Stone Age Graveyard reveals Lifestyles of a ‘Green Sahara’: Two Successive Cultures Thrived Lakeside
“The largest Stone Age graveyard found in the Sahara, which provides an unparalleled record of life when the region was green, has been discovered in Niger by National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and University of Chicago Professor Paul Sereno, whose team first happened on the site during a dinosaur-hunting expedition. The remarkable archaeological site, dating back 10,000 years and called Gobero after the Tuareg name for the area, was brimming with skeletons of humans and animals – including large fish and crocodiles. Gobero is hidden away within Niger’s forbidding T’en’er’e Desert, known to Tuareg nomads as a “desert within a desert.” The T’en’er’e is the setting of some of Sereno’s key paleontological discoveries, including the 500-toothed, plant-eating dinosaur Nigersaurus that lived 110 million years ago, and the enormous extinct crocodilian Sarcosuchus, also known as SuperCroc.” ref
“The discovery of the lakeside graveyard – representing two successive human populations divided by more than 1,000 years – is reported in the September 2008 issue of National Geographic magazine and the Aug. 14 issue of the journal PLoS ONE. As they explored the site, the team tiptoed among dozens of fossilized human skeletons laid bare on the surface of an ancient dune field by the hot Saharan wind. Jawbones still clenched nearly full sets of teeth; a tiny hand reached up through the sand, its finger bones intact. On the surface lay harpoon points, potsherds, beads, and stone tools. The site was pristine, apparently never visited.” ref
“Everywhere you turned, there were bones belonging to animals that don’t live in the desert,” said Sereno. “I realized we were in the green Sahara.” Two seasons of excavation supported by the National Geographic Society eventually revealed some 200 graves clearly belonging to two successive lakeside populations. The older group, determined to be Kiffian, were hunters of wild game who left evidence that they also speared huge perch with harpoons when they colonized the green Sahara during its wettest period between 10,000 and 8,000 years ago. Their tall stature, sometimes reaching well over 6 feet, was not immediately apparent from their tightly bound burial positions.” ref
“The more recent population was the Tenerian, a more lightly built people who appeared to have had a diverse economy of hunting, fishing, and cattle herding. They lived during the latter part of the green Sahara, about 7,000 to 4,500 years ago. Their one-of-a-kind burials often included jewelry or ritual poses – a girl wearing an upper-arm bracelet carved from a hippo tusk, for example, and a stunning triple burial containing a woman and two children in a poignant embrace. “At first glance, it’s hard to imagine two more biologically distinct groups of people burying their dead in the same place,” said team member Chris Stojanowski, a bioarchaeologist from Arizona State University. “The biggest mystery is how they seemed to have done this without disturbing a single grave.” ref
“Although the Sahara has long been the world’s largest desert, a faint wobble in Earth’s orbit and other factors occurring some 12,000 years ago caused Africa’s seasonal monsoons to shift slightly north, bringing new rains to the Sahara. From Egypt in the east to Mauritania in the west, lakes with lush margins dotted the formerly parched landscape, drawing animals, fish, and eventually people. Separating these two populations was an arid interval, perhaps as long as a millennium, that began about 8,000 years ago, when the lake disappeared and the site was abandoned. Dating the sun-bleached bones of fossil humans in the Sahara has proved very difficult. Using a new technique, the team has obtained nearly 80 radiocarbon dates from Gobero bones and teeth, including comprehensive dates based directly on human skeletons.” ref
“Archaeologist Elena Garcea of the University of Cassino in Italy helped identify the site’s poorly known cultures so well-preserved at the site. Garcea, an expert in ancient pottery who has spent nearly three decades digging at Stone Age sites in northern Africa, traveled with Sereno in 2005 to the site, where she stood amazed, gazing at far more human skeletons than she had seen in all her previous digs combined. She quickly homed in on two distinct types of pottery, one that bore a pointillistic pattern linked with the Tenerian and another that had wavy lines and zigzags. “These are Kiffian,” a puzzled Garcea told Sereno. “What is so amazing is that the people who made these two types of pots lived in the same place more than a thousand years apart.” ref
“Over the next three weeks, Sereno, Garcea, and their team of five American excavators made a detailed map of the site. They exhumed eight burials and collected scores of artifacts from both cultures. In a dry lake bed nearby, they found dozens of Kiffian fish hooks and harpoons carved from animal bone as well as skeletal remains of massive Nile perch, crocodile and hippo. A year later, a second round of excavation turned up more riddles: An adult Tenerian male was buried with his skull resting on part of a clay vessel; another adult male was interred seated on the shell of a mud turtle.” ref
“One burial, however, brought 2006 activity at the site to a standstill: Lying on her side, the skeleton of a petite Tenerian woman emerged from the sand, facing the skeletons of two young children; their slender arms reached toward her and their hands were clasped in an everlasting embrace. Samples taken from under the skeletons contained pollen clusters – evidence the people had been laid out on a bed of flowers. The team employed a range of new techniques to preserve this remarkable burial exactly as it had been for more than 5,000 years.” ref
“Bioarchaeologist Stojanowski analyzed dozens of individuals’ bones and teeth for clues to the two populations. “This individual, for example, had huge leg muscles,” he said of ridges on the thigh bone of a Kiffian male, “which suggests he was eating a lot of protein and had an active, strenuous lifestyle. The Kiffian appear to have been fairly healthy – it would be difficult to grow a body that tall and muscular without sufficient nutrition.” In contrast, the femur ridge of a Tenerian male was barely perceptible. “This man’s life was less rigorous, perhaps taking smaller fish and game with more advanced hunting technologies,” Stojanowski said.” ref
“Analysis of measurements on Kiffian skulls links them to skulls found across northern Africa, some as old as 16,000 years, Stojanowski said. The Tenerian, however, are not closely linked to these ancient populations. Ancient bones from many animals common today on the Serengeti were identified at the site by H’el`ene Jousse, a zooarchaeologist from the Museum of Natural History in Vienna, Austria. The evidence showed that elephants, giraffes, hartebeests, warthogs, and pythons all made Gobero their home. Abundant bones of 6-foot-long Nile perch indicate the presence of a deep lake during Kiffian times; remains of small catfish and tilapia make it likely that the waters were shallower during Tenerian times.” ref
The discovery of DNA – the oldest ever obtained from ancient African remains, has shed light on the continent’s prehistoric migration patterns and cultures.
“Archaeologists have long puzzled over the origins and spread of Later Stone Age culture in ancient Morocco. However, the international study published in Science, has revealed the genetic profiles of ancient Moroccan remains and in doing so, details of their ancestry. The findings suggest that the bones have substantial Near Eastern and sub-Saharan African-related ancestries (63.5% and 36.5%, respectively). As the oldest human DNA evidence discovered in Africa, to date, the findings provide genomic evidence of contacts between North Africa and the Near East, as well as areas south of the Sahara, suggesting that more people were migrating in and out of North Africa 15,000 years ago, than previously believed.” ref
“Long-term excavations at the site, associated with the Later Stone Age (LSA) Ibermomaurusian culture, have been co-directed by one of the co-authors of the paper, Professor Nick Barton of Oxford’s School of Archaeology. The project was, therefore, also intended to investigate the origins of the LSA in North Africa and the ancient Moroccan people. Also known as the Iberomaurusians, the research findings suggest that the inhabitants of Taforalt Cave mainly shared their ancestry with early peoples living in the northeast Africa (Libya and Egypt). They also imply that a connection existed with the Near East (Natufian) peoples 15,000 years ago – long before previously thought.” ref
“However, in the absence of more ancient genomic data from Africa, it is not yet possible to predict where the core area of LSA expansion lay. Surprisingly, some of the oldest archaeologically dated LSA finds occur in Morocco and Algeria, and not as might be predicted by the genetics in areas further to the south or east. Professor Nick Barton said: ‘The results of this study are intriguing and call for a re-think of ideas. The genetics are telling us one thing, but the archaeological dating is telling us another’. Of this apparent evidence gap he added: ‘Clearly the only way this can be resolved is by finding further genomic data from human remains in each of these potential source areas’.” ref
The earliest direct evidence of plant processing in prehistoric Saharan pottery
“Abstract: The invention of thermally resistant ceramic cooking vessels around 15,000 years ago was a major advance in human diet and nutrition, opening up new food groups and preparation techniques. Previous investigations of lipid biomarkers contained in food residues have routinely demonstrated the importance of prehistoric cooking pots for the processing of animal products across the world. Remarkably, however, direct evidence for plant processing in prehistoric pottery has not been forthcoming, despite the potential to cook otherwise unpalatable or even toxic plants. In North Africa, archaeobotanical evidence of charred and desiccated plant organs denotes that Early Holocene hunter-gatherers routinely exploited a wide range of plant resources. Here, we reveal the earliest direct evidence for plant processing in pottery globally, from the sites of Takarkori and Uan Afuda in the Libyan Sahara, dated to 8,200–6,400 BCE or around 10,200 to 8,400 years ago. Characteristic carbon number distributions and δ13C values for plant wax-derived n-alkanes and alkanoic acids indicate sustained and systematic processing of C3/C4 grasses and aquatic plants, gathered from the savannahs and lakes in the Early to Middle Holocene green Sahara.” ref
Africa’s Earliest ‘Farmers’ Grew Cereals in The Lush Sahara 10,000 Years Ago
“Before the Sahara became the arid and inhospitable desert it is today, humans thrived there – even cultivating and storing wild grains, according to new research. This discovery marks the earliest evidence of the farming of cereal seeds in Africa. Some 10,000 years ago, during the early Holocene, the Sahara desert looked very different. Up until around 5,000 years ago, the region was thought to be lush and fertile, covered with vegetation and lakes. This was known as the African Humid Period. During this time, a place now known as the Takarkori rock shelter was frequented by human hunter-gatherers. Sediments and fibre artefacts such as baskets and rock art point to a long history of a human presence. “It was in this region that researchers from the University of Huddersfield and the University of Modena & Reggio Emilia found over 200,000 cereal seeds in small, circular concentrations, indicating that those Takarkori hunter-gatherers practiced an early form of agriculture – cultivating and storing crops. Moreover, these were wild plants, more akin to plants that we would today consider weeds than domesticated crops. These plants flourish in human environments due to their preference for disturbed soils, and they’re highly adaptable and aggressive, making them effective invaders in agricultural (and garden) settings. “These traits, according to the researchers, would have been much more desirable to the hunter-gatherers, at least partially because they could adapt to survive in changing environmental conditions. “We present the first evidence that non-agricultural societies selected plants for traits that overlap a considerable degree with traits that are characteristic of plants now considered as weeds,” the researchers wrote in their paper. 30 seed deposits at the site, consisting mainly of wild cereals, a strong indication that the seeds were used for food. The seeds mainly consisted of various kinds of grass, and showed evidence of threshing and winnowing, as well as being used for feeding and bedding animals. “The seeds were mostly of a kind that have strong seed dormancy – that is, they don’t germinate until the following season – making them suitable for storage purposes. This is in direct contrast to domesticated crops, many of which have greatly reduced seed dormancy. Some of the seeds showed morphological differences to the more usual seed shapes. This, the researchers suggest, shows that the plants were being cultivated, the changes forced by human selection without causing domestication, as has been seen in China and Syria. As well as being fascinating and filling in some of Africa’s rich history, the research could help humanity’s future survival efforts. Weedy traits in edible plants could prove to be indispensable in a world that seems to be irrevocably changing.” ref
The peopling of the last Green Sahara revealed by high-coverage resequencing of trans-Saharan patrilineages
“Abstract: In order to investigate the role of the last Green Sahara in the peopling of Africa, we deep-sequence the whole non-repetitive portion of the Y chromosome in 104 males selected as representative of haplogroups which are currently found to the north and to the south of the Sahara. We identify 5,966 mutations, from which we extract 142 informative markers then genotyped in about 8,000 subjects from 145 African, Eurasian and African American populations. We find that the coalescence age of the trans-Saharan haplogroups dates back to the last Green Sahara, while most northern African or sub-Saharan clades expanded locally in the subsequent arid phase. Our findings suggest that the Green Sahara promoted human movements and demographic expansions, possibly linked to the adoption of pastoralism. Comparing our results with previously reported genome-wide data, we also find evidence for a sex-biased sub-Saharan contribution to northern Africans, suggesting that historical events such as the trans-Saharan slave trade mainly contributed to the mtDNA and autosomal gene pool, whereas the northern African paternal gene pool was mainly shaped by more ancient events.” ref
“The Sahara desert is the widest hot desert on Earth and covers about one-third of the African continent, from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea. Over the past millennia, the Sahara underwent strong climatic fluctuations, alternating arid and humid phases. During the humid periods, referred to as the “Green Sahara” or “African humid periods,” the landscape was characterized by the presence of savannah, forests, and an extensive system of rivers and lakes. A large amount of paleoecological and paleoanthropological evidence indicates that the fertile environment probably enabled the occupation of the Saharan area by fauna and hominins since the Miocene.” ref
“The most recent Green Sahara period occurred in the Holocene, in a time frame from about 12,000 years ago (kya) to about 5,000 years ago. This phase has been denominated the “Holocene climatic optimum” and is the most well-documented past climatic change. Human settlement across the Sahara in this period is testified by archaeological evidence, such as rock engravings, lithic and bone tools and pottery. After the African humid period, the climatic conditions became rapidly hyper-arid and the Green Sahara was replaced by the desert, which acted as a strong geographic barrier against human movements between northern and sub-Saharan Africa.” ref
“A consequence of this is that there is a strong differentiation in the Y chromosome haplogroup composition between the northern and sub-Saharan regions of the African continent. In the northern area, the predominant Y lineages are J-M267 and E-M81, with the former being linked to the Neolithic expansion in the Near East and the latter reaching frequencies as high as 80 % in some north-western populations as a consequence of a very recent local demographic expansion. On the contrary, sub-Saharan Africa is characterised by a completely different genetic landscape, with lineages within E-M2 and haplogroup B comprising most of the Y chromosomes. In most regions of sub-Saharan Africa, the observed haplogroup distribution has been linked to the recent (~ 3,000 years ago) demic diffusion of Bantu agriculturalists, which brought E-M2 sub-clades from central Africa to the East and to the South. On the contrary, the sub-Saharan distribution of B-M150 seems to have more ancient origins, since its internal lineages are present in both Bantu farmers and non-Bantu hunter-gatherers and coalesce long before the Bantu expansion.” ref
“In spite of their genetic differentiation, however, northern and sub-Saharan Africa share at least four patrilineages at different frequencies, namely A3-M13, E-M2, E-M78 and R-V88. A3-M13 is typical of eastern Africa, where it is found with a frequency as high as 40 % and is prevalent in the Nilo-Saharan populations, in particular among Nilotic pastoralists. A3-M13 chromosomes have also been observed in central and northern Africa, at frequencies ranging from 1 to 7 %. Outside Africa, this haplogroup has been found at very low frequency in both the Middle East and Sardinia. As described above, E-M2 is a sub-Saharan clade which has been often associated with the Bantu expansion. However, E-M2 chromosomes have also been found at low frequencies (2–10 %) in northern Africa.” ref
“E-M78 is a widespread lineage, with significant frequencies in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Within the African continent, three E-M78 sub-clades (E-V22, E-V12, and E-V264) show different frequencies in different regions. E-V22 is mainly an eastern African sub-haplogroup, with frequencies of more than 80 % in the Saho population from Eritrea, but it has also been reported in Egypt and Morocco. E-V12 is relatively frequent in northern and eastern Africa, but it has also been reported outside Africa at lower frequencies. The vast majority of the eastern African E-V12 chromosomes belong to the internal clade E-V32, which has also been observed in northern and central Africa at very low frequencies. E-V264 is subdivided into two sub-clades: E-V65, common in northern Africa; and E-V259, which includes few central African chromosomes.” ref
“R-V88 has been observed at high frequencies in the central Sahel (northern Cameroon, northern Nigeria, Chad, and Niger), and it has also been reported at low frequencies in northwestern Africa [37]. Outside the African continent, two rare R-V88 sub-lineages (R-M18 and R-V35) have been observed in the Near East and southern Europe (particularly in Sardinia). Because of its ethno-geographic distribution in the central Sahel, R-V88 has been linked to the spread of the Chadic branch of the Afroasiatic linguistic family.” ref
“From a genetic point of view, the use of variability in the present-day male-specific portion of the human Y chromosome (MSY) to infer past population dynamics across the Sahara is complicated by two major factors: 1) the onset of the hyper-arid conditions caused the depopulation of the Sahara; 2) the regions immediately northward and southward of the Sahara have experienced extensive demographic expansions after the African humid period, which have led to the increase in frequency of different Y haplogroups, partially concealing the pre-existing genetic composition. In this context, rare Y lineages with a relic geographic distribution can be highly informative regarding human migrations across the Sahara. Thus, considering their frequency distribution, the four trans-Saharan lineages A3-M13, E-M2, E-M78, and R-V88 could represent the remains of the Saharan MSY genetic landscape before the desertification, contrary to the usual interpretation involving recent gene flow events such as the trans-Saharan Arab slave trade.” ref
“In order to investigate the role of the last Green Sahara in the peopling of Africa, we performed targeted next generation sequencing (NGS) of ~ 3,300 years ago Mb of 104 Y chromosomes mostly belonging to these four lineages. We also analyzed the geographic distribution of 142 informative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by genotyping about 8000 male subjects from 145 worldwide populations (including 17 populations from literature), with a particular focus on the African ethnic groups. Our findings were consistent with the hypothesis that the Green Sahara allowed extensive human movements, excluding recent historical events, such as the Arab slave trade, as a major determinant of the male gene pool of present-day northern African populations. A3-M13 phylogeny is characterized by a first bifurcation separating branches 19 and 37 about 10.75 kya. Interestingly, branch 19 has a widespread distribution, harboring lineages from within and outside the African continent, and is dated to 10.24 kya, suggesting a role of the humid period in the diffusion of this clade. On the contrary, branch 37 only includes samples from the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia) and is dated to 8,430 years ago.” ref
“The topology of E-M2 is characterised by a main multifurcation (downstream to branch 71), dating back to the beginning of the last Green Sahara (10.53 kya) and including all the deep-sequenced samples except one (branch 70), consistent with the tree reported in phase 3 of the 1000 Genomes Project. However, we found 11 subclades (branches 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 79, 81, 82, 95, 98, and 99) that share no markers with the 262 E-M2 chromosomes analyzed by Poznik and colleagues [51]. It is worth noting that branches 72 and 81 are two deep sister lineages within the E-M2 main multifurcation (Fig. 2) and both of them include chromosomes from northern Africa. Similarly, the other terminal lineages absent in the 1000 Genomes Project’s tree are mainly represented by samples from northern Africa or, to a lesser extent, from the northernmost regions of sub-Saharan Africa (i.e. the central Sahel) (Fig. 2b).” ref
“The phylogenetic structure of E-M78 has been resolved in a recent study; however, we obtained further information about the relationships within the E-V12 sub-clade. The former E-V12* chromosomes form a monophyletic cluster (branch 125), dated to 8.98 kya and sister to E-V32 (branch 131), which in turn is further subdivided into three sister clades (branches 132, 138, and 143). While branches 132 and 138 have been found in eastern Africa, where E-V32 is more frequent, branch 143 only includes samples from the central Sahel. Finally, the R-V88 lineages date back to 7,850 years ago, and its main internal branch (branch 233) forms a “star-like” topology (“Star-like” index = 0.55), suggestive of a demographic expansion. More specifically, 18 out of the 21 sequenced chromosomes belong to branch 233, which includes eight sister clades, five of which are represented by a single subject.” ref
“The coalescence age of this sub-branch dates back to 5.73 kya, during the last Green Sahara period. Interestingly, the subjects included in the “star-like” structure come from northern Africa or the central Sahel, tracing a trans-Saharan axis. It is worth noting that even the three lineages outside the main multifurcation (branches 230, 231, and 232) are sister lineages without any nested sub-structure. The peculiar topology of the R-V88 sequenced samples suggests that the diffusion of this haplogroup was quite rapid and possibly triggered by the favorable Saharan climate. In general, our NGS results and time estimates show that the large majority of the lineages shared by northern Africans and sub-Saharan Africans coalesced during the last Green Sahara period. Conversely, after 5,000 years ago, we mainly found lineages restricted to either northern or sub-Saharan regions, with few exceptions.” ref
Circum-Saharan Prehistory through the Lens of mtDNA Diversity
“Abstract: African history has been significantly influenced by the Sahara, which has represented a barrier for migrations of all living beings, including humans. Major exceptions were the gene flow events that took place between North African and sub-Saharan populations during the so-called African Humid Periods, especially in the Early Holocene (11,500 to 5,500 years ago), and more recently in connection with trans-Saharan commercial routes. In this study, we describe the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity of human populations from both sides of the Sahara Desert, i.e., both from North Africa and the Sahel/Savannah belt. The final dataset of 7213 mtDNA sequences from 134 African populations encompasses 470 newly collected and 6743 previously published samples, which were analyzed using descriptive methods and Bayesian statistics. We completely sequenced 26 mtDNAs from sub-Saharan samples belonging to the Eurasian haplogroup N1. Analyses of these N1 mitogenomes revealed their possible routes to the Sahel, mostly via Bab el-Mandab. Our results indicate that maternal gene flow must have been important in this circum-Saharan space, not only within North Africa and the Sahel/Savannah belt but also between these two regions.” ref
A Holocene Ceramic Sequence in the Central Sahara: Pottery Traditions and Social Dynamics Seen from the Takarkori Rockshelter (SW Libya)
“Abstract: This article presents the Early and Middle Holocene pottery repertoire of the Takarkori archaeological site, a rockshelter in the Tadrart Acacus massif in southwestern Libya, Central Sahara. This long sequence, extending from 10,200 to 4,300 years ago, is one of the best preserved Holocene contexts in North Africa, recording much of Holocene cultural evolution and chronologically framed by a large number of radiocarbon dates. The study of the assemblage resulted in a well-defined seriation of the pottery sequence, supported by statistical and comparative methods. Following an integrated approach, the study identifies continuities and changes in ceramic production that enhance our understanding of the human occupation of Takarkori and its cultural variations. The multi-scalar and multi-dimensional perspectives highlight technological traditions and cultural dynamics and provide new insights into the origin and use of pottery, first among Late Acacus hunter-gatherers and later among Pastoral Neolithic herders and their regional interconnections. This study clarifies the position of the Takarkori ceramic sequence within the broader regional and interregional contexts from the Early to the Middle Holocene. By indicating contacts and interrelationships among different areas of the Sahara and neighboring regions, from the massifs of Central Algerian Sahara to the plains of the Eastern Sahara, the study adds new insights into North Africa’s prehistory. It contributes to an increasingly accurate reconstruction of the Holocene’s chronological and cultural sequences.” ref
Northwest African Neolithic initiated by migrants from Iberia and Levant
