2-Apr-2025
First #ancientGenomes from the #GreenSahara deciphered
A new study reveals a long-isolated North African human lineage in the Central #Sahara during the African humid period more than 7,000 years ago
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1078547 #science #genome #humans #archaeology #NorthAfrica
EurekAlert!First ancient genomes from the Green Sahara decipheredAn international team led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, has sequenced the first ancient genomes from the so-called Green Sahara, a period when the largest desert in the world temporarily turned into a humid savanna-like environment. By analyzing the DNA of two 7,000-year-old naturally mummified individuals excavated in the Takarkori rock shelter in southwestern Libya by the Archaeological Mission in the Sahara, Sapienza University of Rome, the team showed that they belonged to a long-isolated and now extinct North African human lineage. This group of cattle pastoralists has only a minor genetic component of non-African ancestry, suggesting that animal husbandry may have spread into the Green Sahara through cultural exchange rather than large-scale migrations. Moreover, the ancient genomes do not carry sub-Saharan African ancestry, suggesting that, contrary to previous interpretations, the Green Sahara was not a corridor connecting Northern and sub-Saharan Africa.
North Africa is becoming Europe’s energy & security lifeline.
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