Researchers found two naturally preserved bodies of female herders whose DNA tells an unexpected story at the Takarkori rock shelter in southwestern Libya.

These women lived during the “African Humid Period” (14,800-5,500 years ago), when the Sahara wasn’t the barren wasteland we know today but a verdant savannah with lakes, rivers, and abundant wildlife. Picture hippos swimming where there are now only dunes.

The truly revolutionary aspect of this discovery comes from the DNA analysis led by archaeogeneticist Nada Salem from the Max Planck Institute. These individuals weren’t genetically sub-Saharan as scientists had assumed. Instead, they represent a previously unknown North African genetic lineage that diverged from sub-Saharan populations when humans left Africa, a revelation that challenges our preconceived notions.

This discovery essentially adds a missing branch to our human family tree – an isolated population of ancient North Africans who remained largely separate from other groups throughout their existence.

The findings fundamentally challenge what we thought we knew about human migration and cultural exchange in prehistoric North Africa. Even during its “green” period, the Sahara remained a significant barrier to human movement, raising fascinating questions about who these people were and what happened to their genetic legacy.

Back When the Sahara Was Lush and Green

This “Green Sahara” featured diverse ecosystems ranging from lakes and wetlands to woodlands, grasslands, and savannas. Early human populations flocked to the area, establishing settlements to take advantage of favorable conditions for herding and farming. Archaeological evidence shows numerous communities thriving where today only sand stretches for miles.

The climate transformation occurred due to Earth’s orbital changes that shifted rainfall patterns, bringing monsoon rains deep into what is now a desert. Sediment cores from ancient lake beds, pollen samples, and rock art depicting swimming figures and abundant wildlife all confirm this dramatic environmental difference.

Studying human remains from this period has been exceptionally challenging. DNA typically degrades quickly in hot, arid environments, which is why so much about ancient Saharan populations has remained mysterious until now. Despite these preservation challenges, the naturally mummified remains from Takarkori offered a rare opportunity to extract viable genetic material.

The Takarkori rock shelter in the Tadrart Acacus Mountains provides an extraordinary archaeological window into this period. Its protected location allowed for the preservation of human remains and material culture that tells how people adapted to this once-verdant landscape before it slowly transformed into the desert we know today.

The Enigmatic People of Takarkori

The two women whose remains were found at Takarkori weren’t just any early inhabitants. They were part of a Pastoral Neolithic community – early herders who lived during what archaeologists call the “Middle Pastoral Period” around 7,000 years ago.

These weren’t Egyptian-style wrapped mummies, but naturally preserved bodies protected by the rock shelter’s unique conditions. The women were buried alongside 13 other individuals, most of whom were women of reproductive age, children, and juveniles. Interestingly, strontium isotope analysis of their remains indicated they were local to the area, not migrants from elsewhere.

Life at Takarkori followed seasonal patterns. The archaeological evidence shows these people were pastoralists who managed early domesticated livestock, likely moving between different areas according to the seasons. They produced pottery and sophisticated tools from bone, wood, and stone. The Takarkori community existed during transition, when humans shifted from hunter-gatherer lifestyles to more settled pastoral economies.

The rock shelter contains an extraordinary wealth of preserved artifacts, including baskets, cordage, leather goods, and ancient plant remains. These items portray a resourceful community that adapted to its environment through innovation and tradition.

Ancient DNA Reveals a Big Twist

Getting DNA from 7,000-year-old remains in the Sahara is like trying to reconstruct a book that’s been left out in the sun for centuries – nearly impossible. The hot, arid conditions typically destroy genetic material, which is why this discovery is so groundbreaking.

Salem’s team had to use cutting-edge techniques to extract and analyze the fragmented DNA from these ancient women. They employed specialized DNA capture methods targeting over a million genetic markers, allowing them to piece together enough of the genetic puzzle to make meaningful comparisons.

What they found completely upended expectations. The Takarkori individuals shared the most genetic similarity with 15,000-year-old foragers from Taforalt Cave in Morocco—people who lived in Northwestern Africa long before the Green Sahara period. This genetic similarity suggests a continuity of the North African genetic lineage over a long period of time, challenging the previous assumption of a more recent migration into North Africa. Both groups were equally distantly related to sub-Saharan populations, suggesting they belonged to a distinct North African genetic lineage.

Even more surprising, these ancient Saharan herders had a small amount of Neanderthal DNA – about ten times less than found in people from the Levant, but significantly more than in contemporary sub-Saharan genomes. This genetic signature suggests they were part of a population that branched off from other African lineages around the same time as the ancestors of non-African humans, but remained in North Africa.

The genetic picture emerged from a population that had evolved mainly in isolation, with only minimal mixing with farmers from the Levant. 