“Abstract: In northwestern Africa, lifestyle transitioned from foraging to food production around 7,400 years ago but what sparked that change remains unclear. Archaeological data support conflicting views: (1) that migrant European Neolithic farmers brought the new way of life to North Africa or (2) that local hunter-gatherers adopted technological innovations. The latter view is also supported by archaeogenetic data. Here we fill key chronological and archaeogenetic gaps for the Maghreb, from Epipalaeolithic to Middle Neolithic, by sequencing the genomes of nine individuals. Notably, we trace 8,000 years of population continuity and isolation from the Upper Palaeolithic, via the Epipaleolithic, to some Maghrebi Neolithic farming groups. However, remains from the earliest Neolithic contexts showed mostly European Neolithic ancestry. We suggest that farming was introduced by European migrants and was then rapidly adopted by local groups. During the Middle Neolithic a new ancestry from the Levant appears in the Maghreb, coinciding with the arrival of pastoralism in the region, and all three ancestries blend together during the Late Neolithic. Our results show ancestry shifts in the Neolithization of northwestern Africa that probably mirrored a heterogeneous economic and cultural landscape, in a more multifaceted process than observed in other regions.” ref
First Dairying in Sahara 7000 Years Ago
“An international team of researchers has discovered the first unequivocal evidence that humans in prehistoric Saharan Africa used cattle for their milk about 7,000 years ago. By analyzing fatty acids extracted from unglazed pottery excavated from an archaeological site in Libya, the researchers showed that dairy fats were processed in the vessels. This first identification of dairying practices in the African continent, by prehistoric Saharan herders, can be reliably dated to the fifth millennium BCE. Around 10,000 years ago, the Sahara Desert was a wetter, greener place. Early hunter-gatherer people in the area lived a semi-sedentary life, utilizing pottery, hunting wild game, and collecting wild cereals. Then, around 7,000-5,000 years ago, as the region became more arid, the people adopted a more nomadic, pastoral way of life, as the presence of cattle bones in cave deposits and river camps suggests.” ref
“Domesticated animals were clearly significant to these people: the engraved and painted rock art found widely across the region includes many vivid representations of animals, particularly cattle. However, no direct proof that these cattle were milked existed – until now. The team studied unglazed pottery dating from around 7,000 years ago, found at the Takarkori rock shelter in the Tadrart Acacus Mountains, Libya. Using lipid biomarker and stable carbon isotope analysis, the researchers examined preserved fatty acids held within the fabric of the pottery and found that half of the vessels had been used for processing dairy fats. This confirms for the first time the early presence of domesticated cattle in the region and the importance of milk to its prehistoric pastoral people. The discovery was detailed in a paper in the journal Nature.” ref
“We already know how important dairy products such as milk, cheese, yoghurt and butter, which can be repeatedly extracted from an animal throughout its lifetime, were to the people of Neolithic Europe, so it’s exciting to find proof that they were also significant in the lives of the prehistoric people of Africa,” said Julie Dunne, a PhD student in the University of Bristol’s School of Chemistry and one of the authors of the paper. “As well as identifying the early adoption of dairying practices in Saharan Africa, these results also provide a background for our understanding of the evolution of the lactase persistence gene which seems to have arisen once prehistoric people started consuming milk products.” ref
“The gene is found in Europeans and across some Central African groups, thus supporting arguments for the movement of people, together with their cattle, from the Near East into eastern African in the early to middle Holocene, around 8,000 years ago.” “While the remarkable rock art of Saharan Africa contains many representations of cattle – including, in a few cases, depictions of the actual milking of a cow – it can rarely be reliably dated,” added co-author Prof Richard Evershed of Bristol’s School of Chemistry. “Also, the scarcity of cattle bones in archaeological sites makes it impossible to ascertain herd structures, thereby preventing interpretations of whether dairying was practiced.” “Molecular and isotopic analysis of absorbed food residues in pottery, however, is an excellent way to investigate the diet and subsistence practice of early peoples. It’s an approach my colleagues and I have previously applied to successfully determine the chronology of dairying, beginning in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East and spreading across Europe.” ref
A Punctuated Model for the Emergence of Pastoralism in Africa
“Abstract: This paper focuses on a reassessment of the emergence of herding in Africa seen from the Tadrart Acacus and neighbouring regions in the Libyan central Sahara. The paper examines whether the presence of wild animals in the Early Holocene ‘green’ Sahara could have represented a ‘disease challenge’ to the spread of domestic livestock, as proposed for sub-Saharan Africa. Analysis of the zooarchaeological record and Saharan rock art highlights this potential threat also in North Africa, where it has hitherto been disregarded. Old and new data from the study area in SW Libya, with a focus on Takarkori rock shelter, highlight the presence of herding activity at a very early stage. Direct dating on bones of sheep/goat and cattle secures this chronology, providing evidence of a rapid ingression of small groups of herders who crossed Africa’s north-eastern quadrant around ~ 8300 years years ago. This rapidity defies the ‘disease challenge’ hypothesis and suggests alternative scenarios. In the central Sahara, the cultural complexity of local Early Holocene hunter-gatherers and their delayed return system of resource exploitation could have facilitated the incorporation of new practices, including the herding of small numbers of domestic animals. The societal implications of the transition from hunting and gathering to herding are archaeologically better visible in the funerary record and in rock art. By contrast, both material culture and the subsistence basis seem to demonstrate continuity with the former foraging groups’ phase. Taken together, the Saharan evidence suggests a punctuated process of acculturation for the inception of food production in North Africa.” ref
Ancient DNA is revealing the origins of livestock herding in Africa
“Visitors to East Africa are often amazed by massive herds of cattle with a gorgeous array of horn, hump and coat patterns. Pastoralism – a way of life centered around herding – is a central part of many Africans’ identity. It’s also a key economic strategy that is now threatened by climate change, rising demands for meat, urban sprawl, and land conflicts. Pastoralism’s roots could hold clues to help solve these modern challenges. Studies suggest that traditional ways of managing livestock – moving around and exchanging with other herders – enabled herders to cope with environmental instability and economic change over the past several thousand years. Research is also helping scientists understand how millennia of herding – and livestock dung – have shaped East Africa’s savannas and wildlife diversity.” ref
“So, how did pastoralism get started in Africa? Currently, most archaeologists think wild ancestors of today’s domestic cattle, sheep, and goats were first domesticated in the “Fertile Crescent” of the Middle East. Archaeological research shows herding began to appear in and spread from what is now Egypt around 8,000 years ago. By 5,000 years ago, herders were burying their dead in elaborate monumental cemeteries near a lakeshore in Kenya. Two millennia later, pastoralist settlements were present across a wide part of East Africa, and by at least 2,000 years ago, livestock appear in South Africa.” ref
“Much remains unanswered: Did animals spread mostly through exchange, just like cash circulates widely while people mostly stay put? Were people moving long distances with their herds, traversing the continent generation by generation? Were there many separate migrations or few, and what happened when immigrant herders met indigenous foragers? We decided to ask these questions using ancient DNA from archaeological skeletons from across East Africa. Archaeologists study ancient people’s trash – broken clay pots, abandoned jewelry, leftover meals, even feces – but we also study the people themselves. Bioarchaeologists examine human bones and teeth as indicators of health, lifestyle, and identity.” ref
“Now, it’s also possible to sequence ancient DNA to look at genetic ancestry. Until recently, though, Africa has been on the sidelines of the “ancient DNA revolution” for a variety of reasons. Advances in DNA sequencing have created new opportunities to study African population history. In our new research, our team sequenced the genomes of 41 people buried at archaeological sites in Kenya and Tanzania, more than doubling the number of ancient individuals with genome-wide data from sub-Saharan Africa. We obtained radiocarbon dates from the bones of 35 of these people – important because direct dates on human remains are virtually nonexistent in East Africa. Working as a team meant forging partnerships among curators, archaeologists and geneticists, despite our different work cultures and specialized vocabularies.” ref
“The people we studied were buried with a wide variety of archaeological evidence linking them to foraging, pastoralism, and, in one case, farming. These associations are not airtight – people may have shifted between foraging and herding – but we rely on cultural traditions, artifact types and food remains to try to understand how people were getting their meals. After we grouped individuals based on the lifestyles we inferred from associated archaeological evidence, we compared their ancient genomes to those of hundreds of living people, and a few dozen ancient people from across Africa and the adjacent Middle East. We were looking for patterns of genetic relatedness.” ref
“Some of our ancient samples did not resemble other known groups. Despite major efforts to document the vast genetic variation in Africa, there’s a long way to go. There are still gaps in modern data, and no ancient data at all for much of the continent. Although we can identify groups that share genetic similarities with the ancient herders, this picture no doubt will become clearer as more data become available. So far we can tell that herding spread via a complex, multi-step process. The first step involved a “ghost population” – one for which we don’t have direct genetic evidence yet. These people drew about half of their ancestry from groups who lived in either the Middle East or presumably northeastern Africa (a region for which we have no relevant aDNA) or both, and about half from Sudanese groups. As this group spread southward – likely with livestock – they interacted and genetically integrated with foragers already living in East Africa. This period of interaction lasted from perhaps around 4,500-3,500 years ago.” ref
“After this occurred, it appears that ancient herders genetically kept to themselves. Methods that let us estimate the average date of admixture – that is, gene flow between previously isolated groups – indicate integration largely stopped by around 3,500 years ago. This suggests there were social barriers that kept herders and foragers from having children together, even if they interacted in plenty of other ways. Alternatively, there may have been far fewer foragers than herders, so that gene flow among these communities didn’t have a big demographic impact. By around 1,200 years ago, we document new arrivals of people related to recent Sudanese and – for the first time – West African groups, associated with early iron-working and farming. After this point, a social mosaic made up of farmers, herders and foragers became typical of East Africa, and remains so today.” ref
“One interesting question is how early pastoralists used their herds. For instance, were they drinking milk? Although many East Africans today carry a genetic mutation that helps them digest milk into adulthood, this may be a recent development. We were able to test eight individuals for the genetic variant responsible for lactase persistence in many East African pastoralists today. Just one man, who lived in Tanzania 2,000 years ago, carried this variant. Maybe dairying was rare, but it’s also possible people found creative culinary solutions – for example, fermented milk or yogurt – to avoid indigestion. Archaeologists have a saying that “pots are not people.” Particular artifact styles are not assumed to reflect concrete identities – just as we wouldn’t assume today that the choice of kilts versus lederhosen is determined by DNA.” ref
“In Kenya and Tanzania, archaeologists had previously identified two early herder cultural traditions distinguished by different pottery styles, stone tool sources, settlement patterns, and burial practices. The people who created these cultures lived at roughly the same time and in the same area. Some scholars hypothesized that they spoke different languages and had different “ethnic” identities. Our recent study found no evidence for genetic differentiation among people associated with these different cultures; in fact, we were struck by how closely related they were. Now archaeologists can ask a different question: Why did distinct cultures emerge among such closely related neighbors?” ref
“Some of our most exciting findings came from unexpected places. Museum shelves are full of potentially game-changing collections that have yet to be studied or published. In a back corner of one storeroom, we found a tray containing two fragmentary human skeletons uncovered during a Rift Valley geological expedition at Prettejohn’s Gully in the 1960s. There was little contextual information, but with encouragement from curators we sampled the remains to see if we could at least determine their age. We were shocked to learn that these 4,000-year-old burials provided the oldest DNA from Kenya, and that the man and woman buried at that site may have been some of the earliest herders in East Africa. Thanks to them, we can show that the spread of herding in Kenya involved several separate movements of ancestrally distinct groups. We have much to learn from older collections, and archaeologists don’t always need to dig to make new discoveries.” ref
“Ancient DNA research doesn’t just answer questions about our shared past. It also raises new ones that must be answered by other fields. Our results don’t tell us what migration and admixture mean in social terms. What prompted people to move with livestock? What happened when people with radically different lifestyles met? What became of the foragers who were living across East Africa throughout the past, and whose descendants are few and far between today? Ultimately, we hope that by studying pastoralism in the past – and demonstrating the resilience of this way of life – we can contribute in some way to understanding the challenges facing herders today.” ref
The Evolution of Foraging and the Transition to Pastoralism in the Sahara
“Abstract: Modern humans have been crossing the Sahara as long ago as 300,000 years ago and the intermittent opening of corridors in humid periods has facilitated this human transit. Pastoralism spreads into the central Sahara, together with dairying and a striking culture of cattle necropolises, by around 7000 years ago. However, it took nearly another 3,500 years to spread to the Sahel, likely for ecological reasons. The chapter discusses the different elements of the pastoral package, beginning with cattle and ovicaprines and later phases of horses, donkeys, and camels. Small foraging groups still live in the Sahara, and their importance for ethnographic reconstruction is highlighted.” ref
Pastoralism may have delayed the end of the Green Sahara
“Abstract: The climate deterioration after the most recent African humid period (AHP) is a notable past example of desertification. Evidence points to a human population expansion in northern Africa prior to this, associated with the introduction of pastoralism. Here we consider the role, if any, of this population on the subsequent ecological collapse. Using a climate-vegetation model, we estimate the natural length of the most recent AHP. The model indicates that the system was most susceptible to collapse between 7,000 and 6,000 years ago; at least 500 years before the observed collapse. This suggests that the inclusion of increasing elements of pastoralism was an effective adaptation to the regional environmental changes. Pastoralism also appears to have slowed the deterioration caused by orbitally-driven climate change. This supports the view that modern pastoralism is not only sustainable, but beneficial for the management of the world’s dryland environments.” ref
Humans delayed the onset of the Sahara desert by 500 years
“It is thought that early pastoralists in North Africa developed intricate ways to efficiently manage sparse vegetation and relatively dry and low fertility soils. Dr. Chris Brierley (UCL Geography), lead author, said: “The possibility that humans could have had a stabilising influence on the environment has significant implications. We contest the common narrative that past human-environment interactions must always be one of over-exploitation and degradation. “The fact that societies practising ‘pastoralism’ persisted in this region for so long and invested both economically and ideologically in the local landscape, does not support the scenario of over-exploitation. Our study shows that increasing human population and sustainable pastoralism did not accelerate—and may even have delayed—the decline of the ‘Green Sahara.” ref
“Around 8,000 years ago, the Sahara wasn’t desert, but instead was a vibrant ecosystem that supported hunter-gatherers and fisherfolk. The ‘Green Sahara’ – the colloquial term for the African Humid Period – was the period in which North Africa became much wetter than it is today thanks to a series of monsoons. As the Earth’s orbit slowly changed, the rain started to reduce, and the vegetation started to die back. Around 5,500 years ago, the ecosystem in the Sahara went into a terminal decline towards the desert we have today.” ref
“Pastoralism (nomadic or semi-nomadic cattle-herders) blossomed in the Sahara from around 1000 years before that collapse. Previous studies have put the blame for the collapse of the ‘Green Sahara’ onto these nomads who have often been marginalised in history, but this latest studies dispels that myth. The study uses a novel climate-vegetation model to determine whether the end of the African Humid Period occurred earlier than expected. The model keeps track of variables such as vegetation and rainfall, and other processes such as the amount of energy coming from the sun, and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The model found that the ‘Green Sahara’ should have collapsed earlier than it did. This suggests that pastoralists lasted longer than expected and the techniques they used helped them to adapt to the environmental changes.” ref
“Dr. Brierley added: “Those places where pastoralists last longer are where there are more resources. It’s a good adaptation to the climate change taking place at the time. There is now work today looking at what we can learn from nomadic pastoralists, such as selective grazing strategies, which can be applied to sustainable adaption to desertification that we expect from future climate change.” Dr. Katie Manning (King’s College London), concluded: “Despite the largely inhospitable conditions of the Sahara today, it is not hard to find evidence of human occupation from the last 11,000 years. Thousands of rock art sites illustrate a lush environment, large-game hunting and livestock herding. The spread of domestic animals across the Sahara occurred at a time of increasing climatic instability, and yet, these pastoralist populations thrived. “It is likely that strategies used by contemporary traditional herders, such as seasonal movement and selective grazing, were also used by these early pastoralists, helping to maintain an otherwise deteriorating ecosystem.” ref
Ancient DNA tells the story of the first herd
“The research provides a look at the origins and movements of early African food producers. The first form of food production to spread through most of Africa was the herding of cattle, sheep and goats. This way of life continues to support millions of people living on the arid grasslands that cover much of sub-Saharan Africa. “Today, East Africa is one of the most genetically, linguistically, and culturally diverse places in the world,” explains Elizabeth Sawchuk, Ph.D., a bioarchaeologist at Stony Brook University and co-first author of the study. “Our findings trace the roots of this mosaic back several millennia. Distinct peoples have coexisted in the Rift Valley for a very long time.” ref
“Previous archaeological research shows that the Great Rift Valley of Kenya and Tanzania was a key site for the transition from foraging to herding. Herders of livestock first appeared in northern Kenya around 5,000 years ago, associated with elaborate monumental cemeteries, and then spread south into the Rift Valley, where Pastoral Neolithic cultures developed. The new genetic results reveal that this spread of herding into Kenya and Tanzania involved groups with ancestry derived from northeast Africa, who appeared in East Africa and mixed with local foragers there between about 4,500-3,500 years ago. Previously, the origins and timing of these population shifts were unclear, and some archaeologists hypothesized that domestic animals spread through exchange networks, rather than by movement of people.” ref
“After around 3,500 years ago, herders and foragers became genetically isolated in East Africa, even though they continued to live side by side. Archaeologists have hypothesized substantial interaction among foraging and herding groups, but the new results reveal that there were strong and persistent social barriers that lasted long after the initial encounters. Another major genetic shift occurred during the Iron Age around 1,200 years ago, with movement into the region of additional peoples from both northeastern and western Africa. These groups contributed to ancient ancestry profiles similar to those of many East Africans today. This genetic shift parallels two major cultural changes: farming and iron-working. The study provided insight into the history of East Africa as an independent center of evolution of lactase persistence, which enables people to digest milk into adulthood. This genetic adaptation is found in high proportions among Kenyan and Tanzanian herders today.” ref
DNA Study Illustrates the Complex Story of Ancient Herders and Farmers in East Africa and How Food Production Entered Sub-Saharan Africa
“The international team included researchers from Africa, North America, and Europe. They analyzed genome-wide data from the skeletons, which were recovered from East African archeological sites and curated at the National Museums of Kenya and Tanzania, and the Livingstone Museum in Zambia, and which dated to the Later Stone Age, Pastoral Neolithic, and Iron Age. Herding of cattle, sheep, and goats was the first form of food production to spread through most of Africa. This way of life – known as pastoralism – continues to support millions of people in East Africa today. The new genetic results help to reveal the origins of pastoralism in this part of the world, and the circumstances that allowed herding, and later farming, to become prevalent.” ref
“Today, East Africa is one of the most genetically, linguistically and culturally diverse places in the world,” said Sawchuk, a co-first author of the paper and Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology. “Our findings from the DNA analysis of the skeletons trace the roots of this mosaic back several millennia. Distinct peoples have coexisted in the Rift Valley for a very long time.” Archaeological research from the East African Rift Valley shows this region played a significant role in the development of food producing societies and the transition from foraging to herding. Although livestock first appeared in northern Kenya around 5,000 years ago, archaeological data have not been able to paint a complete picture of when and how people and livestock spread farther south, and how distinctive herding societies developed.” ref
“The spread of food production involved multiple complex movements of people into East Africa at different times, which included the mixing of groups with ancestry derived from northeast Africa with local East African foragers. This admixture between herders and foragers diminished after around 4000 years ago. Their descendants diverged to form culturally diverse groups of Pastoral Neolithic herders in the Rift Valley, but continued to form a closely related genetic cluster over thousands of years. By 1,200 years ago, movement into the region of additional peoples from both northeastern and western Africa during the Iron Age, some of whom began farming, contributed to ancestry profiles similar to many groups living in East Africa today.” ref
“Genetic analysis also provides insight into the evolution of lactase persistence, the ability to digest milk into adulthood, in East Africa. Although this genetic adaptation is found in high proportions among Kenyan and Tanzanian pastoralists today, it was rare among these ancient herders, contrary to previous predictions. Sawchuk and fellow researchers concluded that future archeological and ancient DNA research in the Turkana Basin, the Horn of Africa, and other parts of northeastern Africa will be necessary to confirm the earliest stages of the spread of herding into the region, and where the initial admixture between northeast African populations and East African foragers occurred.” ref
Ancient DNA Reveals a Multi-Step Spread of the First Herders into Sub-Saharan Africa
“Abstract: How food production first entered eastern Africa ~5,000 years ago, and the extent to which people moved with livestock is unclear. We present genome-wide data from 41 individuals associated with Later Stone Age, Pastoral Neolithic (PN), and Iron Age contexts in what are now Kenya and Tanzania to examine the genetic impacts of the spreads of herding and farming. Our results support a multi-phase model in which admixture between northeastern African-related peoples and eastern African foragers formed multiple pastoralist groups, including a genetically homogeneous PN cluster. Additional admixture with northeastern and western African-related groups occurred by the Iron Age. These findings support several movements of food producers, while rejecting models of minimal admixture with foragers and of genetic differentiation between makers of distinct PN artifacts.” ref
Inference of emergent cattle pastoralism in the southern Sahara desert based on localized hypoplasia of the primary canine
“Abstract: There is limited data on the health effects of the transition to food production in North Africa, where Middle Holocene peoples adopted pastoralism to mitigate a deteriorating climate. Unlike other areas of domestication, the advent of food production throughout the Sahara, and much of Africa, was decoupled from increasing sedentism and population aggregation. Here, we consider the effects of this dietary transition on early childhood health by examining localized hypoplasia of the primary canine (LHPC). We focus on the Gobero region of Niger which preserves cemeteries containing skeletal remains from two occupation phases: (1) an Early Holocene/Kiffian fisher-forager phase, and (2) a Middle Holocene/Tenerian cattle pastoralism phase. The fisher-foragers exhibited one of the highest recorded frequencies of LHPC which we interpret as reflecting a diet of aquatic and terrestrial taxa of low fat content. The Middle Holocene population had a significantly lower frequency of LHPC, consistent with cattle providing much needed dietary fat. Because cattle remains were uncommon at Gobero, the most parsimonious interpretation suggests these peoples were incipient cattle pastoralists who had yet to develop into ideological pastoralists. The health benefits of cattle pastoralism demonstrate the importance of pastoral products for peoples coping with a deteriorating desert climate.” ref
Pastoral period?
