Ancient DNA reveals lost human tribe that lived in Green Sahara

Previously Unknown Ancient Human Lineage Discovered in Libyan Rock Shelter

Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa roughly 50,000 years ago, but scientists have now discovered that some chose to remain—revealing a previously unknown lineage that stayed isolated for millennia. While North Africa’s Sahara Desert is an arid expanse today, the region was once a verdant landscape crossed by rivers 15,000 to 5,000 years ago. Genetic researchers are now analyzing skeletons recovered from the Takarkori rock shelter in present-day …

After a series of researches focused on learning about the former Sahara desert region, a team of German archaeologists from the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig managed to complete a sequence of genomes and concluded that the DNA of two African mummies of 7000 years ago belongs to a new human lineage, unknown so far. Between 14,500 and 5000 years ago, the Sahara was a humid region, with a leafy forest full of wildlif…

In 2003, unexpected news spread around the world. On the island of Flores in Indonesia, the remains of a previously unknown human species had been found that appeared to be much smaller than any previously known. The average height of this species was estimated to have been about one meter. And the most remarkable thing was that this small human species turned out to have existed at the same time as...

The genomes of two women who lived in the verdant savannas of what is now the Sahara about 7,000 years ago suggest that the population there lived in extraordinary isolation from the rest of the world.

DNA From 7,000-Year-Old Mummies Reveals Lost Society From Sahara

Two ancient mummies reveal a mysterious, isolated lineage in North Africa.

Ancient DNA Reveals Human Lineage of Green Sahara Dwellers - Archaeology Magazine

Takarkori rock shelter, Libya TAKARKORI, LIBYA—According to a statement released by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, for the first time, scientists have deciphered the genomes of two individuals who lived during the so-called “green Sahara” or African Humid Period. This was an epoch between 14,500 and 5,000 years ago when the Sahara Desert was transformed into a lush green savanna with rivers and lakes. It was also home to…