On the origins of the Saharans and the early history of North Africa: a puzzle solved by archaeology in southern Libya

What’s more, the analysis struggled to connect these early Saharans to any other ancient group. This was not right for us. How is it that this lineage has not spread either to the east or the west or to the south?” says Salem.

“The prehistory of North Africa is a big puzzle, and we only have a few pieces available,” says Rosa Fregel, a geneticist at the University of La Laguna in San Cristobal, Spain, who was not involved in the research. She says the work is a significant contribution to the palaeogenomics of North Africa.

One such site is the Takarkori rock shelter in southwestern Libya. Between 2003 and 2007, archaeologists uncovered 15 people who were buried between 4,800 years ago and 8900 years ago. Two of the corpses were from women who lived between 7,000 and 6,000 years ago.

That’s why it’s important to explore sites that are protected from the elements, says Nada Salem, an archaeologist at the Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

Ancient DNA in the Sahara Desert and its Low Temperature Biological Habitats, a Natural Test for Embedded Evolutionary Processes

The Sahara Desert has not always been the arid, inhospitable landscape we know today. Between 14,500 and 5000 years ago, the area was transformed from a wasteland to a lush savannah due to a wet interval called the African Humid Period. People lived in this green landscape for thousands of years before it was wiped out by the sand.

Ancient genomes from North Africa are hard to come by. Almost all palaeogenetic work is concentrated in Europe and Asia. Ancient DNA is especially rare in the Sahara, where high temperatures and strong ultraviolet light quickly degrade genetic material in remains.