“While this does not negate that it is possible for cattle from the Near East to have migrated into Africa, a greater number of African cattle in the same area share the T1 mitochondrial haplogroup and atypical haplotypes than in other areas, which provides support for Africans independently domesticating African cattle. Based on a small sample size (SNPs from sequences of whole genomes), African cattle split early from European cattle (Taurine). African cattle, bearing the Y2 haplogroup, form a sub-group within the overall group of taurine cattle. As a Near Eastern origin of African cattle requires a conceptual bottleneck to sustain the view, the diverseness of the Y2 haplogroup and T1 haplogroup do not support the view of a bottleneck having occurred, and thus, does not support a Near Eastern origin for African cattle. Altogether, these forms of genetic evidence provide the strongest support for Africans independently domesticating African cattle.” ref
“Among thousands of archaeological sites, which usually have several different periods of rock art traditions (e.g., Wild Fauna, Round Head, Pastoral, Horse, Camel) present at a single site and almost 80% of sites that are found in rockshelters, the most common form of Saharan rock art is the engraved and painted Pastoral rock art. Central Saharan cattle herders, such as those of the Acacus region, had a sense of monumentality. Pastoral rock art, which are of latter times, are frequently found covering the Round Head rock art of earlier times. Between 7,000 and 4,000 years ago, the Pastoral rock art tradition may have persisted, and, based on excavated evidence and samples of paint from the Tadrart Acacus region, may have reached its pinnacle during the 4th millennium BCE.” ref
“Round Head rock art is distinct from engraved and painted Pastoral rock art. While Pastoral rock art is largely characterized by pastoralists and bow-wielding hunters in scenes of animal husbandry, with various animals (e.g., cattle, sheep, goats, dogs), Round Head rock art may be characterized as being rather celestial. Various kinds of monumental stone structures (e.g., alignments, arms, crescents, heap of stones, keyholes, platforms, rings, standings stones, stone cairns/tumuli) have existed in the Central Sahara, spanning from the Middle Pastoral Period among cattle pastoralists to the Garamantes. Cattle sculptures, which may have served as religious symbols, were also created during the Pastoral Period.” ref
“In the late period of the Pleistocene as well as the early and middle periods of the Holocene in West Africa and North Africa, peoples with Sudanese, Mechtoid, and Proto-Mediterranean/Proto-Berber skeletal types (which are outdated, problematic physical anthropological concepts) occupied these regions, and thus, occupied the Central Sahara (e.g., Fozziagiaren I, Imenennaden, Takarkori, Uan Muhuggiag) and Eastern Sahara (e.g., Nabta Playa). There are various types of stone constructions (e.g., Keyhole: 4300 BCE – 3200 BCE; Platform: 3800 BCE – 1200 BCE; Cone-Shaped: 3750 BCE; Crescent – 3300 BCE – 1900 BCE; Aligned Structures: 1900 BCE – Beginning of Islamic Period; Crater Tumulus: 1900 BCE – Beginning of Islamic Period) in Niger. At Adrar Bous, in Niger, the most common type (71.66%) of tumuli are platform tumuli; the second most common (16.66%) type of tumuli are cone-shaped tumuli. The earlier “black-face rock art style” of Tassili rock art has been viewed as sharing cultural affinity with the Fulani people.” ref
“Proto-Berbers, who have been viewed as having migrated into the Central Sahara from Northeast Africa, have been associated with the latter “white-face rock art style” (e.g., pale-skinned figures, beads, long dresses, cattle, cattle-related activities) that emerged in Tassili N’Ajjer in 3500 BCE. In 3800 BCE, the most early of platform tumuli developed in the Central Sahara, which has been viewed as a cultural practice that was brought into the Central Sahara by Proto-Berbers. The inconsistencies within the view that Proto-Berbers migrated from Northeast Africa and brought the platform tumuli tradition into the Central Sahara is that the measurements for the skeletal types of the Central Sahara do not begin to match the skeletal types of Northeast Africa until after 2500 BCE and the constructing of platform tumuli at Adrar Bous, in Niger, began in 3500 BCE.” ref
“In the Western Sahara, the pastoralist-associated hearths, pottery from the Late Neolithic, and the most common type of Western Saharan tumuli – cone-shaped tumuli (which emerged earliest in Niger by 3750 BCE and has connections with the Mediterranean), are probably associated with Protohistoric Berbers At Gobero, in Niger, the period that has been characterized as pastoral is based on only two cattle remnants and an absence of sheep/goat remnants; until the end of the mid-Holocene, there is limited evidence for nomadic lifeways; there is also anatomical evidence that is indicative of general population continuity amid the mid-Holocene at Gobero. The tumuli tradition of the Central Sahara likely developed as a result of interactions between culturally and ethnically different Central Saharan peoples (e.g., as depicted in Central Saharan rock art), within the context of changing and varied Central Saharan ecology. The traits (e.g., hierarchy, social complexity) of the earlier Central Saharan pastoral culture contributed to the latter development of state formation in West Africa, Nubia, and the Sahara.” ref
“In 10,000 years ago, the tropical monsoon rain system from Sub-Saharan western Africa changed direction and moved northward into the Central Sahara. As the monsoon rain system moved northward into the Central Sahara, amid a period which brought along with the development of a savanna environment (akin to the savanna environments of contemporary Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe), egalitarian black African hunter-gatherers also migrated northward into the Central Sahara (e.g., Uan Muhuggiag rock shelter, Acacus Mountains, Libya). Later, 7,000 years ago, pastoralists migrated into the Central Sahara, along with their pastoral animals (e.g., cattle and goats). The pastoralists may have migrated from the Near East (e.g., Mesopotamia, Palestine) and from the Eastern Sahara. Saharan pastoral culture spanned throughout northern Africa (e.g., Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sudan), including in Niger where human burials, pottery, and rock art were found. At Uan Muhuggiag, the pastoral culture, which has been characterized as mixed race, may have begun earlier than 5500 years ago.” ref
“In the region, there were various kinds of flora (e.g., Typha) and fauna (e.g., hippopotamuses, crocodiles, elephants, lions, giraffe, gazelle). At the Uan Muhuggiag rock shelter, around 5600 years ago, a two and a half year old Sub-Saharan African boy (determined through examination of the complete set of human remains, which included a Negroid skull and remnants of dark skin) was mummified (e.g., embalmed, eviscerated – removal of organs from the abdomen, chest, and thorax, followed by replacement with organic preservatives to prevent decomposition, and wrapped in the skin of an antelope and leaves for insulation) utilizing advanced mummification methods. As the child mummy of Uan Muhuggiag was buried with a necklace made from ostrich eggshells, this may indicate that it was a compassionate, ceremonial burial relating to the afterlife.” ref
“As the earliest dated mummy in Africa, the child mummy of Uan Muhuggiag may date at least one thousand years older than the mummies of ancient Egypt, and may belong to a Central Saharan mummification tradition that may date hundreds to thousands of years prior to the mummification of the child mummy of Uan Muhuggiag. At Mesak Settafet (e.g., Wadi Mathendous), there was engraved rock art depicting cattle and human forms with animal heads (e.g., jackal/dog masks) as well as a presence of cattle culture, and particularly, near a circularly arranged set of stone monuments, evidence of cattle being sacrificed and pottery given as ritual offering. In the Nile Valley region of Sudan, decorated Saharan pottery, which was dated to 6,000 years ago and stands in contrast to local pottery that were not decorated, was also found.” ref
“As Central Saharan cattle pastoral culture emerged thousands of years earlier than when it reached its apex in the Nile Valley, Central Saharan pastoral culture produced the cultural motif of a human form wearing a jackal mask may date one thousand years earlier than 5,600 years ago (date based on tested organic material from rock shelter wall crevice) and appears one thousand years earlier than in the Nile Valley, and Central Saharan pottery was found in the Nile Valley, Central Saharan pastoral culture may have contributed to the latter development of ancient Egypt (e.g., decoration of pottery; cattle pastoralism; funerary culture and the mythological guardian of the dead and god of embalming, Anubis). Though the descendants of the people of Uan Muhuggiag may have vacated the region five hundred years after the embalming of the child of Uan Muhuggiag due to increasing aridification, and the occurrence of demic diffusion is possible, it is more likely that knowledge from the Central Saharan pastoral culture may have been transmitted into the Nile Valley through cultural diffusion in 6,000 years ago.” ref
“Pastoralism, possibly along with social stratification, and Pastoral rock art, emerged in the Central Sahara between 5200 BCE and 4800 BCE.Funerary monuments and sites, within possible territories that had chiefdoms, developed in the Saharan region of Niger between 4700 BCE and 4200 BCE. Cattle funerary sites developed in Nabta Playa (5400 cal BCE), Adrar Bous (6,350 years ago), in Chin Tafidet, and in Tuduf (2,400 – 2000 cal BCE). Thus, by this time, cattle religion (e.g., myths, rituals) and cultural distinctions between genders (e.g., men associated with bulls, violence, hunting, and dogs as well as burials at monumental funerary sites; women associated with cows, birth, nursing, and possibly the afterlife) had developed. Preceded by assumed earlier sites in the Eastern Sahara, tumuli with megalithic monuments developed as early as 4700 BCE in the Saharan region of Niger. These megalithic monuments in the Saharan region of Niger and the Eastern Sahara may have served as antecedents for the mastabas and pyramids of ancient Egypt.” ref
“During Predynastic Egypt, tumuli were present at various locations (e.g., Naqada, Helwan). Between 7,500 and 7,400 years ago, amid the Late Pastoral Neolithic, religious ceremony and ceremonial burials, with megaliths, may have served as a cultural precedent for the latter religious reverence of the goddess Hathor during the dynastic period of ancient Egypt. By at least 4th millennium BCE, as indicated via the painted rock art of Tassili n’Ajjer, Proto-Fulani culture may have been present in area of Tassili n’Ajjer. The Agades cross, a fertility amulet worn by Fulani women, may be associated with the hexagon-shaped carnelian piece of jewelry depicted in the rock art at Tin Felki. At Tin Tazarift, the depiction of a finger may allude to the hand of the mythic figure, Kikala, the first Fulani pastoralist.” ref
“At Uan Derbuaen rockshelter of eastern Tassili, composition six may depict a white ox, under the spell of serpent-related animals, crossing through a U-shaped gate of vegetation, toward a powerful benevolent figure, in order to undo the spell on the ox. Composition six has been interpreted as portraying the Lotori ceremonial rite of Sub-Saharan West African Fulani herders. The annual Lotori ceremonial rite, held by Fulani herders, occurs at a selected location and period of time, and commemorates the ox and its origination in a source of water. The Lotori ceremonial rite promotes good health (e.g., prevent epizooties, prevent illness, prevent sterility) and reproductive success of cattle by having the cattle cross through a gate of vegetation, and thus, the continuity of the pastoral wealth of the nomadic pastoralist Fulani. The interpretation of composition six as portraying the Lotori ceremonial rite, along with other forms of evidence, have been used to support the conclusion that modern Sub-Saharan West African Fulani herders are descended from peoples of the Sahara.” ref
“With increasing aridification during the Pastoral Period, Pastoral rock artists (e.g., Fulani) of the Central Sahara migrated into regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Mali. After migrating from the Central Sahara, by 4,000 years ago, the Mande peoples of West Africa established their agropastoral civilization of Tichitt in the Western Sahara. The painted Pastoral rock art of Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria, and engraved Pastoral rock art of Niger bear resemblance (e.g., color markings of the cattle) with the engraved cattle portrayed in the Dhar Tichitt rock art in Akreijit. The engraved cattle pastoral rock art of Dhar Tichitt, which are displayed in enclosed areas that may have been used to pen cattle, is supportive evidence for cattle bearing ritualistic significance for the peoples of Dhar Tichitt.” ref
“In the Tadrart Acacus, the period of the Late Acacus hunter-gatherers was followed by an arid period in 8,200 years ago, which made way for the period of incoming Early Pastoral peoples. The Early Pastoral Period spanned from 6,300 BCE to 5400 BCE, or from 7,400 to 5,200 years ago. Domesticated cattle were brought to the Central Sahara (e.g., Tadrart Acacus), and given the opportunity for becoming socially distinguished, to develop food surplus, as well as to acquire and aggregate wealth, led to the adoption of a cattle pastoral economy by some Central Saharan hunter-gatherers of the Late Acacus. In exchange, cultural information regarding utilization of vegetation (e.g., Cenchrus, Digitaria) in the Central Sahara (e.g., Uan Tabu, Uan Muhuggiag) was shared by Late Acacus hunter-gatherers with incoming Early Pastoral peoples. In the Tadrart Acacus, settlements were most abundant in enclosed spaces.” ref
“Early Pastoral peoples may have dwelled in open plains areas to gather as well as access water sources (e.g., lakes) and dwelled in mountains with rockshelters during arid seasons. Areas occupied by Early Pastoral peoples left behind sandstone-based ceramics (e.g., potsherds), distinct from the ceramics of the Late Acacus (e.g., sandstone-based material compared to granite-based material with an alternately pivoting stamp design), and bone implements that may have come from domesticated cattle remains. Early Pastoral rock art are sometimes found above earlier composed Round Head rock art. While stone implements may have also been utilized by Early Pastoral peoples, they did not differ from earlier Central Saharan hunter-gatherers of the Early Acacus.” ref
“In the collective memory of Early Pastoral peoples, rockshelters (e.g., Fozzigiaren, Imenennaden, Takarkori) in the Tadrart Acacus region may have served as monumental areas for women and children, as these were where their burial sites were primarily found. Engraved rock art has been found on various kinds of stone structures (e.g., stone arrangements, standing stones, corbeilles – ceremonial monuments) in the Messak Plateau. At Takarkori rockshelter, Early Pastoral peoples utilized fireplaces between 7,400 and 6,400 years ago. Early Pastoral peoples established a centuries-long burial tradition of utilizing rockshelters as special locations for burial of the dead (e.g., women, children), which, by the time of the Middle Pastoral peoples, ceased to be practiced. Early Pastoral peoples buried more of their dead in comparison to late Middle Pastoral peoples at least partly due to seasonal dwelling and possibly discovering earlier burials made by Early Pastoral peoples. Early Pastoral peoples buried their dead via stone-covered tumuli, where the entombed dead were covered in stones.” ref
“Amid and shortly after aridification in the Acacus region, between 7,300 and 6,900 years ago, Middle Pastoral peoples and Early Pastoral peoples interacted with one another, resulting in the merging of Middle Pastoral peoples and Early Pastoral peoples and replacing of Early Pastoral peoples with Middle Pastoral peoples. The Middle Pastoral Period (5,200 – 3,800 cal BCE) is when most of the Pastoral rock art was developed. In the Messak region of southwestern Libya, there were cattle remains set in areas in proximity to engraved Pastoral rock art depicting cattle (e.g., rituals of cattle sacrifice).” ref
“Stone monuments are also often found in proximity to these engraved Pastoral rock art. A complete cattle pastoral economy (e.g., dairying) developed in the Acacus and Messak regions of southwestern Libya. Semi-sedentary settlements were used seasonally by Middle Pastoral peoples depending on the weather patterns (e.g., monsoon). Wadi Bedis meander had 42 stone monuments (e.g., mostly corbeilles, stone structures and platforms, tumuli). Ceramics (e.g., potsherds) and stone implements were found along with 9 monuments bearing engraved rock art. From 5,200 to 3,800 BCE, burial of animals occurred. Nine decorated ceramics (e.g., mostly rocker stamp/plain edge design, sometimes alternately pivoting stamp design) and sixteen stone maces were found. Some stone maces, used literally or symbolically to slaughter the cattle (e.g., Bos taurus), were ceremonially set near the head of sacrificed cattle or stone monuments. These ceremonies were shown across several centuries worth of excavated sites.” ref
“Goats or hoofed animals were found as well. While the possible reason (e.g., appeal for rain, convey cultural identity, death, drying of the Sahara, initiation, marriage, transhumance) for the occurrence of cattle sacrificial ceremonies may not be able to verified, it may be the case that they occurred during events when distinct pastoral groups assembled together. Altogether, this has been characterized as being an African Cattle Complex. At the Uan Muhuggiag rockshelter, the child mummy of Uan Muhuggiag has been radiocarbon dated, via the deepest coal layer where it was found, to 7,438 years ago, and, via the animal hide it was wrapped in, to 5,405 years ago, which has been calibrated to 6,250 years ago. Another date for the animal hide made from the skin of an antelope, which was accompanied by remnants of a grind stone and a necklace made from the eggshell of an ostrich, is 4,225 BCE.” ref
“At Takarkori rockshelter, Middle Pastoral peoples developed a completely cattle (Bos taurus) pastoralist-driven economic system (e.g., pottery, milking) between 6,100 and 5,100 years ago. Middle Pastoral peoples, who occupied rockshelters seasonally, buried their dead in pits at varied depths. Thirteen human remains as well as two female human remains that had undergone incomplete, natural mummification were found at Takarkori rockshelter, which were dated to the Middle Pastoral Period (6,100 – 5,000 years ago). More specifically, with regard to the mummies, one of the naturally mummified females was dated to 6,090 years ago, and the other was dated to 5,600 years ago. These two naturally mummified females were the earliest dated mummies to undergo histological inspection. The two naturally mummified women carried basal haplogroup N.” ref
“In 5000 years ago, the development of megalithic monuments (e.g., architecture) increased in the Central Sahara. In the Central Sahara, the tumuli tradition originated in the Middle Pastoral Period and transformed amid the Late Pastoral Period (4,500 – 2,500 years ago). Amid the Late Pastoral Period, animals associated with the modern savanna decreased in appearance on Central Saharan rock art and animals suited for dry environments and animals associated with the modern Sahelian increased in appearance on Central Saharan rock art. Rockshelters in mountainous areas may have become utilized infrequently, and bodies of water (e.g., lakes) in plains areas began to become sebkhas, resulting in settlements in those areas being temporary. Consequently, development of increasingly nomadic forms of pastoralism began to occur, and broad distribution of Late Pastoral settlements (e.g., Edeyen of Murzuq, Erg Van Kasa, Mesak Settafet, Tadrart Acacus, Wadi Tanezzuft). Some stones and ceramics, as well as evidence of ovicaprid pastoralism, have been found at Late Pastoral Period sites.” ref
“At Takarkori rockshelter, between 5,000 and 4,200 years ago, Late Pastoral peoples herded goats, seasonally (e.g., winter), and began a millennia-long tradition of creating megalithic monuments, utilized as funerary sites where individuals were buried in stone-covered tumuli that were usually away from areas of dwellings in 5000 years ago. The Final Pastoral Period (1500 – 700 BCE) was a transitory period from nomadic pastoralism toward becoming increasingly sedentary. Final Pastoral peoples were scattered, semi-migratory groups who practiced transhumance. Burial mounds (e.g., conical tumuli, v-type) were created set apart from others, and small-sized burial mounds were created closely together. Final Pastoral peoples kept small pastoral animals (e.g., goats) and increasingly utilized plants. At Takarkori rockshelter, Final Pastoral peoples created burial sites for several hundred individuals that contained non-local, luxury goods and drum-type architecture in 3,000 years ago, which made way for the development of the Garamantian civilization. Final Pastoral peoples were in contact the Garamantes. Later, Garamantes acquired a monopoly on the oasis-based economy of the southern region of Libya.” ref
7,000-year-old Turtle Man and Halloween Man
“Turtle Man: a compact burial, presumably originally within an animal skin, that included a large carapace (upper shell) from a mud turtle placed under his pelvis. “A compact burial, presumably originally within an animal skin, that included a large carapace (upper shell) from a mud turtle placed under his pelvis. This is the only record at Gobero of this large mud turtle species, which survives today in muddy lake margins in Africa. At nearly 7,000 years of age, this burial is the oldest with grave goods at Gobero.” ref
“Adanson’s mud turtle (Pelusios adansonii) is a species of turtle in the family Pelomedusidae. The species is endemic to north-central Africa.” ref
“The West African mud turtle (Pelusios castaneus), also known as the West African side-necked turtle or swamp terrapin, is a species of turtle in the family Pelomedusidae. Pelusios castaneus is a freshwater species and is endemic to West and Central Africa.” ref
“Halloween Man: an adult male some 7,000 years old with upper incisors filed to points and lower incisors removed. He holds the oldest record of tooth filing, a practice still present in Africa today, which, in life, would have given him a memorable smile. He was discovered on Halloween Day on the 2018 Expedition to Niger.” ref
The discovery of DNA – the oldest ever obtained from ancient African remains, has shed light on the continent’s prehistoric migration patterns and cultures.