Why This Discovery Is a Big Deal

This peek into the past isn’t just an incredible story about old bones. It changes how we think about the early history of humans in North Africa and beyond. For a long time, scientists figured that the people living in North Africa had a genetic makeup that was mainly a mix of those from the Near East and those from sub-Saharan Africa. But these Takarkori folks throw a wrench in that idea.

Their DNA tells a completely different story—a separate group of people who branched off from other African populations way back when some humans first left the continent. This means our family tree might have another big branch we didn’t know about! It suggests that the Sahara, even when greener, acted as a major divider, keeping this group pretty isolated for thousands of years.

This finding also makes us rethink how new ideas spread in ancient times. Things like herding animals could have moved from one group to another without large numbers of people migrating. That’s a big deal for understanding how cultures developed and changed.

Our Old Ideas About History Just Got Shaken Up

The Takarkori discovery doesn’t just add a footnote to human history – it rewrites entire chapters. For years, scientists believed the 15,000-year-old remains from Taforalt Cave in Morocco represented a mixture of Levantine and sub-Saharan African ancestry. However, with the Takarkori DNA as a reference point, researchers now realize that what they saw wasn’t sub-Saharan.

Instead, this “African” component in ancient North Africans comes from the previously unknown lineage to which the Takarkori people belonged. The most fascinating aspect is the timing. This North African lineage diverged from sub-Saharan populations around the same time as non-African ancestors left the continent. It’s as if human populations split three ways instead of two—some groups stayed in sub-Saharan Africa, some left Africa entirely, and this third group moved north but remained on the continent. This challenges the previous assumption that the ‘African’ component in North African populations was a result of recent gene flow from sub-Saharan Africa.

Their tiny amount of Neanderthal DNA also tells an important story. It suggests minimal contact with populations outside Africa with more Neanderthal ancestry, reinforcing the picture of a remarkably isolated people who developed their own distinct genetic identity over thousands of years.

How Ideas Spread Without People Moving Around Much

Perhaps the most surprising revelation is how pastoralism – the herding lifestyle – spread through North Africa. The traditional view was that new farming and herding practices arrived with migrating populations who brought their culture and genes. The Takarkori evidence flips this narrative.

Despite adopting livestock herding, these women’s DNA shows minimal mixing with people from the Levant, where animal domestication began. This suggests that ideas and practices traveled more freely than people did. Communities across the Green Sahara learned from their neighbors without necessarily intermarrying with them.

This pattern of “cultural diffusion” rather than “demic diffusion” (population movement) offers a fascinating glimpse into prehistoric social dynamics. The Takarkori people weren’t passive recipients of outside innovations – they selectively adopted new technologies and adapted them to their way of life while maintaining their genetic distinctiveness.

Archaeological evidence supports this interpretation. The material culture at Takarkori shows continuity with earlier periods and selective adoption of new elements, which is precisely what you’d expect from cultural exchange rather than population replacement.

Even a Green Sahara Didn’t Mean Easy Travel

Even with lakes, rivers, and savannah landscapes making the region more hospitable, genetic evidence shows the Sahara continued to limit substantial population movement. The study found that Takarkori individuals were equally distant genetically from sub-Saharan populations as the much older Taforalt remains from Morocco, indicating minimal gene flow across the Green Sahara for thousands of years.

What maintained this separation? The researchers suggest that despite being “green,” the Sahara contained diverse ecological zones – from wetlands to woodlands to mountains – creating natural barriers between populations. Cultural and social factors likely reinforced these geographical boundaries, with different groups developing distinct identities and traditions that discouraged extensive mixing.

This persistent genetic boundary challenges our assumptions about how environments shape human migration and interaction. Even when climate conditions improve, human populations don’t automatically merge and mix – cultural, social, and ecological factors continue to shape how people move and mingle.

What Other Secrets Could the Desert Hold?

The discovery at Takarkori opens up exciting possibilities for future research. If one rock shelter in the Libyan desert contained such groundbreaking genetic information, what else might be waiting to be found across the vast Sahara?

The implications extend beyond archaeology. Understanding how ancient populations responded to dramatic climate changes in the Sahara, shifting from lush savannah to desert, could provide insights that are relevant to modern climate challenges. These ancient herders adapted successfully to changing environmental conditions for centuries before the region became too arid to support their way of life.

Perhaps most intriguingly, this research raises questions about modern genetic connections. While the specific lineage found in the Takarkori individuals appears to have been largely replaced over time, traces of this ancestry might still exist in modern populations across North Africa and the Sahel region. Some genetically distinct groups, such as the Fulani herders of the Sahel, exhibit hints of ancestry similar to those of these ancient North Africans, suggesting a complex legacy that continues to shape human diversity today. The sands of the Sahara have preserved many secrets for thousands of years.