• Giant stone-age axes found in African lake basin [09/12/2009]
• In Search Of The Lost Sahara [05/18/2008]
• Once Lush Sahara Dried Up Over Millennia, Study Says [05/08/2008]
• Sahara dried out slowly, not abruptly: study [05/08/2008]
• Sahara Desert Was Once Lush and Populated [07/20/2006]
• Ancient lakes of the Sahara [01/21/2006]
• Ancient drought 'changed history' [12/08/2005]
• Scientists Explore Lakefront Property, in the Sahara [02/01/2004]
• African Ice Core Analysis Reveals Catastrophic Droughts, Shrinking Ice Fields, Civilization Shifts [10/18/2002]

(Web Archive version of dead link)

Evolution in Your Face | Patrick Huyghe | Omni |

[snip] Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake, is home to more than 300 species of cichlids. These fish, which are popular in aquariums, are deep-bodied and have one nostril, rather than the usual two, on each side of the head. Seismic profiles and cores of the lake taken by a team headed by Thomas C. Johnson of the University of Minnesota, reveal that the lake dried up completely about 12,400 years ago. This means that the rate of speciation of cichlid fishes has been extremely rapid: something on average of one new species every 40 years! [/snip]

[SunkenCiv]

selections from the 'sahara' keyword:

• An encroaching desert threatens to swallow Mauritania's homes and history [02/21/2025]
• Sahara Expert Says Desert Shrinking, Calls Alarmist Tipping Points "Complete Nonsense" [11/13/2023]
• Massive dust cloud from Sahara Desert drifting 5,000 miles over Atlantic towards the US; Brings Scorching Temps, Poor Air Quality for 5 States [07/08/2023]
• Another global warming catastrophe: the Sahara Desert is actually getting greener [06/03/2015]
• Terrible News for Climate Catastrophists: the Sahara is Getting Greener [06/02/2015]

[SunkenCiv]

selections from the 'sahara' keyword:

• The African Source Of The Amazon's Fertilizer [11/18/2006]
• NASA video shows how dust from Sahara Desert fuels Amazon rain forest [02/28/2015]
• Detritus of life abounds in the atmosphere [03/31/2005]

  ---

• Massive Saharan Dust Plume Over Atlantic, Headed For US By Weekend [05/18/2022]
• Sahara Dust Cloud heads for Florida! [07/23/2005]
• Strongest sand storm ever captured on satellite over the Sahara [03/03/2004]

  ---

• Mysterious Earthen Rings Predate Amazon Rainforest [07/10/2014]

  ---

• Is the Amazon rainforest MAN-MADE? At least 8 MILLION humans may have lived and farmed the [tr] [07/24/2015]
• Is the Amazon rainforest MAN-MADE? At least 8 MILLION humans may have lived and farmed the basin [07/24/2015]
• Superdirt Made Lost Amazon Cities Possible [11/30/2008]
• Putting the carbon back: Black is the new green [08/17/2006]
• Amazon rainforest 'could become a desert' [07/24/2006]
• Another 'Stonehenge' discovered in Amazon [06/28/2006]
• 'Amazon Stonehenge' found in Brazil [05/13/2006]
• 'Brazilian Stonehenge' discovered [05/13/2006]
• Reproducing the Amazon's black soil could bolster fertility and remove carbon from atmosphere [02/18/2006]
• Amazonian find stuns researchers [09/20/2003]
• An origin of new world agriculture in coastal Ecuador (12,000 BP) [02/14/2003]
• Rainforest Researchers Hit Paydirt (Farming 11K Years Ago in South America) [08/30/2002]
• Human settlements far older than suspected discovered in South America. [04/21/2002]

[SunkenCiv]

selections from the 'sahara' keyword:

• Ancient Cave Discovery Reveals That 8,000 Years Ago, the Sahara Was Green [03/10/2025]
• Northwest African Neolithic initiated by migrants from Iberia and Levant [06/12/2023]
• A Carpet of Stone Tools in the Sahara [03/14/2015]
• Ancient bone fragments help describe diet, health of Saharan ancestors [04/01/2014]
• Graves Found From Sahara's Green Period [08/15/2008]
• Graves Found From Sahara's Green Period [09/15/2008]
• US scientists find stone age burial ground in Sahara [08/14/2008]
• Stone Age Cemetery, Artifacts Unearthed In Sahara [10/23/2005]
• Prehistoric Desert Town Found In Western Sahara (15,000 Years Old) [08/20/2004]