“Archaeologists have long puzzled over the origins and spread of Later Stone Age culture in ancient Morocco. However, the international study published in Science, has revealed the genetic profiles of ancient Moroccan remains and in doing so, details of their ancestry. The findings suggest that the bones have substantial Near Eastern and sub-Saharan African-related ancestries (63.5% and 36.5%, respectively). As the oldest human DNA evidence discovered in Africa, to date, the findings provide genomic evidence of contacts between North Africa and the Near East, as well as areas south of the Sahara, suggesting that more people were migrating in and out of North Africa 15,000 years ago, than previously believed.” ref
“Long term excavations at the site, associated with the Later Sone Age (LSA) Ibermomaurusian culture, have been co-directed by one of the co-authors of the paper, Professor Nick Barton of Oxford’s School of Archaeology. The project was therefore also intended to investigate the origins of the LSA in North Africa and the ancient Moroccan people. Also known as the Iberomaurusians, the research findings suggest that the inhabitants of Taforalt Cave mainly shared their ancestry with early peoples living in the northeast Africa (Libya and Egypt). They also imply that connection existed with the Near East (Natufian) peoples 15,000 years ago – long before previously thought.” ref
“However, in the absence of more ancient genomic data from Africa, it is not yet possible to predict where the core area of LSA expansion lay. Surprisingly, some of the oldest archaeologically dated LSA finds occur in Morocco and Algeria, and not as might be predicted by the genetics in areas further to the south or east. Professor Nick Barton said: ‘The results of this study are intriguing and call for a re-think of ideas. The genetics are telling us one thing, but the archaeological dating is telling us another’. Of this apparent evidence gap he added: ‘Clearly the only way this can be resolved is by finding further genomic data from human remains in each of these potential source areas’.” ref
Iberomaurusian (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya) 25/23,000 – 11,000 years ago
“Nothing in the way of polished stone or pottery”
“The Iberomaurusian is a backed bladelet lithic industry found near the coasts of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. It is also known from a single major site in Libya, the Haua Fteah, where the industry is locally known as the Eastern Oranian. The Iberomaurusian seems to have appeared around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), somewhere between c. 25,000 and 23,000 years ago. It would have lasted until the early Holocene c. 11,000 years ago. Despite researchers thinking they ate mostly game meat being hunter-gatherers, further study has indicated that their diet included a substantial incorporation of plant-based foods. This evidence challenges the prevailing notion of solely a high reliance on animal proteins in pre-agricultural human societies.” ref
“In Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, but not in Morocco, the industry is succeeded by the Capsian industry, whose origins are unclear. The Capsian is believed either to have spread into North Africa from the Near East, or to have evolved from the Iberomaurusian. In Morocco and Western Algeria, the Iberomaurusian is succeeded by the Cardial culture after a long hiatus. What clearly distinguishes this industry is the smallness of the toolkit, especially the crescent-shaped backed blades of which one finds thousands of examples. True geometric pieces (in the shape of trapeziums) are excessively rare, barely three parts per thousand, whereas in the ancient Neolithic with pottery and polished stone, small pieces of flint with geometric shapes are very common.” ref
“In 2005, the Mitochondrial DNA of 31 prehistoric skeletons dated from the site of Taforalt, Morocco in a cave called ‘Grotte des pigeons’ was analyzed by the Tunisian geneticist Rym Kefi (Pasteur Institute of Tunis) and her team. The remains at Taforalt were dated between 23,000 and 10,800 years ago (Ferembach 1985). Later analysis of bones and charcoals using a high precision radiocarbon chronology showed that the Iberomaurusian industry appeared in TAF at least 22,093–21,420 years ago (Barton et al. 2013). In 2016 the research also included 8 skeletons from the Algerian Iberomaurusian site called ‘Afalou’. The Afalou site is dated from 15,000 to 11,000 years ago. 23 individuals from the original 2005 Taforalt sample were determined in Kefi’s 2016 article to be of the maternal genetic lineage U6 and of Eurasian haplogroups H, U, R0, and at the Algerian Afalou site maternal groups were JT, J, T, H, R0a1 and U. This suggests genetic flow between North Africa and southern Mediterranean littoral since the Epipaleolithic.” ref
“Haplogroup R0 derives from the macro-haplogroup R. It is an ancestral clade to the R0a subclade and haplogroup HV, and is therefore antecedent to the haplogroups H and V. R0’s greater subclade variety in the Arabian Peninsula suggests that the clade originated in and spread from there. R0a is believed to have evolved in Ice Age oases in South Arabia around 22,000 years ago. The subclade would then have spread from there with the onset of the Late Glacial period circa 15,000 years ago. Haplogroup R0 has been found in around 55% of osteological remains belonging to the Eneolithic Trypillia culture. The R0 clade has also been found among Iberomaurusian specimens at the Taforalt and Afalou prehistoric sites, which date from the Epipaleolithic. Among the Taforalt individuals, around 17% of the observed haplotypes belonged to various R0 subclades, including R0a1a (3/24; 13%) and R0a2c (1/24; 4%). Among the Afalou individuals, one R0a1a haplotype was detected (1/9; 11%).” ref
“R0 DNA has likewise been observed among mummies excavated at the Abusir el-Meleq archaeological site in Middle Egypt, which date from the Pre-Ptolemaic/late New Kingdom, Ptolemaic, and Roman periods. R0 today occurs commonly in the Arabian peninsula, with its highest frequency observed nearby among the Soqotri (40.7%). The Soqotri also have the greatest R0 subclade diversity. The clade is likewise found at high frequencies among the Kalash in South Asia (23%). Additionally, moderate frequencies of R0 occur in Northeast Africa, Anatolia, the Iranian Plateau and Dalmatia. The haplogroup has been observed among Chad Arabs (19%), Sudanese Copts (13.8%), Tigrais (13.6%), Somalis (13.3%), Oromos (13.3%), Afar (12.5%), Amhara (11.5%), Gurage (10%), Reguibate Sahrawi (9.26%; 0.93% R0a and 8.33% R0a1a).” ref
Rare human mitochondrial HV lineages spread from the Near East, and Caucasus during post-LGM and Neolithic expansions.
“Within haplogroup HV*(xH,V), HV1a1a is unusual for its extraordinary geographic distribution. Although rare, HV1a1a is present in the Caucasus, the Near East, Central and Northeast Asia, North Africa, and Italy. A previous study designating Siberian-specific HV1a1a1 and HV1a1a2 lineages has speculated about the West Asian origin of these subclades. We were able to identify a sister subclade of HV1a1a1, hereby designated as HV1a1a3, comprising Iranian and Armenian lineages. Within HV1a1a, we also introduce an older subclade, HV1a1a4, which represents shared ancestry of its Italian and Yemeni lineages at 6,100 – 7,900 years ago.” ref
“The HV1a2 and HV1a3 subclades are distinctive from HV1a1 by virtue of their predominant presence in Africa and Yemen. The phylogeny of the HV1a2, the larger and older of the two (6,800 –12,500 years ago), shows some parallels with that of HV1a1: Assyrian, Armenian, and Italian mitogenomes are present, with the latter comprising a deep branch that separates it from the root with eight mutations (Fig. 2). HV1b contains two main branches: HV1b1, found in Arabia and East Africa, and a larger subclade defined by the T152C! mutation. HV1b-152 is subsequently divided into HV1b2 and HV1b3, present in Eastern Europe and Armenia, respectively. With regard to the relationship between Italian and Near Eastern lineages, the phylogeny of HV1b resembles that of previously described HV1a subclades; an Italian lineage forms an extremely deep branch off the root of HV1b (12,000 – 17,200 years ago). Curiously, three Sardinian mitogenomes represent a younger branch (8,000 years ago) within the otherwise exclusively Armenian HV1b3 subclade.” ref
“Unlike the exclusively European HV4a1, HV4a2 has been found among Assyrians and Armenians, as well as in Jordan, Egypt and Italy. We estimate the age of HV4a2 and the exclusively Assyrian HV4a2a subclades at 8,200 – 12,500 and 3,300 – 4,200 years ago, respectively. We also identified an Assyrian branch within HV4b, a small subclade previously reported from the Caucasus. Likely that HV-16311 first emerged in Anatolia around 17 kya. While most of HV-16311 lineages soon expanded westward into Europe, probably during the post-LGM and Neolithic migrations, an eastward migration introduced the HV14 or its precursors to Iranian plateau by 12,000 years ago. HV*(xH,V) subclades shared between Italy and the Near East characterize two distinct migratory events.” ref
“Post-Glacial migration from the Near East to Europe: Parallel phylogenies of HV1a1, HV1a2, HV1b and HV4b point to a division of exclusively Italian lineages from the Caucasus/Near East lineages no later than 12 kya. The phylogeography of these subclades (Supplementary Fig. S1) suggests an expansion from the South Caucasus or northern Mesopotamia into Europe, as well as to Africa and Asia. Our proposed ages of 12–16 kya for branching of the oldest European HV*(xH,V) lineages from the Caucasus/Near East lineages correlate with the start of the first post-LGM warm period in Europe around 14,700 years ago. Studies of other mtDNA haplogroups have provided substantial evidence for a migratory event of similar age being responsible for introducing a variety of Near Eastern haplogroups (I, W, J-T) to Europe.” ref
“The aDNA evidence also reveals a major change in the mitochondrial makeup of Europe around 14,500 years ago, although to date HV*(xH,V) has not been found in pre-Neolithic Europe or Near Eastern sites. We attribute the lack of aDNA evidence to the small population size of HV*(xH,V) clade before the Neolithic period (Supplementary Fig. S4), and predict that further study of pre-Neolithic sites in Southern Europe, especially Italy, will reveal the presence of HV*(xH,V) lineages, likely from HV1a, HV1b, and HV4b subclades. Given the significance of South Caucasus in phylogeography of HV*(xH,V), it is noteworthy that genomic similarities have been observed between the Caucasus “Satsurblia” individuals (10,000–13,000 years ago) and the “Villabruna Cluster” Europeans (7,000–14,000 years ago). It should be noted that these results do not necessarily indicate a relationship between these two groups, and data can also be explained by population structure.” ref
“Neolithic expansion into Europe: Several HV*(xH,V) subclades, including HV1b3 and HV18, point at an early Neolithic connection between Europe and the Near East. More specifically, these subclades represent branching events at 7,000–11,000 years ago between Italian and South Caucasus lineages (Supplementary Fig. S1). Ancient DNA studies have demonstrated that the first European farmers were descended from Neolithic northwestern Anatolians and Aegeans, and that the Neolithic Western Iranians are not ancestral to Neolithic Europeans. That said, the possible role of intermediate southeastern and central Anatolian populations in Neolithic migration to Europe has not been ruled out, and a recent study has revealed a secondary source of ancestry for Neolithic Europeans. With its Caucasus Hunter-Gatherer (CHG)-rich ancestry, this source population is likely related to Neolithic Central or Eastern Anatolia. Given the heavy presence of closely related Armenian and Assyrian lineages near the root of these HV*(xH,V) subclades, it is plausible that these lineages were introduced to Europe by Neolithic populations from southeastern or central Anatolia that are yet to be represented in aDNA studies.” ref
“Expansion into Africa: Certain HV*(xH,V) subclades seem to have expanded from the Near East and Europe into North Africa starting during the Neolithic period. The oldest of these African HV*(xH,V) subclades are similarly dated at 6,200–8,000 years ago (HV1a3) and 6,700–8,800 years ago (HV1b1), and are now found across Red Sea in Ethiopia and Somalia. For three reasons, these subclades are most likely of Near Eastern origin: The Yemeni HV1b1 haplotypes are ancestral to the African haplotypes, both HV1a3 and HV1b1 are more common in Yemen than among African populations, and that both subclades branch off the older clades believed to have originated in the Near East and the Caucasus. African and Yemeni haplotypes are also present in two younger subclades, HV4a2b (4,700–6,700 years ago) and HV1a1a4 (4,800–6,100 years ago), each comprising an Italian lineage. These subclades are likely representative of the early maritime activities in ancient Mediterranean world.” ref
“In an article entitled ‘Pleistocene North African genomes link Near Eastern and sub-Saharan African human populations’, Marieke Van de Loosdrecht et al. (2018) did a full genome-wide analysis including Y-DNA from seven ancient individuals from the Taforalt site. The fossils were directly dated to between 15,100 and 13,900 years ago. All males at Taforalt belonged to haplogroup E1b1b1a1 (M-78). This haplogroup occurs most frequently in present-day North and East African populations. The closely related E1b1b1b (M-123) haplogroup has been reported for Epipaleolithic Natufians and Pre-Pottery Neolithic Levantines. Loosdrecht states: “Present-day North Africans share a majority of their ancestry with present-day Near Easterners, but not with sub-Saharan Africans”, although the predominant Y-DNA of the Maghreb is E-M81 (see Haplogroup E-Z827).” ref
“Maternally, six individuals of the Taforalt remains bore the U6a haplogroup and one individual was of the M1b haplogroup, these Eurasian haplogroups proposed as markers for autochthonous Maghreb ancestry which might have been originally introduced into this region by a back-to-Africa migration from West Asia. A two-way admixture scenario using Natufian and modern sub-Saharan samples (including West Africans and the Tanzanian Hadza) as reference populations, inferred that the seven Taforalt individuals are best modeled genetically as 63.5% West-Eurasian-related and 36.5% sub-Saharan ancestry (with the latter having both West African-like and Hadza-like affinities), with no apparent gene flow from the Epigravettian culture of Paleolithic southern Europe.” ref
“However, the Sub-Saharan African DNA in Taforalt individuals was not found to have a good proxy in any present-day or ancient Holocene African groups. It was also found that if Iberomaurusians harbor sub-Saharan African-like ancestry, they would fail as a possible contributing source for Natufians or other Middle Eastern groups, except if the sub-Saharan African geneflow postdated Iberomaurusian geneflow into the Levant, or was a locally confined phenomenon. Jeong (2020) indicated that the Sub-Saharan African DNA of the Taforalt population has similarity with the remnant of a more basal African lineage (e.g. a basal Eurasian and/or basal West African lineage).” ref
“Iosif Lazaridis et al. (2018), as summarized by Rosa Fregel (2021), contested the conclusion of Loosdrecht (2018) and argued instead that the Iberomaurusian population of Upper Paleolithic North Africa, represented by the Taforalt sample, “can be better modeled as an admixture between a Dzudzuana [West Eurasian] component and a sub-Saharan African component” (or an “Ancient North African” component, “that may represent an even earlier split than the Basal Eurasians“). Iosif Lazaridis et al. (2018) also argued that an Iberomaurusian/Taforalt-like population contributed to the genetic composition of Natufians “and not the other way around”, and that this Iberomaurusian/Taforalt lineage also contributed around 13% ancestry to modern West Africans “rather than Taforalt having ancestry from an unknown Sub-Saharan African source”. Fregel (2021) summarized: “More evidence will be needed to determine the specific origin of the North African Upper Paleolithic populations.” ref
“Martiniano et al. (2022) later reassigned all the Taforalt samples to haplogroup E-M78 and none to E-L618, the predecessor to EV13. D’Atanasio et al. (2023) found that Iberomaurusian-like ancestry was characterizing for the unsampled “ancient Green Saharan” population about 12,000-5,000 years ago, and that modern-day Fula people derive around 30% of their ancestry from this ancient Saharan population, which was “modeled as a sister group of ancient Northern Africans, or alternatively, as an outgroup of all the “Eurasian-ancestry” enriched groups.” ref
Lake Chad
“Lake Chad is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area of 1,000,000 km2 (390,000 sq mi). It is an important wetland ecosystem in West-Central Africa. The lakeside is rich in reeds and swamps, and the plain along the lake is fertile, making it an important irrigated agricultural area. The lake is rich in aquatic resources and is one of the important freshwater fish producing areas in Africa. Around 20,000–40,000 years ago, eolianite sand dunes began to form in the north of the basin. The area of Lake Chad experienced four heydays between 39,000 and 300 BCE, leaving thick diatomaceous earth and lacustrine deposits in the strata.” ref
“Lake Chad is divided into deeper southern parts and shallower northern parts. The water source of the lake mainly comes from rivers such as the Chari River that enter the lake. The water level varies greatly seasonally, and the area of the lake also changes dramatically. During the African humid period, the area of Lake Chad reached 400,000 km2 (150,000 sq mi). Due to the increasingly arid climate, the lake surface gradually shrank. In the 19th century, Lake Chad still had an area of 28,000 km2 (11,000 sq mi). However, due to climate change and human water diversion, Lake Chad has been greatly reduced since the mid-1970s, and its area has fluctuated between 2,000 and 5,000 km2 (770 and 1,930 sq mi).” ref
“The vast waters formed during the African humid period provided conditions for the emergence of lakeside fishermen’s settlements, and the Nilo-Saharan ethnic group also migrated to Lake Chad during this period. Agriculture also emerged in the Sahel region at this time. By 1800 BCE, a pottery culture known as Gajiganna had emerged, initially as pastoralists, but, starting around 1500 BCE, living in settled hamlets at the side of the lake. Permanent villages were established to the south of the lake by 500 BCE, and major archaeological discoveries include the Sao civilization.” ref
“Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon to the southwest, Nigeria to the southwest (at Lake Chad), and Niger to the west. Chad has several regions: the Sahara desert in the north, an arid zone in the center known as the Sahel, and a more fertile Sudanian Savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the second-largest wetland in Africa. It is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups.” ref
“In the 7th millennium BCE, ecological conditions in the northern half of Chadian territory favored human settlement, and its population increased considerably. Some of the most important African archaeological sites are found in Chad, mainly in the Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region; some date to earlier than 2000 BCE. For more than 2,000 years, the Chadian Basin has been inhabited by agricultural and sedentary people. The region became a crossroads of civilizations. The earliest of these was the legendary Sao, known from artifacts and oral histories. The Sao fell to the Kanem Empire, the first and longest-lasting of the empires that developed in Chad’s Sahelian strip by the end of the 1st millennium CE.” ref
Human Y chromosome haplogroup R-V88: a paternal genetic record of early mid Holocene trans-Saharan connections and the spread of Chadic languages
“Although human Y chromosomes belonging to haplogroup R1b are quite rare in Africa, being found mainly in Asia and Europe, a group of chromosomes within the paragroup R-P25* are found concentrated in the central-western part of the African continent, where they can be detected at frequencies as high as 95%. Phylogenetic evidence and coalescence time estimates suggest that R-P25* chromosomes (or their phylogenetic ancestor) may have been carried to Africa by an Asia-to-Africa back migration in prehistoric times. Here, we describe six new mutations that define the relationships among the African R-P25* Y chromosomes and between these African chromosomes and earlier reported R-P25 Eurasian sub-lineages. The incorporation of these new mutations into a phylogeny of the R1b haplogroup led to the identification of a new clade (R1b1a or R-V88) encompassing all the African R-P25* and about half of the few European/west Asian R-P25* chromosomes. A worldwide phylogeographic analysis of the R1b haplogroup provided strong support to the Asia-to-Africa back-migration hypothesis. The analysis of the distribution of the R-V88 haplogroup in >1800 males from 69 African populations revealed a striking genetic contiguity between the Chadic-speaking peoples from the central Sahel and several other Afroasiatic-speaking groups from North Africa. The R-V88 coalescence time was estimated at 9200–5600 years ago, in the early mid Holocene. We suggest that R-V88 is a paternal genetic record of the proposed mid-Holocene migration of proto-Chadic Afroasiatic speakers through the Central Sahara into the Lake Chad Basin, and geomorphological evidence is consistent with this view.” ref
R1b-v88 haplogroup
“Haplogroup R1b is the most frequently occurring paternal lineage in Western Europe, as well as some parts of Russia (e.g. the Bashkirs) and across the Sahel in Central Africa, namely: Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal (concentrated in parts of Chad with concentration in the Hausa Tribe and among the Chadic-speaking ethnic groups of Cameroon). The clade is also present at lower frequencies throughout Eastern Europe, Western Asia, Central Asia as well as parts of North Africa, South Asia and Central Asia. R1b has two primary branches: R1b1-L754 and R1b2-PH155. R1b1-L754 has two major subclades: R1b1a1b-M269, which predominates in Western Europe, and R1b1b-V88, which is today common in parts of Central Africa. The oldest example of R* has been found in an Ancient North Eurasian sample from Siberia (Mal’ta boy, 24,000 years ago), and its precursor P1 has been found in another Ancient North Eurasian sample from northern Siberia (Yana RHS) dating from c. 31,600 years ago. R-V88 (R1b1b): the most common forms of R1b found among males native to Sub-Saharan Africa, also found rarely elsewhere.” ref
“R1b1b (R-V88): R1b1b (PF6279/V88; previously R1b1a2) is defined by the presence of SNP marker V88, the discovery of which was announced in 2010 by Cruciani et al. Apart from individuals in southern Europe and Western Asia, the majority of R-V88 was found in the Sahel, especially among populations speaking Afroasiatic languages of the Chadic branch. Based on a detailed phylogenic analysis, D’Atanasio et al. (2018) proposed that R1b-V88 originated in Europe about 12,000 years ago and crossed to North Africa between 8,000 and 7,000 years ago, during the ‘Green Sahara‘ period. R1b-V1589, the main subclade within R1b-V88, underwent a further expansion around 5,500 years ago, likely in the Lake Chad Basin region, from which some lines recrossed the Sahara to North Africa. Two branches of R-V88, R-M18 and R-V35, are found almost exclusively on the island of Sardinia. As can be seen in the above data table, R-V88 is found in northern Cameroon in west central Africa at a very high frequency, where it is considered to be caused by a pre-Islamic movement of people from Eurasia.” ref
“Marcus et al. (2020) provide strong evidence for this proposed model of North to South trans-Saharan movement: The earliest basal R1b-V88 haplogroups are found in several Eastern European Hunter Gatherers close to 11,000 years ago. The haplogroup then seemingly spread with the expansion of Neolithic farmers, who established agriculture in the Western Mediterranean by around 7,500 years ago. R1b-V88 haplogroups were identified in ancient Neolithic individuals in Germany, central Italy, Iberia, and, at a particularly high frequency, in Sardinia. A part of the branch leading to present-day African haplogroups (V2197) was already derived in Neolithic European individuals from Spain and Sardinia, providing further support for a North to South trans-Saharan movement.” ref
“European autosomal ancestry, mtDNA haplogroups, and lactase persistence alleles have also been identified in African populations that carry R1b-V88 at a high frequency, such as the Fulani and Toubou. The presence of European Neolithic farmers in Africa is further attested by samples from Morocco dating from c. 5,400 BCE onwards. Studies in 2005–08 reported “R1b*” at high levels in Jordan, Egypt and Sudan. Subsequent research by Myres et al. (2011) indicates that the samples concerned most likely belong to the subclade R-V88. According to Myres et al. (2011), this may be explained by a back-migration from Asia into Africa by R1b-carrying people. Contrary to other studies, Shriner & Rotimi (2018) associated the introduction of R1b into Chad with the more recent movements of Baggara Arabs.” ref
“Both the Kiffian and Tenerian cultures from the “green” Sahara, the two cultures were “biologically distinct groups.” ref
Kiffian culture
“The Kiffian culture is a prehistoric industry, or domain, that existed between approximately 8,000 and 6,000 BCE in the Sahara Desert, during the African humid period referred to as the Neolithic Subpluvial. Human remains from this culture were found at a site known as Gobero, located in Niger in the Ténéré Desert. The site is known as the largest and earliest burial place of Stone Age people in the Sahara desert.” ref
“The Kiffians were skilled hunters. Bones of many large savannah animals that were discovered in the same area suggest that they lived on the shores of a lake that was present during the Holocene Wet Phase, a period when the Sahara desert was verdant and wet. The Kiffian people were tall, standing over six feet in height. A craniometric analysis by Sereno et al. suggests that this early Holocene population was related to the Late Pleistocene Iberomaurusians and early Holocene Capsians of the Maghreb, as well as mid-Holocene Mechta groups.” ref
“Based on dental evidence, Joel D. Irish of Liverpool John Moores University suggests sub-Saharan West African affinities for the Kiffians, in turn suggesting that the common ancestors of West African and Proto-Bantu peoples may have originated in the southwestern region of the Sahara amid the Kiffian period at Gobero, and may have migrated southward from the Sahara into various parts of West Africa (e.g., Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo) as a result of desertification of the Green Sahara in 7000 BCE.” ref
“From parts of southeast Nigeria and Cameroon, agricultural Proto-Bantu peoples began to migrate, and amid migration, diverged into East Bantu peoples (e.g., Democratic Republic of Congo) and West Bantu peoples (e.g., Congo, Gabon) between 2500 BCE and 1200 BCE. Kiffians may have been Nilo-Saharan or Niger-Congo speakers. Traces of the Kiffian culture do not exist after 6,000 BCE, as the Sahara went through a dry period for the next thousand years. After this time, the Tenerian culture colonized the area.” ref
Tenerian culture (related to Turtle Man)
“The Tenerian culture is a prehistoric industry that existed between the 5th millennium BCE and mid-3rd millennium BCE or around 7,000 to 4,500 years ago in the Sahara Desert. This spans the Neolithic Subpluvial and later desiccation, during the middle Holocene. Human remains belonging to the Tenerian culture were first found at Adrar Bous in the Aïr Mountains. Other Tenerian specimens were also discovered at Gobero, located in Niger in the Ténéré desert. This region was lush at the time, and Tenerians were specialized cattle herders who also occasionally fished and hunted.” ref
“Two distinct prehistoric cultures were discovered at the site: the early Holocene Kiffian culture, and the middle Holocene Tenerian culture. The Kiffians were a prehistoric people who preceded the Tenerians and vanished approximately 8,000 years ago, when the desert became very dry. The desiccation lasted until around 4600 BCE, the period to when the earliest artifacts associated with the Tenerians have been dated. Some 200 skeletons have been discovered at Gobero, Niger.
