Traces of mysterious people discovered in the Sahara desert

The sandy Sahara Desert was once dotted with lakes and rivers, during a period known as the Humid Period in Africa - Photo: Sapienza University of Rome

The Sahara Desert is one of the driest and most desolate places on Earth, stretching across a swath of North Africa through 11 countries and covering an area roughly the size of China or the United States. But a new study published in the journal Nature suggests it wasn't always so harsh.

There is a Green Sahara

Between about 14,500 and 5,000 years ago, the region was a lush, green steppe, rich in water and teeming with life, according to research. And according to DNA recovered from the remains of two people who lived about 7,000 years ago in what is now Libya, it was home to a mysterious lineage of people who lived in isolation from the outside world.

Researchers have analyzed the first genomes of people who lived in what has become known as the “Green Sahara.” They took DNA from the bones of two women buried in a rock shelter called Takarkori in remote southwest Libya. The women were naturally mummified, representing the oldest known mummified human remains.

"At that time, Takarkori was a lush steppe with a nearby lake, unlike the arid desert landscape of today," said archaeologist Johannes Krause of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Germany), one of the study's authors.

The genomes show that the two Takarkori people are part of a separate and previously unidentified human lineage that lived separately from sub-Saharan and Eurasian populations for thousands of years.

“Interestingly, the Takarkori show no significant genetic influence from sub-Saharan populations to the south or the Near East and prehistoric European groups to the north,” said Krause. “This suggests that they remained genetically isolated despite practicing animal husbandry – a cultural innovation that originated outside of Africa.”

Archaeological evidence indicates that these people were herders of domesticated livestock. Artifacts found at the site include tools made of stone, wood and animal bones, pottery, woven baskets and carved figurines.

Mysterious isolated people

A 7,000-year-old natural mummy found in a cave in southern Libya still contains DNA - Photo: Sapienza University of Rome

The ancestors of the two Takarkori people were found to have originated from a North African lineage that split from sub-Saharan populations about 50,000 years ago. That coincided with the time when other human lineages spread out across the continent and into the Middle East, Europe and Asia – becoming the ancestors of all people outside Africa.

"The Takarkori lineage may represent remnants of genetic diversity present in North Africa between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago," said Krause.

"From 20,000 years ago onwards, genetic evidence suggests an influx of groups from the Eastern Mediterranean, followed by migrations from Iberia and Sicily around 8,000 years ago. However, for reasons that remain unknown, the Takarkori lineage remained isolated for much longer than expected. Since the Sahara was only habitable around 15,000 years ago, their original homeland remains uncertain," he added.

Their lineage remained isolated for much of its existence before the Sahara once again became uninhabitable. At the end of a warmer, wetter climate known as the African Humid Period, the Sahara Desert transformed into the world's largest hot desert around 3,000 BC.

Members of our species Homo sapiens who spread out of Africa met and interbred with Neanderthal populations present in parts of Eurasia, leaving a lasting genetic legacy in non-African populations today. But the people of the Green Sahara carried only small amounts of Neanderthal DNA, illustrating that they had very little contact with outside populations.

Although the Takarkori population itself disappeared around 5,000 years ago as the African Humid Period ended and the desert returned, traces of their ancestors persist in many North African groups today, according to Krause.

“Their genetic legacy offers a new perspective on the deep history of this area,” he said.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/phat-hien-dau-vet-toc-nguoi-bi-an-o-sa-mac-sahara-20250406071654501.htm