“The Tenerians were considerably shorter in height and less robust than the earlier peoples associated with Kiffian culture. Craniometric analysis also indicates that they were osteologically distinct. The Kiffian skulls are akin to those of the Late Pleistocene Iberomaurusians, early Holocene Capsians, and mid-Holocene Mechta groups, whereas the Tenerian crania are more like those of Mediterranean groups.” ref
“Graves show that the Tenerians observed spiritual traditions, as they were buried with artifacts such as jewelry made of hippo tusks and clay pots. The most interesting find is a triple burial of an adult female and two children, dated to 5300 years ago. The fossil has been estimated through their teeth as being five and eight years old, hugging each other. Pollen residue indicates they were buried on a bed of flowers. The three are assumed to have died within 24 hours of each other, but as their skeletons hold no apparent trauma (they did not die violently) and they have been buried so elaborately – unlikely if they had died of a plague – the cause of their deaths is a mystery.” ref
“Tenerians may have been Nilo-Saharan speakers who descended from the Kiffians, or been proto-Afroasiatic speakers. Approximately 4500 years ago, the region became dry again. The Tenerian culture vanished, with its makers possibly seeking new pasturage elsewhere.” ref
“The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of around 210 African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of the Nile meet. The languages extend through 17 nations in the northern half of Africa: from Algeria to Benin in the west; from Libya to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the center; and from Egypt to Tanzania in the east. As indicated by its hyphenated name, Nilo-Saharan is a family of the African interior, including the greater Nile Basin and the Central Sahara Desert. Eight of its proposed constituent divisions (excluding Kunama, Kuliak, and Songhay) are found in the modern countries of Sudan and South Sudan, through which the Nile River flows.” ref
“In his book The Languages of Africa (1963), Joseph Greenberg named the group and argued it was a genetic family. It contained all the languages that were not included in the Niger–Congo, Afroasiatic, or Khoisan families. Although some linguists have referred to the phylum as “Greenberg’s wastebasket,” into which he placed all the otherwise unaffiliated non-click languages of Africa, other specialists in the field have accepted it as a working hypothesis since Greenberg’s classification. Linguists accept that it is a challenging proposal to demonstrate but contend that it looks more promising the more work is done. Some of the constituent groups of Nilo-Saharan are estimated to predate the African neolithic. For example, the unity of Eastern Sudanic is estimated to date to at least the 5th millennium BCE. Nilo-Saharan genetic unity would thus be much older still and date to the late Upper Paleolithic. The earliest written language associated with the Nilo-Saharan family is Old Nubian, one of the oldest written African languages, attested in writing from the 8th to the 15th century CE.” ref
“This larger classification system is not accepted by all linguists, however. Glottolog (2013), for example, a publication of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, does not recognise the unity of the Nilo-Saharan family or even of the Eastern Sudanic branch; Georgiy Starostin (2016) likewise does not accept a relationship between the branches of Nilo-Saharan, though he leaves open the possibility that some of them may prove to be related to each other once the necessary reconstructive work is done. According to Güldemann (2018), “the current state of research is not sufficient to prove the Nilo-Saharan hypothesis.” ref
“Within the Nilo-Saharan languages are a number of languages with at least a million speakers (most data from SIL’s Ethnologue 16 (2009)). In descending order:
- Luo (Dholuo, 4.4 million). Dholuo language of the Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania, Kenya’s third largest ethnicity after the Bantu-speaking Agĩkũyũ and Luhya). (The term “Luo” is also used for a wider group of languages which includes Dholuo.)
- Kanuri (4.0 million, all dialects; 4.7 million if Kanembu is included). The major ethnicity around Lake Chad.
- Zarma (6 million). Spread along the Niger River in Niger and into Nigeria, in the southern region of the historic Songhai Empire.
- Teso (1.9 million). Related to Karamojong, Turkana, Toposa and Nyangatom
- Nubian (1.7 million, all dialects). The language of Nubia, extending today from southern Egypt into northern Sudan. Many Nubians have also migrated northwards to Cairo since the building of the Aswan Dam.
- Lugbara (1.7 million, 2.2 if Aringa (Low Lugbara) is included). The major Central Sudanic language; Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Nandi–Markweta languages (Kalenjin, 1.6 million). Kenyan Rift Valley, Kapchorua Uganda.
- Lango (1.5 million). A Luo language, one of the major languages of Uganda.
- Dinka (1.4 million). The major ethnicity of South Sudan.
- Acholi (1.2 million). Another Luo language of Uganda.
- Nuer (1.1 million in 2011, significantly more today). The language of the Nuer, another numerous people from South Sudan and Ethiopia.
- Maasai (1.0 million). Spoken by the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania.
- Ngambay (1.0 million with Laka). Central Sudanic, the principal language of southern Chad.” ref
“Some other important Nilo-Saharan languages under 1 million speakers:
- Fur (500,000 in 1983, significantly more today). The eponymous language of Darfur Province in western Sudan.
- Tubu (350,000 to 400,000) One of the northernmost Nilo-Saharan languages, extending from Nigeria, Niger, and Chad into Libya. Most Tubu speakers live in Northern Chad close to the Tibesti Mountains. Tubu has two main varieties: the Daza language and the Teda language.” ref
“The total for all speakers of Nilo-Saharan languages according to Ethnologue 16 is 38–39 million people. However, the data spans a range from ca. 1980 to 2005, with a weighted median at ca. 1990. Given population growth rates, the figure in 2010 might be half again higher, or about 60 million. Niger-Saharan, a language macrofamily linking the Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan phyla, was proposed by Blench (2006). By 2015, and again in 2017, Blench had refined the subclassification of this model, linking Maban with Fur, Kadu with Eastern Sudanic, and Kuliak with the node that contained them, and added a tentative, extinct branch he names “Plateau” as to explain a possible Nilo-Saharan substrate in the Malian Dogon and Bangime languages.” ref
“A strong relationship between human and animal: a cow with a modified ‘neck’ pendant and horns. Cattle were even buried alongside humans in massive cemeteries, signaling an intimate link between person, animal, and group identity. When the prehistoric artists painted cattle on their rock canvasses in what is now Sudan, the desert was a grassy savannah. It was brimming with pools, rivers, swamps -and- waterholes, and typical African game such as elephants, rhinos, and cheetah – very different to the deserts of today. Cattle were not just a source of meat and milk. Close inspection of the rock art and in the archaeological record reveals these animals were modified by their owners. Horns were deformed, skin decorated, and artificial folds fashioned on their neck, so-called “pendants”. This “green Sahara” is a vital period in human history. In North Africa, this was when agriculture began, and livestock were domesticated. In this small “wet gap”, around 8,000–7,000 years ago, local nomads adopted cattle and other livestock such as sheep and goats from their neighbors to the north in Egypt and the Middle East.” ref
Around 10,500 years ago, taurine cattle were domesticated from wild aurochs progenitors in central Anatolia, the Levant, and Western Iran.
“Cattle have played a key role in human history, having been domesticated since at least the early neolithic age. Archaeozoological and genetic data indicate that cattle were first domesticated from wild aurochs (Bos primigenius) approximately 10,500 years ago. There were two major areas of domestication: one in central Anatolia, the Levant and Western Iran, giving rise to the taurine line, and a second in the area that is now Pakistan, resulting in the indicine line. Modern mitochondrial DNA variation indicates the taurine line may have arisen from as few as 80 aurochs tamed in the upper reaches of Mesopotamia near the villages of Çayönü Tepesi in what is now southeastern Turkey, and Dja’de el-Mughara in what is now northern Syria.” ref
“Some researchers have suggested that African taurine cattle are derived from a third independent domestication from the North African aurochs. Whether there have been two or three domestications, European, African, and Asian cattle share much of their genomes both through their species ancestry and through repeated migrations of livestock and genetic material between species, as shown in the diagram. From early in civilisation, cattle have been used in barter; an advantage of using cattle as currency is that it allows the seller to set a fixed price. Cattle play a part in several religions. Veneration of the cow is a symbol of Hindu community identity.” ref
“All cattle are descended from as few as 80 animals that were domesticated from wild ox in the Near East some 10,500 years ago, according to a new genetic study. The team examined how small differences in the DNA sequences of those ancient cattle, as well as cattle living today, could have arisen given different population histories. Using computer simulations they found that the DNA differences could only have arisen if a small number of animals, approximately 80, were domesticated from wild ox (aurochs). The number of animals domesticated has important implications for the archaeological study of domestication. Archaeological studies on the number and size of prehistoric animal bone have shown that not only cattle, but also goats, sheep and pigs were all first domesticated in the Near East. “A small number of cattle progenitors is consistent with the restricted area for which archaeologists have evidence for early cattle domestication ca. 10,500 years ago. This restricted area could be explained by the fact that cattle breeding, contrary to, for example, goat herding, would have been very difficult for mobile societies, and that only some of them were actually sedentary at that time in the Near East.” ref
“Management and domestication of cattle (Bos taurus) in Neolithic Southwest Asia
- The traditional narrative that taurine cattle domestication occurred 8,500 BCE in the Euphrates valley, Syria is critiqued.
- Domestic cattle are argued to appear later than widely acknowledged in a wide area of Southwest Asia.
- The “pre-domestic management” of cattle preceded the appearance of a domestic phenotype perhaps prior to 8,500 BCE.
- Pre-domestic cattle management, as well as early morphologically domestic cattle, likely emerged in multiple regions of Southwest Asia rather than in one center.
- Cattle are one of the most significant animal partners in human history, and the origins of cattle management as well as domestic cattle have been the focus of scholarly interest for decades. Here, we assess evidence for the management and domestication of taurine cattle (Bos taurus) in prehistoric Southwest (SW) Asia, focusing on archaeological and ancient DNA datasets. Although related, the histories of “cattle management” and “domestic cattle” represent two separate questions. The former refers to a range of techniques including penning, foddering, dairying, mate selection, and selective culling which may vary in intensity, whereas the latter describes biological changes associated with human husbandry, reproductive isolation from progenitors, and selection pressures within an anthropogenic environment.
- The dominant narrative describing cattle domestication places its origin within the early farming settlements of the Fertile Crescent region of SW Asia dating to the ninth millennium BCE (a period known as the Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B [PPNB]). However, we argue that this narrative is based on models which imagine a single geographic center of innovation and emphasize biometric evidence for body size diminution, i.e., the history of “domestic cattle” rather than “cattle management.” We critique this narrative arguing that the appearance of “domestic cattle” in the ninth millennium BCE is largely a mirage and that domestic phenotypes in fact appear in the eighth millennium BCE. However, the management of cattle must have preceded changes in phenotype and likely emerged a millennium or more earlier across a wide geographic region including much of the northern and southern Levant—temporal and geographic patterns that fit with recent interpretations of the histories of other livestock.” ref
Cattle in Religion and Mythology
“There are varying beliefs about cattle in societies and religions. Cattle are considered sacred in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, as well as in African paganism. Cattle played other major roles in many religions, including those of ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, ancient Israel, ancient Rome. In some regions, especially most states of India, the slaughter of cattle is prohibited and their meat (beef) may be taboo.
Egypt
In ancient Egyptian religion, bulls symbolized strength and male sexuality and were linked with aggressive deities such as Montu and virile deities such as Min. Some Egyptian cities kept sacred bulls that were said to be incarnations of divine powers, including the Mnevis bull, Buchis bull, and the Apis bull, which was regarded as a manifestation of the god Ptah and was the most important sacred animal in Egypt. Cows were connected with fertility and motherhood. One of several ancient Egyptian creation myths said that a cow goddess, Mehet-Weret, who represented the primeval waters that existed before creation, gave birth to the sun at the beginning of time. The sky was sometimes envisioned as a goddess in the form of a cow, and several goddesses, including Hathor, Nut, and Neith, were equated with this celestial cow. The Egyptians did not regard cattle as uniformly positive. Wild bulls, regarded as symbols of the forces of chaos, could be hunted and ritually killed.” ref
Nubia
“As cattle were a central part of the pastoralist economy of Ancient Nubia, Africa, they also played a prominent role in their culture and mythology, as evidenced by their inclusion in burials and rock art. Starting in the Neolithic period, cattle skulls, also known as bucrania, were often placed alongside human burials. Bucrania were a status symbol, and they were used frequently in adult male burials, occasionally in adult female burials, and rarely in child burials. In cemeteries at Kerma, there is a strong correlation between the number of bucrania and the quantity and lavishness of other grave goods. Dozens if not hundreds of cattle were often slaughtered as tribute for the burial of one individual; 400 bucrania were found at one tumulus alone at Kerma. The use of cattle skulls rather than those of sheep or goats reveals the importance of cattle in their pastoral economy, as well as the cultural associations of cattle with wealth, prosperity, and passage into the afterlife. Sometimes complete cattle were buried alongside their owner, symbolic of their relationship continuing into the afterlife.” ref
“Beginning in the third millennium BCE, cattle became the most popular motif in Nubian rock art. The bodies are usually depicted in profile, while the horns are facing forward. The length and shape of the horns and the pattern on the hide varied widely. Human silhouettes are often drawn alongside the cattle, symbolic of the important symbiotic relationship between cattle and humans. For pastoralists, drawing cattle may have also been a way to ensure the health of their herd. The role of cattle in Nubian mythology is more covert than in Egypt to the north, where several gods are often depicted as cattle; however, the significance of cattle in Nubian culture is evident in burial practices, understandings of the afterlife, and rock art.” ref
Cattle in religion
“Cattle were associated with a number of national and local gods and goddesses. Hathor and Bat were shown from earliest times with a cow’s head or human face with cow ears. The Apis bull – worshipped and buried at Memphis/Saqqara – was the herald of Ptah. This god is already known since the Early Dynastic Period (for example the name Ni-maat-Hap – Apis belongs to the truth). The Mnevis (Egyptian: Menwer) bull was connected with the sun-god Ra in Heliopolis, and bears the title herald of Ra: this is probably the deity mentioned in the pyramid texts as the bull of Iunu (Heliopolis). The Buchis bull was related to the god Montu of Armant. All these three bulls were each identified with a single living bull and buried with great ceremony; after which a new bull was selected to be the next incarnation that ‘herald’. Hathor is the most popular goddess shown either as cow, or with attributes of a cow, such as human being with cow ears, or a human being with a cow head or with a cow horn crown.” ref
Proto Saharan (5000 – 3000 BCE)
“Perhaps the world’s oldest known form of writing are inscriptions of what some archaeologists and linguists have termed, “Proto Saharan” near the Kharga oasis west of so-called “Nubia” that date to at least 5000 BCE.” ref
“Inscriptions, of what some archaeologists and linguists have termed “proto-Saharan,” near the Kharga Oasis, west of what was considered Nubia, may date back to as early as 5000 BCE.” ref
Saharan languages
Geographic distribution: Chad, Nigeria, Niger, Sudan, Cameroon
“The Saharan languages are a small family of languages across parts of the eastern Sahara, extending from northwestern Sudan to southern Libya, north and central Chad, eastern Niger and northeastern Nigeria. Noted Saharan languages include Kanuri (9.5 million speakers, around Lake Chad in Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon), Daza (700,000 speakers, Chad), Teda (60,000 speakers, northern Chad), and Zaghawa (350,000 speakers, eastern Chad and Sudan). They have been classified as part of the hypothetical but controversial Nilo-Saharan family.” ref
Chadic languages
“The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 196 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger, southern Chad, and northern Cameroon. By far the most widely spoken Chadic language is Hausa, a lingua franca of much of inland Eastern West Africa, particularly Niger and the northern half of Nigeria. Chadic languages contain many Nilo-Saharan loanwords from either the Songhay or Maban branches, pointing to early contact between Chadic and Nilo-Saharan speakers as Chadic was migrating west.” ref
Traditional Chadic religions
“Ancestors play an important role in Chadian classical religions. They are thought to span the gap between the supernatural and natural worlds. They connect these two worlds specifically by linking living lineage members with their earliest forebears. Because of their proximity, and because they once walked among the living, ancestors are prone to intervene in daily affairs. This intervention is particularly likely in the case of the recently deceased, who are thought to spend weeks or months in limbo between the living and the dead. Many religious observances include special rituals to propitiate these spirits, encourage them to take their leave with serenity, and restore the social order their deaths have disrupted.” ref
“Spirits are also numerous. These invisible beings inhabit a parallel world and sometimes reside in particular places or are associated with particular natural phenomena. Among the Mbaye, a Sara subgroup, water, and lightning spirits are thought to bring violent death and influence other spirits to intervene in daily life. The sun spirit, capable of rendering service or causing harm, also must be propitiated. Spirits may live in family groups with spouses and children. They are also capable of taking human, animal, or plant forms when they appear among the living. The supernatural powers that control natural events are also of major concern. Among farming peoples, rituals to propitiate such powers are associated with the beginning and end of the agricultural cycle. Among the Sara, the new year begins with the appearance of the first new moon following the harvest. The next day, people hunt with nets and fire, offering the catch to their ancestors. Libations are offered to ancestors, and the first meal from the new harvest is consumed.” ref
“Among the more centralized societies of Chad, the ruler is frequently associated with divine power. Poised at the apex of society, he or (more rarely) she is responsible for good relations with the supernatural forces that sanction and maintain the social order. For example, among the Moundang, the gon lere of Léré is responsible for relations with the sky spirits. And among the Sara Madjingay, the mbang (chief) of the village of Bédaya controls religious rituals that preserve and renew the social order. Even after the coming of Islam, the symbols of such authority reinforced the rulers of nominally Islamic states such as Wadai, Kanem-Borno, and Bagirmi.” ref
“Finally, most classical African religions involve belief in a supreme being who created the world and its inhabitants but who then retired from active intervention in human affairs. As a result, shrines to a high god are uncommon, and people tend to appeal to the lesser spirits; yet the notion of a supreme being may have helped the spread of Christianity. When missionaries arrived in southern Chad, they often used the local name of this high god to refer to the Christian supreme being. Thus, although a much more interventionist spirit, the Christian god was recognizable to the people. This recognition probably facilitated conversion, but it may also have ironically encouraged syncretism (the mixing of religious traditions), a practice disturbing to many missionaries and to Protestants in particular. Followers of classical African religions would probably not perceive any necessary contradiction between accepting the Christian god and continuing to believe in the spirits just described.” ref
“Because the order is thought to be the natural, desirable state, the disorder is not happenstance. Classical African religions devote considerable energy to the maintenance of order and the determination of who or what is responsible for disorder. In the case of illness, for example, it is of the greatest importance to ascertain which spirit or which person is responsible for undermining the natural order; only then is it possible to prescribe a remedy. In such circumstances, people frequently take their cases to ritual specialists, who divine the threats to harmony and recommend appropriate action. Such specialists share their knowledge only with peers. Indeed, they themselves have probably acquired such knowledge incrementally as they made their way through elaborate apprenticeships.” ref
“Although classical African religions provide institutionalized ways of maintaining or restoring community solidarity, they also allow individuals to influence the cosmic order to advance their own interests. Magic and sorcery both serve this end. From society’s standpoint, magic is positive or neutral. On the one hand, magicians try to influence life forces to alter the physical world, perhaps to bring good fortune or a return to health. Sorcerers, on the other hand, are antisocial, using sorcery (or “black magic”) to control or consume the vital force of others. Unlike magicians, whose identity is generally known, sorcerers hide their supernatural powers, practicing their nefarious rites in secret. When misfortune occurs, people often suspect that sorcery is at the root of their troubles. They seek counsel from diviners or magicians to identify the responsible party and ways to rectify the situation; if the disruption is deemed to threaten everyone, leaders may act on behalf of the community at large. If discovered, sorcerers are punished.” ref
“The survival of any society requires that knowledge be passed from one generation to another. In many Chadian societies, this transmission is marked by ritual. Knowledge of the world and its forces is limited to adults; among the predominantly patrilineal societies of Chad, it is further limited to men in particular. Rituals often mark the transition from childhood to adulthood. However, they actively “transform” children into adults, teaching them what adults must know to assume societal responsibilities. Although such rites differ among societies, the Sara yondo may serve as a model of male initiation ceremonies found in Chad. The yondo takes place at a limited number of sites every six or seven years.” ref
“Boys from different villages, usually accompanied by an elder, gather for the rites, which, before the advent of Western education with its nine-month academic calendar, lasted several months. In recent decades, the yondo has been limited to several weeks between academic years. The yondo and its counterparts among other Chadian societies reinforce male bonds and male authority. Women are not allowed to witness the rite. Their initiated sons and brothers no longer eat with them and go to live in separate houses. Although rites also mark the transition to womanhood in many Chadian societies, such ceremonies are much shorter. Rather than encouraging girls to participate in the larger society, they stress household responsibilities and deference to male authority.” ref
A PYRAMIND IN ZINDER NIGER – An Interview With Master Souley Garba
“This is an interview with the discoverer of the Dan Baki Pyramid in Zinder, Niger Republic, Nigerien Egyptologist Master Souley Garba.” ref
“In 1907 M. Louis Desplaques described in Le Plateau Central Nigérien a series of large tumuli—pyramids of earth—the burial places of chiefs of a past era. He notes their existence at El Walaji and as far east as Aménaka, near Zinder, on the banks of the Niger near the Bassa rapids, west to Sikassa, and on the banks of the Senegal. On archaeological grounds, supported by a well-known passage from the Arab writer El Behri, he concludes that they were built by “red” or Berber races of the same stratum of population as the ancient inhabitants of the Ghana Empire. “They remain,” he writes, “as the sole witnesses of the activity, the industry, and civilization of these ‘red’ peoples, whose names and real origin we do not know.” ref
Groups of Mega Chad Lake
“Three groups of structures have been distinguished. The first group represents ancient delta plains, comprising the largely altered terraces of the Angamma Delta, the inverted channels in the Goz Kerki, and the bulk of the Chari Palaeodelta complex. The structures of the first group lie slightly above more recent coastal geomorphic features. In the Goz Kerki area, were built during one or several LMC episodes, ranging between Late Pliocene and Late Pleistocene.” ref
“The second group comprises the extensively developed, slightly altered structures. In the Chari and Angamma Palaeodeltas, several sets of unconformable beachridge systems indicate an active phase of delta building in an LMC setting, either interrupted by successive lowstands (short-term dry periods), or more probably marked by river-mouth switching events (autocyclic changes). In the Goz Kerki area, wide spit structures were built. Although slightly older episodes, before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), cannot be totally ruled out, this LMC episode is most probably correlated with the lower Holocene major humid phase (10,000–8,000 years ago), in agreement with still active river runoff from the Tibesti Mountains at that time. A somewhat less wet period subsequently occurred, leading to a low stand phase, revealed in the Chari Palaeo-delta by river downcutting.” ref
“The third group of structures comprises the continuous, well-preserved longshore sandridge sealing all other older structures, as well as the subordinate, lower sandridges. Radiocarbon ages from the Goz Kerki area show that an LMC lasted until ca 5,300–4,400 years ago. This last LMC episode started after 7,000 years ago and corresponds to the middle Holocene wetter conditions identified in northern and central Africa. At that time, rivers from the Tibesti uplands flowed sporadically, but those from the Ennedi Mountains were still regularly active. Finally, with the onset of the period of aridification still prevailing today, the latest LMC started to regress. Subsequent receding lake levels are locally recorded as sandridges built at gradually lower elevations. The wave-ravinement surface reworking the flooded part of the Kanem dune field during LMC highstands results probably from the amalgamation of two erosion surfaces, which were active during both lower and middle Holocene.” ref
Dufuna Canoe/Boat
“The Dufuna canoe is a dugout canoe discovered in 1987 by a Fulani cattle herdsman a few kilometers from the village of Dufuna in the Fune Local Government Area, not far from the Komadugu Gana River, in Yobe State, Nigeria. Radiocarbon dating of a sample of charcoal found near the site dates the canoe at 8,500 to 8,000 years old, linking the site to Lake Chad. The canoe is 8.4 metres (28 ft) long and is 0.5 metres (1 ft 8 in) tall at it largest point. It is currently located in Damaturu, Nigeria. The Dufuna canoe was found in the village of Dufuna, which is located between Potiskum and Gashua, in Yobe State.” ref
“The canoe was found in a waterlogged state resting on a sandy bed with layers of clay between it and the surface protecting it in an oxygen-free environment. Examination of the canoe showed that the bow and stern had been skilfully worked to points, and that the work was carried out by “core axe-like and pick-axe bifacial tools of micro-lithic appearance”. Professor Breunig said that the skill of construction showed a long development and that the canoe was not a new design. In another study by an American science team in 2015, they found that Lake Chad had shrunk by 95% in forty years and therefore it could be assumed that area of the village of Dufuna would have been part of the lake’s flood plain in the distant past.” ref
“The canoe has been radiocarbon-dated at least twice, and was dated to 6556-6388 BCE and to 6164-6005 BCE, making it the oldest known boat in Africa and (after the Pesse canoe) the second oldest worldwide. It was probably created in a longstanding boat-making tradition and used in fishing along the Komadugu Gana River. It may have been constructed by members of a population group who occupied an area extending from the western Sahara to the Nile of central Sudan and to northern Kenya.” ref
Nok culture
“The Nok people and the Gajiganna people may have migrated from the Central Sahara, along with pearl millet and pottery, diverged prior to arriving in the northern region of Nigeria, and thus, settled in their respective locations in the region of Gajiganna and Nok. Nok people may have also migrated from the West African Sahel to the region of Nok. Nok culture may have emerged in 1500 BCE and continued to persist until 1 BCE. Nok people may have developed terracotta sculptures, through large-scale economic production, as part of a complex funerary culture that may have included practices such as feasting. The earliest Nok terracotta sculptures may have developed in 900 BCE. Some Nok terracotta sculptures portray figures wielding slingshots, as well as bows and arrows, which may be indicative of Nok people engaging in the hunting, or trapping, of undomesticated animals.” ref
“A Nok sculpture portrays two individuals, along with their goods, in a dugout canoe. Both of the anthropomorphic figures in the watercraft are paddling. The Nok terracotta depiction of a dugout canoe may indicate that Nok people used dugout canoes to transport cargo, along tributaries (e.g., Gurara River) of the Niger River, and exchanged them in a regional trade network. The Nok terracotta depiction of a figure with a seashell on its head may indicate that the span of these riverine trade routes may have extended to the Atlantic coast. In the maritime history of Africa, there is the earlier Dufuna canoe, which was constructed approximately 8,000 years ago in the northern region of Nigeria; as the second earliest form of water vessel known in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Nok terracotta depiction of a dugout canoe was created in the central region of Nigeria during the first millennium BCE.” ref
“As part of Nok traditional medicine, Nok ceramics may have been used to process roots and bark as medicinal plants for the production of medicinal decoctions. Excluding ancient Egyptian figurative art, Nok sculptures are regarded to be the most early, large figurative art in continental Africa. Latter artistic traditions of West Africa – Bura of Niger (3rd century CE – 10th century CE), Koma of Ghana (7th century CE – 15th century CE), Igbo-Ukwu of Nigeria (9th century CE – 10th century CE), Jenne-Jeno of Mali (11th century CE – 12th century CE), and Ile Ife of Nigeria (11th century CE – 15th century CE) – may have been shaped by the earlier West African clay terracotta tradition of the Nok culture. Nok settlement sites are often found on mountaintops. Iron metallurgy may have independently developed in the Nok culture between 750 BCE and 550 BCE.” ref
“Breunig and Rupp (2016) stated: “Their origin is unknown, but since the plants they used as crops (especially millet) are indigenous to the Sahel region, a northern homeland is more probable than any other.” Breunig (2017) expounded: “The people of the Nok culture must have come from somewhere else. So far, however, we have not found out what region, though we suspect the Sahel zone in West Africa.” Champion et al. (2022) suggested that they may have come from the Central Sahara, and stated: The cultivation of pearl millet diffused from the desiccating West and Central Sahara into the West African savanna zone after 2500 BCE, in the context of southwards population movements (Ozainne et al. 2014; Neumann 2018; Fuller et al. 2021)…The presence of pearl millet without roulette decorations or chaff temper, as seen in the Nok and early Gajiganna sites, suggests that the third diffusion originated directly from the central Sahara and possibly split before reaching northern Nigeria, accounting for the differences in Nok and Gajiganna pottery.” ref
“The first Nok terracotta was accidentally unearthed at a level of 24 feet (7 m) from an alluvial tin mine. Near the village of Nok, in the center of Nigeria, a new series of clay figurines were discovered by accident while mining tin. The finds included objects of wrought iron, a quantity of iron slag, fragments of tuyere, pottery, figurine fragments, red ocher, quartz hammer-stones, and small concentrations of charcoal. The most famous finds at the site were the pottery graters which were shallow, flat-bottomed dishes which were deeply scored inside with diced patterns to produce a sharp abrasive surface. These pottery graters were probably used for food preparation. In the preliminary excavation a proton magnetometer survey was used to try and locate furnaces. The survey revealed a total of 61 magnetic anomalies which were mostly located in a flat, central area which probably indicated the limits of actual occupation.” ref
“Twenty of the anomalies revealed concentrations of slag and nine of them contained in situ structures of furnace walls and bases. The most common type of artefact found was domestic pottery which can be divided into two different types. One type are bowls or shallow basins without lips and the other are globular pots which have averted lips. Because of this preliminary excavation, the Nok Culture would start being regarded as belonging to the Iron Age. examined the beginnings of sedentary farming societies in the Chad Basin. Questions arose about whether there were other societies like those in the Chad Basin, and these questions led the team to investigate the Nok Culture.” ref
Proto-Bantu language
“Proto-Bantu is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Bantu languages, a subgroup of the Southern Bantoid languages. It is thought to have originally been spoken in West/Central Africa in the area of what is now Cameroon. About 6,000 years ago, it split off from Proto-Southern Bantoid when the Bantu expansion began to the south and east. Two theories have been put forward about the way the languages expanded: one is that the Bantu-speaking people moved first to the Congo region and then a branch split off and moved to East Africa; the other (more likely) is that the two groups split from the beginning, one moving to the Congo region, and the other to East Africa. Like other proto-languages, there is no record of Proto-Bantu. Its words and pronunciation have been reconstructed by linguists.” ref
“From the common vocabulary which has been reconstructed on the basis of present-day Bantu languages, it appears that agriculture, fishing, and the use of boats were already known to the Bantu people before their expansion began, but iron-working was still unknown. This places the date of the start of the expansion somewhere between 3000 and 800 BCE. The homeland of Proto-Bantu was most likely in the upland forest fringes around the Sanaga and Nyong rivers of Southern Cameroon. It was formerly thought that proto-Bantu originated somewhere in the border region between Nigeria and Cameroon. However, new research revealed that was more likely the original area of Proto-Southern Bantoid, before it spread southwards into Cameroon long before Proto-Bantu emerged.” ref
Bantu expansion
“The Bantu expansion was a major series of migrations of the original Proto-Bantu-speaking group, which spread from an original nucleus around West–Central Africa. In the process, the Proto-Bantu-speaking settlers displaced, eliminated or absorbed pre-existing hunter-gatherer and pastoralist groups that they encountered. There is linguistic evidence for this expansion – a great many of the languages which are spoken across sub-Equatorial Africa are remarkably similar to each other, suggesting the common cultural origin of their original speakers. The linguistic core of the Bantu languages, which comprise a branch of the Atlantic-Congo language family, was located in the southern regions of Cameroon.” ref
“Genetic evidence also indicates that there was a large human migration from central Africa, with varying levels of admixture with the local population. The expansion is believed to have taken place in at least two waves, between about 4,000 and 2,000 years ago (approximately 2,000 BCE to CE 1). Linguistic analysis suggests that the expansion proceeded in two directions: the first went across or along the Northern border of the Congo forest region (towards East Africa), and the second – and possibly others – went south along Africa’s Atlantic coast into what is now the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Angola, or inland along the many south-to-north flowing rivers of the Congo River system. The expansion reached South Africa, probably as early as CE 300.” ref
Beginnings of agriculture?
“To the west of Nile Valley, eastern Sahara was the home of several Neolithic cultures. During the African humid period, this was the area with rich vegetation, and the human population in the Sahara had increased considerably by about 8000 years BC. They lived by hunting and fishing in the local lakes, and by gathering wild cereals of the Sahara, that were abundant. The cereals such as brachiaria, sorghum, and urochloa were an important source of food. The African humid period was gradually coming to an end, and by about 6,000–5,000 years ago, it was over. Well before that time, the migrating herders were going to other parts of Africa, but also coming west to the Nile delta, where there were relatively few indications of agriculture before that.” ref
“Dakhleh Oasis, in particular, has been the subject of considerable recent research, and it supplies important evidence for early Egyptian agriculture. It could be considered typical of post-Pleistocene developments in Northeastern Africa in general. Dakhleh Oasis is located in Western Desert (Egypt). It lies 350 km (220 mi.) from the Nile between the oases of Farafra and Kharga. In Dakhleh, the Bashendi culture people were mobile herder-foragers during the African humid period. They lived in slab-built settlement sites, and open-air sites consisting of clusters of hearth mounds. Elsewhere in the Western Desert of Egypt, Bashendi-like groups have also inhabited the Farafra Oasis, and Nabta Playa, to the south. The Bashendi used sandstone grinders to grind local wild millet and sorghum.” ref
“At Farafra Oasis, a goat dated around 6,100 BCE (8,100 years ago) was found in the Hidden Valley village. At Nabta Playa, remains of sheep/goats and cattle are present beginning about 6,000 BCE (8,000 years ago). Yet goats and cattle are almost the only Neolithic elements from the Near East that the oasis dwellers accepted. Other cultural developments, such as the lithic industry, originated locally, or at least from within Northeastern Africa. Faiyum Oasis of Egypt also provides evidence for agriculture from about the same period. Domesticated sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle are here. Sheep at the site of Qasr El-Sagha is dated at 5350 BCE (7350 years ago), and sheep, goats, and cattle at 5,150 BCE (7,150 years ago).” ref
“As for crops, emmer wheat and barley are found in the Faiyum at the sites of Kom K and Kom W, dated ca. 4,500-4,200 BCE. Plentiful pottery is found at these sites, but there is little evidence of permanent structures being built. The Merimde culture is dated from around 4,800 to 4,300 BCE. These peoples came to develop a fully agricultural economy. Also, the site called Merimde Beni Salama, about 15 miles northwest from Cairo, is believed to be the earliest permanently occupied town in Egypt. Merimde culture overlapped in time with the Faiyum A culture, and with the Badari culture in Upper Egypt, which are dated somewhat later. These were all agricultural cultures Farming systems.” ref
J-P58 Haplogroup
“The P58 marker which defines subgroup J1c3 was announced in (Karafet 2008), but had been announced earlier under the name Page08 in (Repping 2006 and called that again in Chiaroni 2009). It is very prevalent in many areas where J-M267 is common, especially in parts of North Africa and throughout the Arabian peninsula. It also makes up approximately 70% of the J-M267 among the Amhara of Ethiopia. Notably, it is not common among the J-M267 of the Caucasus.” ref
“Chiaroni 2009 proposed that J-P58 (that they refer to as J1e) might have first dispersed during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period, “from a geographical zone, including northeast Syria, northern Iraq, and eastern Turkey toward Mediterranean Anatolia, Ismaili from southern Syria, Jordan, Palestine, and northern Egypt.” They further propose that the Zarzian material culture may be ancestral. They also propose that this movement of people may also be linked to the dispersal of Semitic languages by hunter-herders, who moved into arid areas during periods known to have had low rainfall. Thus, while other haplogroups, including J-M267, moved out of the area with agriculturalists who followed the rainfall, populations carrying J-M267 remained with their flocks.” ref
“According to this scenario, after the initial neolithic expansion involving Semitic languages, which possibly reached as far as Yemen, a more recent dispersal occurred during the Chalcolithic or Early Bronze Age (approximately 3,000–5,000 BCE), and this involved the branch of Semitic which leads to the Arabic language. The authors propose that this involved a spread of some J-P58 from the direction of Syria towards Arab populations of the Arabian Peninsula and Negev.” ref
“On the other hand, the authors agree that later waves of dispersion in and around this area have also had complex effects upon the distributions of some types of J-P58 in some regions. They list three regions which are particularly important to their proposal:
- The Levant (Syria, Jordan, Israel and Palestine). In this area, Chiaroni 2009 note a “patchy distribution of J1c3 or J-P58 frequency” which is difficult to interpret, and which “may reflect the complex demographic dynamics of religion and ethnicity in the region”.
- The Armenian Highlands, northern Iraq and western Iran. In this area, Chiaroni 2009 recognize signs that J-M267 might have an older presence, and on balance they accept the evidence but note that it could be in error.
- The southern area of Oman, Yemen and Ethiopia. In this area, Chiaroni 2009 recognize similar signs, but reject it as possibly a result of “either sampling variability and/or demographic complexity associated with multiple founders and multiple migrations.” ref
“Haplogroup J-M267 is another very common haplogroup in the Maghreb, being the second most-frequent haplogroup after haplogroup E. Haplogroup R1 has also been observed at moderate frequencies. A thorough study by Arredi et al. (2004), which analyzed populations from Algeria, concludes that the North African pattern of Y-chromosomal variation (including both J1 and E1b1b main haplogroups) is largely of West Asian origin, which suggests that their introduction in this part of the world was to a great extent the result of a migration of recent Semitic pastoralists from the Middle East,although more recent papers have suggested that this date could have been as long as ten thousand years ago during the Neolithic, with the transition from the Oranian to the West Asian originating Capsian culture in North Africa.Another study concluded that the J-M267 chromosome pool in the Maghreb is derived not only from early Neolithic dispersions from Levant, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia but to a much greater extent from recent expansions of Arab tribes from the Arabian Peninsula during the Arab migrations to the Maghreb.” ref
“North Africa received Semitic migrations, according to some studies it may have been diffused in recent time by Arabs who, mainly from the 7th century CE, expanded to northern Africa (Arredi 2004 and Semino 2004). However the Canary Islands is not known to have had any Semitic language. In North Africa J-M267 is dominated by J-P58, and dispersed in a very uneven manner according to studies so far, often but not always being lower among Berber and/or non-urban populations. In Ethiopia there are signs of older movements of J-M267 into Africa across the Red Sea, not only in the J-P58 form. This also appears to be associated with Semitic languages. According to a study in 2011, in Tunisia, J-M267 is significantly more abundant in the urban (31.3%) than in the rural total population (2.5%).” ref
“E1b1b1b (E-M81) is the most common Y chromosome haplogroup in North Africa, dominated by its sub-clade E-M183. It might have originated in the Levant around 5,600 years ago. The parent clade, E1b1b, has been found among Prehistoric Levantines, Mesopotamians, Anatolians and North-Africans. Battaglia et al. (2008) estimated that E-M78 (called E1b1b1a1 in that paper) has been in Europe longer than 10,000 years. In support of this theory, human remains excavated in a Spanish funeral cave dating from approximately 7,000 years ago were shown to be in this haplogroup.” ref
“Recent genome-wide analysis of North Africans found substantial shared ancestry with the Middle East dating back to at least the Neolithic, and to a lesser extent sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. The recent gene flow caused by the Arab migrations to the Maghreb increased these already extant genetic similarities between North Africans and Middle Easterners. Haplogroup J1-M267 accounts for around 30% of North Africans and has spread from the Arabian Peninsula and Levant, second after E1b1b1b which accounts for 45% of North Africans. A study from 2021 has shown that the highest frequency of the Middle Eastern component ever observed in North Africa so far was observed in the Arabs of Wesletia in Tunisia, who had a Middle Eastern component frequency of 71.8%. According to a study from 2004, Haplogroup J1 had a frequency of 35% in Algerians and 34.2% in Tunisians.” ref
“On 13 January 2012, an exhaustive genetic study of North Africa’s human populations was published in PLoS Genetics and was undertaken jointly by researchers in the Evolutionary Biology Institute (CSIC-UPF) and Stanford University, among other institutions. The study highlights the complex genetic makeup of North Africa. This genetic composition shows a significant local component that became more distinct around 12,000 years ago, possibly influenced by migrations, population expansions, or other demographic events. According to David Comas, coordinator of the study and researcher at the Institute for Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), “some of the questions we wanted to answer were whether today’s inhabitants are direct descendants of the populations with the oldest archaeological remains in the region, dating back fifty thousand years, or whether they are descendants of the Neolithic populations in the Middle East, which introduced agriculture to the region around nine thousand years ago. We also wondered if there had been any genetic exchange between the North African populations and the neighboring regions and if so, when these took place.” ref
“To explore these questions, the research team analyzed nearly 800,000 genetic markers across the entire genomes of 125 North African individuals from seven representative populations. This data was then juxtaposed with information from neighboring populations. The findings reveal a distinct native genetic component in North Africans, setting them apart from sub-Saharan Africans and aligning them more closely with West-Eurasians, primarily Middle Easterners and Europeans. Though the study emphasizes a dominant genetic lineage in contemporary North Africans tracing back to around 12,000 years ago, it doesn’t dismiss the likelihood of genetic continuity from ancient human groups present in North Africa over 60,000 years ago. The data suggests that while ancient human groups indeed inhabited the region, the majority of the modern identifiable genetic makeup stems from more recent periods. The unique North African (Maghrebi) genetic signature is distinct from ancestries found in the populations of sub-Saharan Africa.” ref
“Modern North African populations were observed to share genetic markers in varying degrees with all the neighboring regions (Southern Europe, West Asia, sub-Saharan Africa), probably as a result of more recent migrations. Hodgson et al. 2014 found a distinct non-African ancestry component among Northeastern Africans (dubbed “Ethio-Somali”), which split from other West-Eurasian ancestries, and is most closely related to the North African (Maghrebi), and Arabian ancestry components. Both would have entered Africa during a pre-agricultural period (between 12,000 to 23,000 years ago). This component is suggested to have been present in considerable amounts among the Proto-Afroasiatic-speaking peoples. The authors argue that the Ethio-Somali component and the Maghrebi component descended from a single ancestral lineage, which split from the Arabian lineage and migrated into Africa from the Middle East. That is, a common ancestral population migrated into Africa through Sinai and then split into two, with one branch continuing west across North Africa and the other heading south into the HOA.” ref
“Ancient North African samples, such as the Paleolithic Taforalt, were found to be composed of two major components: a Holocene Levantine component, and from an indigenous Hadza/West African-like component. The Taforalt individuals show closest genetic affinity for ancient Epipaleolithic Natufian individuals, with slightly greater affinity for the Natufians than later Neolithic Levantines. A two-way admixture scenario using Levantine samples and modern West/East African samples as reference populations inferred that the Taforalt individuals bore 63.5% West-Eurasian Levantine-related and 36.5% sub-Saharan African-related ancestries, with no evidence for additional gene flow from the Epigravettian culture of Upper Paleolithic Europe. The Taforalt individuals also show evidence of limited Neanderthal ancestry. A recent genetic study published in the “European Journal of Human Genetics” in Nature (2019) showed that Northern Africans are closely related to West Asians as well as Europeans. Northern Africans can be distinguished from West Africans and other African populations dwelling south of the Sahara.” ref
“According to Lucas-Sánchez, Marcel et al. (2021) despite the geneflow from the Middle-East, Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, an autochthonous genetic component that dates back to pre-Holocene times is still present in North African groups. The analysis also showed as a whole no genetic pattern of differentiation between Tamazight (i.e. Berber) and Arabs. Unlike sub-Saharan Africans, North Africans have a similar level of Neanderthal DNA to South Europeans and West Asians, which is pre-Neolithic in origin, rather than via any later admixture with peoples from outside of North Africa during the historical period. It was found that modern North Africans derive mainly from a “back to Africa” population from Eurasia “from before 12,000 years ago (ya) (i.e., prior to the Neolithic migrations)” but more recent than 40,000 years ago which seems to “represent a genetic discontinuity with the earliest modern human settlers of North Africa (those with the Aterian industry).” ref
“In 2013, Iberomaurusian skeletons from the prehistoric sites of Taforalt and Afalou in the Maghreb were analyzed for ancient DNA. All of the specimens belonged to maternal clades associated with either North Africa or the northern and southern Mediterranean littoral, indicating gene flow between these areas since the Epipaleolithic. The ancient Taforalt individuals carried the mtDNA haplogroups U6, H, JT, and V, which points to population continuity in the region dating from the Iberomaurusian period. The E1b1b-M81 (~44%), R-M269 (~44%), and E-M132/E1a (~6%) paternal haplogroups have been found in ancient Guanche (Bimbapes) fossils excavated in Punta Azul, El Hierro, Canary Islands, which are dated to the 10th century. Maternally, the specimens all belong to the H1 clade. These locally born individuals carried the H1-16260 haplotype, which is exclusive to the Canary Islands and Algeria.” ref
“In 2018, DNA analysis of Later Stone Age individuals from the site of Taforalt (Iberomaurusian, 15 000 BP) revealed that the Iberomaurusians carried haplogroup E-M78* and Cardial culture bearers from the site of Ifri N’ Ammar (7 000 BP) carried the Levantine marker E-L19 indicating a break in continuity in the region. These studies confirmed a break in continuity in the region showing that Mesolithic Moroccans did not contribute paternally to Later Stone Age individuals and to present-day Maghrebi populations. A 2019 study seeking to determine if North Africans descend from strictly Palaeolithic groups (Taforalt), or subsequent migrations, discovered that most of the genetic variation in the region was shaped during the Neolithic. While the ancient samples had more of the Taforalt component, it is most frequent today in Western North Africans (Saharawi, Moroccans, Algerians) and Berbers, and suggested a continuity of this autochronous North African component. The consideration of Berber-speaking groups as the autochthonous peoples of North Africa was reinforced by these results.” ref
“The earliest direct evidence for plant processing in pottery globally, from the sites of Takarkori and Uan Afuda in the Libyan Sahara, dated to 8200–6400 bc. Characteristic carbon number distributions and δ13C values for plant wax-derived n-alkanes and alkanoic acids indicate sustained and systematic processing of C3/C4 grasses and aquatic plants, gathered from the savannahs and lakes in the Early to Middle Holocene green Sahara.” ref
“The Early and Middle Holocene pottery repertoire of the Takarkori archaeological site, a rockshelter in the Tadrart Acacus massif in southwestern Libya, Central Sahara. This long sequence, extending from 10,200 to 4,300 years ago, is one of the best preserved Holocene contexts in North Africa, recording much of Holocene cultural evolution and chronologically framed by a large number of radiocarbon dates. The study of the assemblage resulted in a well-defined seriation of the pottery sequence, supported by statistical and comparative methods. Following an integrated approach, the study identifies continuities and changes in ceramic production that enhance our understanding of the human occupation of Takarkori and its cultural variations. The multi-scalar and multi-dimensional perspectives highlight technological traditions and cultural dynamics and provide new insights into the origin and use of pottery, first among Late Acacus hunter-gatherers and later among Pastoral Neolithic herders and their regional interconnections. This study clarifies the position of the Takarkori ceramic sequence within the broader regional and interregional contexts from the Early to the Middle Holocene. By indicating contacts and interrelationships among different areas of the Sahara and neighboring regions, from the massifs of Central Algerian Sahara to the plains of the Eastern Sahara, the study adds new insights into North Africa’s prehistory. It contributes to an increasingly accurate reconstruction of the Holocene’s chronological and cultural sequences.” ref
African humid period or the “green” Sahara
“The African humid period (AHP; also known by other names) is a climate period in Africa during the late Pleistocene and Holocene geologic epochs, when northern Africa was wetter than today. The covering of much of the Sahara desert by grasses, trees and lakes was caused by changes in the Earth’s axial tilt; changes in vegetation and dust in the Sahara which strengthened the African monsoon; and increased greenhouse gases. During the preceding Last Glacial Maximum, the Sahara contained extensive dune fields and was mostly uninhabited. It was much larger than today, and its lakes and rivers such as Lake Victoria and the White Nile were either dry or at low levels. The humid period began about 14,600–14,500 years ago at the end of Heinrich event 1, simultaneously to the Bølling–Allerød warming. Rivers and lakes such as Lake Chad formed or expanded, glaciers grew on Mount Kilimanjaro and the Sahara retreated. Two major dry fluctuations occurred; during the Younger Dryas and the short 8.2 kiloyear event. The African humid period ended 6,000–5,000 years ago during the Piora Oscillation cold period. While some evidence points to an end 5,500 years ago, in the Sahel, Arabia and East Africa, the end of the period appears to have taken place in several steps, such as the 4.2-kiloyear event.” ref
“The “green” Sahara led to a widespread settlement of the Sahara and the Arabian Deserts, and had a profound effect on African cultures, such as the birth of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. People in the Sahara lived as hunter-gatherers and domesticated cattle, goats, and sheep. They left archaeological sites and artifacts such as one of the oldest ships in the world, and rock paintings such as those in the Cave of Swimmers and in the Acacus Mountains. Earlier humid periods in Africa were postulated after the discovery of these rock paintings in now-inhospitable parts of the Sahara. When the period ended, humans gradually abandoned the desert in favour of regions with more secure water supplies, such as the Nile Valley and Mesopotamia, where they gave rise to early complex societies.” ref
“The African humid period took place in the late Pleistocene and early-middle Holocene, and saw increased precipitation in Northern and Western Africa due to a northward migration of the tropical rainbelt. The “green” Sahara is the most profound climate change of the low latitudes during the last 100,000 years and stands out within the otherwise relatively climatically stable Holocene. It is part of the so-called Holocene climatic optimum and coincides with a global warm phase, the Holocene Thermal Maximum. Liu et al. 2017 subdivided the humid period into an “green” Sahara I” which lasted until 8,000 years ago, and an “green” Sahara II” from 8,000 years onward, with the former being wetter than the latter. The African humid period was not the first such phase; evidence for about 230 older such “green Sahara”/wet periods exist going back perhaps to the first appearance of the Sahara 7–8 million years ago.” ref
“Earlier humid periods appear to have been more intense than the “green” Sahara of the Holocene, including the exceptionally intense Eemian humid period. This humid period provided the pathways for early humans to cross Arabia and Northern Africa and which, together with later moist periods, has been linked to expansions of the Aterian populations and the speciation of insect species. Such humid periods are usually associated with interglacials, while glacial stages correlate to dry periods; they occur during precession minima, unless large ice sheets or insufficient greenhouse gas concentrations suppress their onset. The Bølling–Allerød warming appears to be synchronous with the onset of the African humid period as well as to increased humidity in Arabia. Later, in the Blytt–Sernander sequence the humid period coincides with the Atlantic period.” ref
“The humid period began about 15,000–14,500 years ago. The onset of the humid period took place almost simultaneously over all of Northern and Tropical Africa, with impacts as far as Santo Antão on Cape Verde. In Arabia, wet conditions apparently took about two millennia to advance northward, a gradual advance is supported by tephrochronological data. Likewise, in the Sahara there might have been a delay of about a millennium between the onset of the “green” Sahara and the full establishment of humid conditions, as vegetation growth and the filling of river systems took time.” ref
“Lake Victoria reappeared and overflowed; Lake Albert also overflowed into the White Nile 15,000–14,500 years ago, and so did Lake Tana, into the Blue Nile. The White Nile flooded part of its valley and reconnected to the main Nile. In Egypt, widespread flooding by the “Wild Nile” took place; this “Wild Nile” period led to the largest recorded floods on this river, sedimentation in floodplains, and probably also impacted human populations along the river. Even earlier, 17,000–16,800 years ago, meltwater from glaciers in Ethiopia – which were retreating at that time – may have begun to increase the flow of water and sediment in the Nile. In the East African Rift water levels in lakes began to rise by about 15,500/15,000-12,000 years ago; Lake Kivu began overflowing into Lake Tanganyika by about 10,500 years ago.” ref
“About the same time that the “green” Sahara started, the cold glacial climate in Europe associated with Heinrich event 1 ended with climate changing as far as Australasia. A warming and retreat of sea ice around Antarctica coincides with the start of the African humid period, although the Antarctic Cold Reversal also falls into this time and may relate to a drought interval recorded in the Gulf of Guinea.” ref
Humans of the Sahara
“Conditions and resources were ripe for first hunter-gatherers, fishermen and, later, pastoralists; the exact chronology – when humans returned in the Sahara after the onset of the “green” Sahara – is disputed. They may have come either from the north (Maghreb or Cyrenaica) where the Capsian culture was located, the south (Sub-Saharan Africa), or the east (Nile Valley). The human population in the Sahara rapidly increased during the “green” Sahara, interrupted by a brief decline between 7,600 and 6,700 years ago. Traces of human activity have been found in the Acacus Mountains where caves and rock shelters were used as basecamps for humans, such as the Uan Afuda cave and the Uan Tabu and Takarkori rock shelters.” ref
“The first occupation in Takarkori took place between 10,000 and 9,000 years ago; about five millennia of human cultural evolution are recorded there. At Gobero in the Ténéré desert a cemetery has been found, which has been used to reconstruct the lifestyle of these former inhabitants of the Sahara, and at Lake Ptolemy in Nubia humans settled close to the lake shore, using its resources and perhaps even engaging in leisure activities. At that time, many humans appear to have depended on water-bound resources, seeing as many of the tools left by the early humans are associated with fishery; hence this culture is also known as “aqualithic“ although substantial differences between the cultures of various places have been found. The greening of the Sahara led to a demographic expansion, and especially in the Eastern Sahara human occupancy coincides with the “green” Sahara. Conversely occupation decreased along the Nile valley, perhaps due to the expansion of wetlands there and frequent large-scale flooding of the Nile delta.” ref
“Humans were hunting large animals with weapons that have been found in archaeological sites and wild cereals occurring in the Sahara during the “green” Sahara such as brachiaria, sorghum and urochloa were an additional source of food. Humans also domesticated cattle, goats, and sheep. Cattle domestication may have occurred especially in the more environmentally variable Eastern Sahara, where the lack of lakes (cattle having high requirements of drinking water) may however have limited the occurrence of cattle. Animal husbandry picked up in earnest around 7,000 years ago when domestic animals came to the Sahara, and a population boom may be linked to this change in cultural practice; cattle and goats spread southwestwards from northeasternmost Africa from 8,000 years before present. Dairying has been demonstrated in some locations, and cattle-husbandry is supported by the frequent depiction of cattle in rock paintings. The relative importance of hunter-gatherer practices and pastoralism, and whether people were sedentary or migratory, is unclear.” ref
“The Dufuna canoe, one of the oldest known ships in the world, appears to date to the Holocene humid period and implies that the waterbodies of that time were navigated by humans. The cultural units “Masara” and “Bashendi” existed in Dakhleh Oasis during the “green” Sahara. In the Acacus Mountains, several cultural horizons known as Early and Late Acacus and Early, Middle, Late and Final Pastoral have been identified while in Niger the Kiffian culture has been related to the beginning of the “green” Sahara. Ancient civilizations thrived, with farming and animal husbandry taking place in Neolithic settlements. Possibly, the domestication of plants in Africa was delayed by the increased food availability during the AHP, it only took place around 2,500 BCE.” ref
“Humans created rock art such as petroglyphs and rock paintings in the Sahara, perhaps the largest density of such creations in the world. Scenes include animals and everyday life such as swimming which supports the presence of past wetter climates. One well-known such petroglyph location is the Cave of Swimmers in the Gilf Kebir mountains of Egypt; other well known sites are the Gabal El Uweinat mountains also of Egypt, Arabia and the Tassili n’Ajjer in Algeria where rock paintings from this time have been discovered. Humans also left artifacts such as Fesselsteine and ceramics in what today are inhospitable deserts. North Africa, together with East Asia, is one of the first places where pottery was developed probably under the influence of increased availability of resources during the “green” Sahara. The humid period also favored its development and spread in West Africa during the 10th millennium BCE; the so-called “wavy line” or “dotted wavy-line” motif was widespread across Northern Africa and as far as Lake Turkana.” ref
“These populations have been described as Epipaleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic and produced a variety of lithic tools and other assemblages. In West Africa, the cultural change from the African Middle Stone Age to the Late Stone Age accompanied the beginning of the “green” Sahara. In Sudan, the beginning of the early Khartoum culture coincides with the initiation of the “green” Sahara. Genetic and archaeological data indicate that these populations which exploited the resources of the “green” Sahara Sahara probably originated in Sub-Saharan Africa and moved north after some time, after the desert got wetter; this may be reflected in the northward spread of Macrohaplogroup L and Haplogroup U6 genomic lineages. In return, the “green” Sahara facilitated the movement of some Eurasian populations into Africa, and bidirectional travel across the Sahara more generally. Elsewhere, newly formed or expanded water courses may have restricted human mobility and isolated populations. These favourable conditions for human populations may be reflected in paradise myths such as the Garden of Eden in The Bible and Elysium and the Golden Age in Classical Antiquity, and in the spread of the Nilo-Saharan languages.” ref
List of Periods and Events in Climate History
* “12,800–11,500 years ago Younger Dryas sudden cold and dry period in Northern Hemisphere” ref
“The Younger Dryas (YD) was a period in Earth’s geologic history that occurred circa 12,900 to 11,700 years ago. The two earlier geologic periods where this flower was abundant in Europe are the Oldest Dryas (approx. 18,500-14,000 years ago) and Older Dryas (~14,050–13,900 years ago), respectively. Younger Dryas ended when the entire globe had warmed consistently, which marks the beginning of the current Holocene epoch. The Younger Dryas was globally synchronous or very nearly so. However, the magnitude of the drop in global mean surface temperature was modest; the Younger Dryas was not a global relapse into peak glacial conditions. A decline in evidence for Natufian hunter-gatherer permanent settlements in the Levant, suggesting a reversion to a more mobile way of life.” ref
“Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) denotes the first stage of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, in early Levantine and Anatolian Neolithic culture, dating to c. 12,000 – c. 10,800 years ago, that is, 10,000–8800 BCE. Archaeological remains are located in the Levantine and Upper Mesopotamian regions of the Fertile Crescent. Granaries were positioned in places between other buildings early on c. 11,500 years ago; however, beginning around 10,500 years ago, they were moved inside houses, and by 9,500 years ago, storage occurred in special rooms. This change might reflect changing systems of ownership and property as granaries shifted from communal use and ownership to becoming under the control of households or individuals.” ref
“As of 2013 Gesher, modern Israel, became the earliest known of all known Neolithic sites (PPNA), with a calibrated Carbon 14 date of 10,459 BCE or 12,459 years ago, analysis suggesting that it may have been the starting point of a Neolithic Revolution. A contemporary site is Mureybet in modern Syria. With more sites becoming known, archaeologists have defined a number of regional variants of Pre-Pottery Neolithic A:
- Mureybetian in the Northern Levant, defined by the finds from Mureybet IIIA, IIIB, typical: Helwan points, sickle-blades with base amenagée or short stem and terminal retouch. Other sites include Sheyk Hasan and Jerf el Ahmar.
- Sites in “Upper Mesopotamia” include Çayönü and Göbekli Tepe, with the latter possibly being the oldest ritual complex yet discovered.” ref
“11,500 years ago, agricultural development.”
“While humans started gathering grains at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers only began planting them around 11,500 years ago in the Fertile Crescent. Sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Sheep were domesticated in Mesopotamia between 13,000 and 11,000 years ago. Rice was domesticated in China between 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were domesticated by around 10,000 years ago.” ref
“Agriculture is defined with varying scopes, in its broadest sense using natural resources to “produce commodities which maintain life, including food, fiber, forest products, horticultural crops, and their related services.” Thus defined, it includes arable farming, horticulture, animal husbandry, and forestry, but horticulture and forestry are, in practice, often excluded. It may also be broadly decomposed into plant agriculture, which concerns the cultivation of useful plants, and animal agriculture, the production of agricultural animals.” ref
“Karahan Tepe, an 11,400-year-old village, challenges ideas of when and why humans first settled down, including homes within a vast ritualistic complex that demonstrates that hunter-gatherers built permanent settlements long before the advent of agriculture 10,000 years ago. The findings change the perception, that settled life resulted from farming and animal husbandry. Karahan Tepe shows that it began when humans were still hunter-gatherers and that agriculture is not a cause, but the effect, of settled life. Sacred and secular spaces were built simultaneously at Karahan Tepe, where humans dwelled year-round for about 1,500 years, and no remnants of farmed vegetation have been found. Karahan Tepe is located around 35km from Göbekli Tepe, billed as home to the world’s oldest temple structures. Dating to 9600 BCE or 11,600 years ago, Göbekli Tepe reshaped ideas about early civilization. Previously thought to be a lone destination where nomadic people came to worship, Göbekli Tepe is now considered part of a constellation of contemporaneous settlements that extends over 100km and includes Karahan Tepe and at least 11 other unexcavated sites.” ref
“Slavery and power are connected, and predate written records and have existed in many cultures. Slavery is rare among hunter-gatherer populations because it requires economic surpluses and a substantial population density. Slavery became widespread only with the invention of agriculture during the Neolithic Revolution about 11,000 years ago. Slavery was practiced in almost every ancient civilization.” ref
“Mace heads and the rise of power: archaeological evidence available so far has revealed that the earliest mace heads first appeared in the Near East about 10,000 years ago. along with the early development and spread of agriculture. After that, mace heads began to spread throughout the ancient world: southward to the Ancient Egypt Kingdom in North Africa, northwest to Europe, and then to the Eurasian steppe of central Asia and Siberia. Eventually, this movement gradually arrived in the Northwestern region of China. The earliest mace head examples come from the Near East during the PPNA period. An early example is the stone mace head from the site of Hallan Cemi in Turkey, dated to 9500–8500 BCE or 11,500 to 10,500 years ago. Another contemporary example is the stone mace-head from Körtik Tepe, also a Pre-Pottery Neolithic A site in Turkey. In Mesopotamia, the earliest mace-heads can also be traced back to around this time, or equivalent to the PPN period (8300–6000 BCE or 10,300 to 8,000 years ago). They are mostly ball-shaped or pear-shaped.” ref
“Human violence is rooted in the rivalry that stems from imitation and archaeologists working at the Neolithic sites of Çatalhöyük and Göbekli Tepe in Turkey. At both sites there is evidence of religious practices that center on wild animals, often large and dangerous in form. Is it possible that these wild animals were ritually killed in the ways suggested by Girardian theorists? Were violence and the sacred intimately entwined, and were these the processes that made possible and even stimulated the origins of farming in the ancient Near East? Offering a perspective from Göbekli Tepe and related sites, our team contributed a paper (by , , , , , on “Ritual Practices and Conflict Mitigation at Early Neolithic Körtik Tepe and Göbekli Tepe, Upper Mesopotamia” (pp. 96-128):
“The cognitive principles of the social brain have remained unaltered since their appearance in anatomically modern humans in Africa some 200,000 years ago. However, by the Early Holocene these capacities, were being challenged by the outcomes of newly emerging lifeways , commonly referred to as ‘Neolithic’. Growing levels of sedentism and new and expanding social networks, were prompting a unique series of behavioural and cultural responses. In recent years, research at the early Neolithic (PPNA) occupation site of Körtik Tepe has provided evidence for heightened levels of interpersonal violence and homicide; yet, at the same time, there are no indications in the present archaeological record for between-group fighting (‘warfare’). In this study, we investigate whether this scenario, at a time when we might expect to see a rise in inter community frictions in the wake of adjusting subsistence strategies and socio-political boundaries, can be at least partially explained by René Girard’s mimetic theory. To this end we consult the pictorial repertoire from the contemporaneous and extraordinary site of Göbekli Tepe.” ref
“From 10,000 years ago Holocene glacial retreat, the present Holocene or Postglacial period begins.” ref
* “9,500–5,900 years ago Neolithic Subpluvial/African humid period in North Africa, wet period.” ref
“The African humid period (AHP; also known by other names) is a climate period in Africa during the late Pleistocene and Holocene geologic epochs, when northern Africa was wetter than today. The covering of much of the Sahara desert by grasses, trees and lakes was caused by changes in the Earth’s axial tilt; changes in vegetation and dust in the Sahara which strengthened the African monsoon; and increased greenhouse gases. During the preceding Last Glacial Maximum, the Sahara contained extensive dune fields and was mostly uninhabited.” ref
“Rivers and lakes such as Lake Chad formed or expanded, glaciers grew on Mount Kilimanjaro, and the Sahara retreated. Two major dry fluctuations occurred; during the Younger Dryas and the short 8.2 kiloyear event. The African humid period ended 6,000–5,000 years ago during the Piora Oscillation cold period. While some evidence points to an end 5,500 years ago, in the Sahel, Arabia and East Africa, the end of the period appears to have taken place in several steps, such as the 4.2-kiloyear event.” ref
“The AHP led to a widespread settlement of the Sahara and the Arabian Deserts and had a profound effect on African cultures, such as the birth of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. People in the Sahara lived as hunter-gatherers, and there was an influx of domesticated cattle, goats, and sheep. When the period ended, humans gradually abandoned the desert in favor of regions with more secure water supplies, such as the Nile Valley and Mesopotamia, where they gave rise to early complex societies.” ref
“Neolithic culture and technology were established in the Near East by 7000 BCE or 9,000 years ago. and there is increasing evidence, throughout the millennium, of its spread or introduction to Europe and the Far East. In most of the world, however, including north and western Europe, people still lived in scattered Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer communities. The Mehrgarh chalcolithic civilization began around 7000 BCE. The world population is believed to have been stable and slowly increasing. It has been estimated that there were perhaps ten million people worldwide at the end of this millennium, growing to forty million by 5000 BCE or 7,000 years ago and 100 million by 1600 BCE or 3,600 years ago, an average growth rate of 0.027% p.a. from the beginning of the Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age.” ref
* 8.2 ka event (increased rise of elite power)
“In climatology, the 8.2-kiloyear event was a sudden decrease in global temperatures that occurred approximately 8,200 years before the present, or c. 6,200 BCE, and which lasted for the next two to four centuries. It defines the start of the Northgrippian age in the Holocene epoch. The cooling was significantly less pronounced than during the Younger Dryas cold period that preceded the beginning of the Holocene. During the event, atmospheric methane concentration decreased by 80 ppb, an emission reduction of 15%, by cooling and drying at a hemispheric scale.” ref
“The world’s oldest-known promontory fort: Amnya and the acceleration of hunter-gatherer diversity in Siberia 8,000 years ago. The subarctic boreal landscapes of the Siberian taiga may seem remote, but it is here, 8000 years ago, that hunter-gatherers built fortified settlements, many centuries before comparable enclosures first appeared in Europe (Figure). The building of fortifications by forager groups has been observed sporadically elsewhere around the world in various—mainly coastal—regions from later prehistory onwards, but the very early onset of this phenomenon in inland western Siberia is unparalleled. This phenomenon, largely unknown to international researchers, can contribute to the critical re-appraisal of narratives of linear pathways to social change increasingly explored in both scientific and popular debates.” ref
“Pit-house settlements with enclosures consisting of banks, ditches and/or palisades appear on promontories and other topographical peaks across the West Siberian Plain from the end of the seventh-millennium cal BCE onwards. These complex settlements are part of a broader set of socio-economic and technological innovations and transformations in western Siberia and thus demarcate a phase of accelerated social change that is only partially understood. Here, we present new results from the key site of Amnya, part of our ongoing systematic programme of research.” ref
“By contextualizing new chronological data and structural evidence of the architectural features and layout of this complex, we put forward various scenarios that might explain the sudden and unprecedented emergence of diversified hunter-gatherer life worlds in the west Siberian taiga 8000 years ago. By diversification, we refer to the societal background of increased heterogeneity, as expressed through new material practices such as pottery production and monumentality at the end of the seventh millennium BCE.” ref
“In mobile societies, fortification can be a strategy to pre-empt the unpredictable behavior of others, such as raiding. Reliable (seasonal) resource abundance and opportunities for mass harvesting can trigger increased territoriality and ownership among hunter-gatherer groups. Permanent sites, for example, the formal cemeteries of the Late Mesolithic increasingly recognized across northern Eurasia, have been linked to such territorial claims.” ref
“Ostensibly defensive architecture, as the long-term construction of space, can likewise have parallel functions, serving as landmarks in collective memory and identity. As manifestations of social inequality, fortifications can also be related to (heritable) property rights, labor obligations, and the restriction of access to resources. Increasing political differentiation is not necessarily accompanied by greater wealth inequality, however, and defensive architecture can also be coordinated without a centralized authority.” ref
* 7.2 ka event (rise of paternal clan wars)
“The 7,200 years ago event is well represented in 58 paleoclimatic records from the global. Varying climatic responses are evidenced in different regions during 7,600–7,000 years ago.” ref
“Some 5,000 to 7,000 years ago, the diversity of Y chromosomes plummeted. A new analysis suggests clan warfare may have been the cause. For example, one recent study found a huge drop in Y chromosome diversity five-to-seven thousand years ago. At the same time, mitochondrial DNA diversity continued to grow, implying a possible crash in the male population, with 17 women to every man. “Essentially, we’re saying the clans fighting one another are built around having the same Y chromosome.” Eventually, Y chromosome diversity bounced back, as smaller clan structures were replaced by large, genetically diverse cities and societies—a cultural innovation that we, too, inherited.” ref
*5,900 ka event
5.9 kiloyear event dry and cold.
“The 4th millennium BC spanned the years 4000 to 3000 BCE. Some of the major changes in human culture during this time included the beginning of the Bronze Age and the invention of writing, which played a major role in starting recorded history. The city states of Sumer and the kingdom of Egypt were established and grew to prominence. Agriculture spread widely across Eurasia. World population growth relaxed after the burst that came about from the Neolithic Revolution. World population was largely stable in this time at roughly 50 million, growing at an average of 0.027% per year.” ref
“4100–3100 BCE or 6,100 to 5,100 years ago– the Uruk period, with emerging Sumerian hegemony during the Uruk Expansion and development of Proto-cuneiform writing; base-60 mathematics, astronomy and astrology, civil law, complex hydrology, the sailboat, potter’s wheel, and wheel; the Chalcolithic proceeds into the Early Bronze Age. 3500–2340 BC – Sumer: wheeled carts, potter’s wheel, White Temple ziggurat, bronze tools and weapons.” ref
“4000–3000 BCE – Naqada culture on the Nile. The first hieroglyphs appear thus far around 3500 BCE as found on labels in a ruler’s tomb at Abydos. Predynastic pharaohs Tiu, Thesh, Hsekiu, Wazner, Ro, Serket, Narmer. 3500–3400 BC – Jar with boat designs, from Hierakonpolis (today in the Brooklyn Museum) is created. . 3150 BC – Predynastic period ended in Ancient Egypt.” ref
“As the grasslands of the Sahara began drying after 3900 BCE or 5,900 years ago, herders spread into the Nile Valley and into eastern Africa (Eburan 5, Elmenteitan). The desiccation of the Sahara and the associated neolithisation of West Africa is also cited as a possible cause for the dispersal of the Niger-Congo linguistic phylum. Sub-Saharan Africa remains in the Paleolithic period, except for the earliest neolithization of the Sahel following the desiccation of the Sahara in c. 3500 BC.” ref
“5,500 years ago, is the end of the African humid period, Neolithic Subpluvial in North Africa, expands Sahara Desert.” ref
*5,200 ka event (rise of rulers)
“The 5.2 ka event has been identified globally as a period of abrupt climate change. 5,200 years ago, the event was caused by prolonged positive North Atlantic Oscillation conditions. This event forms part of a broader period of re-organisation in the Earth’s ocean-atmosphere circulation system between 6,000 and 5,000 years ago. The abrupt termination of the African humid period c. 5.5 ka, following a weakening of the African monsoonal system, was rapid, occurring within several decades to centuries, and provides a striking example of a non-linear response to gradual insolation forcing. A trend towards drier conditions in South America, as recorded in the Cariaco Basin marine sediments, also began c. 5,400 years ago, consistent with numerous other low-latitude records which show a similar drying trend at this time.” ref
“3,200–2,900 BCE or 5,200 to 4,900 years ago, Piora Oscillation, cold, perhaps not global. Wetter in Europe, drier elsewhere, linked to the domestication of the horse in Central Asia.” ref
“3150 BCE – Predynastic period ended in Ancient Egypt. Early Dynastic (Archaic) period started (according to French Egyptologist Nicolas Grimal). The period includes the 1st and 2nd Dynasties. c. 3100 BCE or 5,100 years ago – Narmer Palette.” ref
“3138 BC Ljubljana Marshes Wheel is a wooden wheel that was found in the Ljubljana Marsh in Slovenia. Radiocarbon dating showed that it is approximately 5,150 years old, which makes it the oldest wooden wheel yet discovered. 3100 BC – The earliest phase of the Stonehenge monument (a circular earth bank and ditch).” ref
” 3100 BCE?: The Anu Ziggurat and White Temple are built in Uruk. 3100 BCE?: The first temple of Tarxien is in use by the Neolithic inhabitants of Malta. 3100 BCE: Oldest adobe building in the Americas was built in Peru. 3100 BCE – Invention of writing in Mesopotamia and Egypt.” ref
* 4.2 ka event
“4.2-kiloyear event dry, lasted most of the 22nd century BC, linked to the end of the Old Kingdom in Egypt, and the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia, various archaeological cultures in Persia and China.” ref
“Starting around 2200 BCE, it most likely lasted the entire 22nd century BC. It has been hypothesized to have caused the collapse of the Old Kingdom in Egypt, the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia, and the Liangzhu culture in the lower Yangtze River area. The drought may also have initiated the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation, with some of its population moving southeastward to follow the movement of their desired habitat, as well as the migration of Indo-European-speaking people into India. Some scientists disagree with that conclusion, citing evidence that the event was not a global drought and did not happen in a clear timeline. In the Persian Gulf region, there was a sudden change in settlement pattern, style of pottery, and tombs. The 22nd century BCE drought marks the end of the Umm Al Nar culture and the change to the Wadi Suq culture. A study of fossil corals in Oman provides evidence that prolonged winter shamal seasons, around 4200 years ago, led to the salinization of the irrigated field, which made a dramatic decrease in crop production trigger a widespread famine and eventually the collapse of the ancient Akkadian Empire. In the 2nd millennium BCE, widespread aridification occurred in the Eurasian steppes and in South Asia. On the steppes, the vegetation changed, driving “higher mobility and transition to the nomadic cattle breeding.” ref
“In c. 2150 BCE, Egypt was hit by a series of exceptionally low Nile floods that may have influenced the collapse of the centralised government of the Old Kingdom after a famine. The Akkadian Empire in 2300 BCE was the second civilization to subsume independent societies into a single state (the first being ancient Egypt in around 3100 BCE). It has been claimed that the collapse of the state was influenced by a wide-ranging, centuries-long drought. Archaeological evidence documents widespread abandonment of the agricultural plains of northern Mesopotamia and dramatic influxes of refugees into southern Mesopotamia, around 2170 BCE, which may have weakened the Akkadian state. A 180-km-long wall, the “Repeller of the Amorites“, was built across central Mesopotamia to stem nomadic incursions to the south. Around 2150 BC, the Gutian people, who originally inhabited the Zagros Mountains, defeated the demoralized Akkadian army, took Akkad and destroyed it around 2115 BCE or 4,115 years ago. Widespread agricultural change in the Near East is visible at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. Resettlement of the northern plains by smaller sedentary populations occurred near 1900 BCE, three centuries after the collapse.” ref
“Urban centers of the Indus Valley Civilisation were abandoned and replaced by disparate local cultures because of the same climate change that affected the neighboring regions to the west. As of 2016, many scholars believed that drought and a decline in trade with Egypt and Mesopotamia caused the collapse of the Indus civilization. The drought may have caused the collapse of Neolithic cultures around Central China in the late 3rd millennium BCE. In the Yishu River Basin (a river basin that consists of the Yi River (沂河) of Shandong and Shu River), the flourishing Longshan culture was affected by a cooling that severely reduced rice output and led to a substantial decrease in population and to fewer archaeological sites. In about 2000 BC, Longshan was displaced by the Yueshi culture, which had fewer and less-sophisticated artifacts of ceramic and bronze. The Liangzhu civilization in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River also declined during the same period. The 4.2 ka event is also believed to have helped collapse the Dawenkou culture.” ref
* 3.2 ka event
“1200 to 750 BCE or 3,200 to 2,750 years ago, Late Bronze Age collapse associated with environmental change.” ref
“The Late Bronze Age collapse was a time of widespread societal collapse during the 12th century BCE associated with environmental change, mass migration, and the destruction of cities. The collapse affected a large area of the Eastern Mediterranean (North Africa and Southeast Europe) and the Near East, in particular Egypt, eastern Libya, the Balkans, the Aegean, Anatolia, and, to a lesser degree, the Caucasus. It was sudden, violent, and culturally disruptive for many Bronze Age civilizations, and it brought a sharp economic decline to regional powers, notably ushering in the Greek Dark Ages.” ref
“The palace economy of Mycenaean Greece, the Aegean region, and Anatolia that characterized the Late Bronze Age disintegrated, transforming into the small isolated village cultures of the Greek Dark Ages, which lasted from around 1100 to the beginning of the better-known Archaic age around 750 BCE. The Hittite Empire of Anatolia and the Levant collapsed, while states such as the Middle Assyrian Empire in Mesopotamia and the New Kingdom of Egypt survived in weakened forms. Other cultures, such as the Phoenicians enjoyed increased autonomy and power with the waning military presence of Egypt and Assyria in West Asia.” ref
“The half-century between c. 1200 and 1150 BCE saw the cultural collapse of the Mycenaean kingdoms, the Kassites in Babylonia, the Hittite Empire in Anatolia and the Levant, and the New Kingdom of Egypt, as well as the destruction of Ugarit and the Amorite states in the Levant, the fragmentation of the Luwian states of western Anatolia, and a period of chaos in Canaan. The deterioration of these governments interrupted trade routes and led to severely reduced literacy in much of this area.” ref
“Only a few powerful states survived the Bronze Age collapse, particularly Assyria (albeit temporarily weakened), the New Kingdom of Egypt (also weakened), the Phoenician city-states and Elam. Even among these comparative survivors, success was mixed. By the end of the 12th century BCE, Elam waned after its defeat by Nebuchadnezzar I, who briefly revived Babylonian fortunes before suffering a series of defeats by the Assyrians. After the death of Ashur-bel-kala in 1056 BC, Assyria declined for a century. Its empire shrank significantly by 1020 BC, apparently leaving it in control only of the areas in its immediate vicinity, although its heartland remained well-defended. By the time of Wenamun, Phoenicia had regained independence from Egypt.” ref
* Iron Age Cold Epoch
“The Iron Age Cold Epoch (also referred to as Iron Age climate pessimum or Iron Age neoglaciation) was a period of unusually cold climate in the North Atlantic region, lasting from about 900 to about 300 BCE or about 2,900 to 2,300 years ago, with an especially cold wave in 450 BCE during the expansion of ancient Greece. It was followed by the Roman Warm Period (250 BCE – 400 CE). Gill Plunkett and Graeme T. Swindles of Queen’s University Belfast used volcanic ash layers and radiocarbon dating to constrain the start of Iron Age climate deterioration in Ireland to 750 BCE.” ref
“By the 1st millennium BCE or 3,000 to 2,000 years ago, World population roughly doubled over the course of the millennium, from about 100 million to about 200–250 million. The Neo-Assyrian Empire dominates the Near East in the early centuries of the millennium, supplanted by the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century. Ancient Egypt is in decline, and falls to the Achaemenids in 525 BCE. In Greece, Classical Antiquity begins with the colonization of Magna Graecia and peaks with the conquest of the Achaemenids and the subsequent flourishing of Hellenistic civilization (4th to 2nd centuries).” ref
“The Roman Republic supplants the Etruscans and then the Carthaginians (5th to 3rd centuries). The close of the millennium sees the rise of the Roman Empire. The early Celtic culture dominate Central Europe while Northern Europe is in the Pre-Roman Iron Age. In East Africa, the Nubian Empire and Aksum arise. The Olmec civilization declines, and the Maya and Zapotec civilizations emerge in Mesoamerica. The Chavín culture flourishes in Peru.” ref
“The first millennium BCE is the formative period of the classical world religions, with the development of early Judaism and Zoroastrianism in the Near East, and Vedic religion and Vedanta, Jainism, and Buddhism in India. Early literature develops in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Tamil, and Chinese.” ref
“World population more than doubled over the course of the millennium, from about an estimated 50–100 million to an estimated 170–300 million. Close to 90% of the world’s population at the end of the first millennium BCE lived in the Iron Age civilizations of the Old World (Roman Empire, Parthian Empire, Graeco–Indo-Scythian and Hindu kingdoms, Han China). The population of the Americas was below 20 million, concentrated in Mesoamerica (Epi-Olmec culture); that of Sub-Saharan Africa was likely below 10 million. The population of Oceania was likely less than one million people.” ref
* Little Ice Age
“The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The period has been conventionally defined as extending from the 16th to the 19th centuries, but some experts prefer an alternative timespan from about 1300 to about 1850.” ref
“In contrast, a climate reconstruction based on glacial length shows no great variation from 1600 to 1850 but a strong retreat thereafter. Therefore, any of several dates ranging over 400 years may indicate the beginning of the Little Ice Age:
- 1250 for when Atlantic pack ice began to grow, a cold period that was possibly triggered or enhanced by the massive eruption of the Samalas volcano in 1257 and the associated volcanic winter.
- 1275 to 1300 for when the radiocarbon dating of plants shows that they were killed by glaciation
- 1300 for when warm summers stopped being dependable in Northern Europe
- 1315 for when rains and the Great Famine of 1315–1317 occurred
- 1560 to 1630 for when the worldwide glacial expansion, known as the Grindelwald Fluctuation, began
- 1650, not the start of the Little Ice Age, but the start of the coldest years midway through, i.e., the First Climatic Minimum” ref
“The Little Ice Age ended in the latter half of the 19th century or in the early 20th century. The 6th report of the IPCC describes the coldest period in the last millennium as:
“…a multi-centennial period of relatively low temperature beginning around the 15th century, with GMST averaging –0.03 [–0.30 to 0.06] °C between 1450 and 1850 relative to 1850–1900.” ref
African Back Migrations and the Status of Shamanism Origins as well as its Spreading
“Various DNA studies have found Christian-era and modern Nubians along with modern Afro-Asiatic speaking populations in the Horn of Africa to be descended from a mix of West Eurasian and East African populations.” ref
“The results showed that King Tut belonged to a genetic profile group, known as haplogroup R1b1a2, to which more than 50 percent of all men in Western Europe belong, indicating that they share a common ancestor. Among modern-day Egyptians this haplogroup contingent is below 1 percent, according to iGENEA. Up to 70 percent of British men and half of all Western European men are related to the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, geneticists in Switzerland said.” ref
“A 2020 study by Gad, Hawass, et al. analyzed mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal haplogroups from Tutankhamun‘s family members of the 18th Dynasty, using comprehensive control procedures to ensure quality results. The study found that the Y-chromosome haplogroup of the family was R1b. Haplogroup R1b is carried by modern Egyptians. Modern Egypt is also the only African country that is known to harbor all three R1 subtypes, including R1b-M269. The Y-chromosome profiles for Tutankhamun and Amenhotep III were incomplete and the analysis produced differing probability figures despite having concordant allele results. Because the relationships of these two mummies with the KV55 mummy (identified as Akhenaten) had previously been confirmed in an earlier study, the haplogroup prediction of both mummies could be derived from the full profile of the KV55 data.” ref
“Genetic analysis indicated the following haplogroups for the 18th Dynasty:
- Amenhotep III: YDNA R1b& mtDNA H2b.
- Tutankhamun: YDNA R1b & mtDNA K.
- Akhenaten: YDNA R1b & mtDNA K.
- Tiye: mtDNA K.
- Yuya: YDNA G2a& mtDNA K.
- Thuya: mtDNA K.
Both Y-DNA haplogroups R1b and G2a, as well as both mtDNA haplogroups H and K, are carried by modern Egyptians.” ref
“In 2020, three mummies, dating from the 1st millennium BCE, from the Pushkin Museum of Arts collection were tested at the Kurchatov Institute of Moscow for their mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal haplogroups. Two of the mummies were found to belong to the Y-chromosomal haplogroup R1b1a1b (R1b-M269), which originated either in Eastern Europe or in the Near East, and to the Y-chromosome haplogroup E1b1b1a1b2a4b5a, which originated in North Africa. They also belonged to mtDNA haplogroups L3h1 and N5, common in Africans and Middle Easterners, respectively. The third mummy was found to belong to mtDNA haplogroup N, which is widely distributed across Eurasia as well as eastern and northeastern Africa.” ref
Are the people in Africa’s R1b European? (R1b-V88) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGwApjdDy6M
Haplogroup R1b
“According to ancient DNA studies, most R1a and R1b lineages would have expanded from the Caspian Sea along with the Indo-European languages and shared religious ideas. The Proto-Indo-European religious beliefs includes a number of securely reconstructed deities, since they are both cognates – linguistic siblings from a common origin – and associated with similar attributes and body of myths: such as *Dyḗws Ph₂tḗr, the daylight-sky god; his consort *Dʰéǵʰōm, the earth mother; his daughter *H₂éwsōs, the dawn goddess; his sons the Divine Twins; and *Seh₂ul, a solar goddess. Some deities, like the weather god *Perkʷunos or the herding-god *Péh₂usōn.” ref, ref
“Haplogroup R1b is the most frequently occurring paternal lineage in Western Europe, as well as some parts of Russia (e.g. the Bashkirs) and pockets of Central Africa (e.g. parts of Chad and among the Chadic-speaking minority ethnic groups of Cameroon). The clade is also present at lower frequencies throughout Eastern Europe, Western Asia, as well as parts of North Africa, South Asia and Central Asia. R1b has two primary branches: R1b1-L754 and R1b2-PH155. R1b1-L754 has two major subclades: R1b1a1b-M269, which predominates in Western Europe, and R1b1b-V88, which is today common in parts of Central Africa.” ref
Basic phylogenetic tree for R1b
R1b1b (R-V88)
“R1b1b (PF6279/V88; previously R1b1a2) is defined by the presence of SNP marker V88, the discovery of which was announced in 2010 by Cruciani et al. Apart from individuals in southern Europe and Western Asia, the majority of R-V88 was found in the Sahel, especially among populations speaking Afroasiatic languages of the Chadic branch.” ref
“Studies in 2005–08 reported “R1b*” at high levels in Jordan, Egypt and Sudan. Subsequent research by Myres et al. (2011) indicates that the samples concerned most likely belong to the subclade R-V88, which is now concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to Myres et al. (2011), this may be explained by a back-migration from Asia into Africa by R1b-carrying people. Gonzales et al. (2013), using more advanced techniques, indicate that it is equally probable that V88 originated in Central Africa and spread northward towards Asia. The patterns of diversity in African R1b-V88 did not seem to fit with a movement of Chadic-speaking people from the North, across the Sahara to West-Central Africa, but was compatible with the reverse. An origin of V88 lineages in Central Africa, followed by a migration to North Africa. However, Shriner, D., & Rotimi, C. N. (2018), associate the introduction of R1b into Chad, with the more recent movements of Baggara Arabs.” ref
“D’Atanasio et al. (2018) propose that R1b-V88 originated in Europe about 12,000 years ago and crossed to North Africa by about 8,000 years ago; it may formerly have been common in southern Europe, where it has since been replaced by waves of other haplogroups, leaving remnant subclades almost exclusively in Sardinia. It first radiated within Africa likely between 7 and 8 000 years ago – at the same time as trans-Saharan expansions within the unrelated haplogroups E-M2 and A-M13 – possibly due to population growth allowed by humid conditions and the adoption of livestock herding in the Sahara. R1b-V1589, the main subclade within R1b-V88, underwent a further expansion around 5,500 years ago, likely in the Lake Chad Basin region, from which some lines recrossed the Sahara to North Africa.” ref
“Marcus et al. (2020) provide strong evidence for this proposed model of North to South trans-saharan movement: The earliest basal R1b-V88 haplogroups are found in several Eastern European Hunter Gatherers close to 10,000 years ago. The haplogroup then seemingly further spread with the Neolithic Cardial Ware expansion, which established agriculture in the Western Mediterranean around 7,500 years ago: R1b-V88 haplogroups were identified in ancient Neolithic individuals in central Italy, Iberia and, at a particularly high frequency, in Sardinia. A part of the branch leading to present-day African haplogroups (V2197) is already derived in some of these ancient Neolithic European individuals, providing further support for a North to South trans-saharan movement.” ref
Distribution of R-V88 in Africa Central Sahel Region is 23.0% and in Northern Africa 5.2%
“The Sahel part of Africa includes – from west to east – parts of northern Senegal, southern Mauritania, central Mali, northern Burkina Faso, the extreme south of Algeria, Niger, the extreme north of Nigeria, Cameroon and Central African Republic, central Chad, central and southern Sudan, the extreme north of South Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia. As can be seen in the data table, R-V88 is found in northern Cameroon in west central Africa at a very high frequency, where it is considered to be caused by a pre-Islamic movement of people from Eurasia.” ref, ref
Ouldeme people of Cameroon speaking the Chadic and Afro-Asiatic languages are R-V88 as high as 95.5%
Mafa people of Cameroon speaking the Chadic and Afro-Asiatic languages are R-V88 as high as 87.5%
Mada people of Cameroon speaking the Chadic and Afro-Asiatic languages are R-V88 as high as 82.4%
Guiziga people of Cameroon speaking the Chadic and Afro-Asiatic languages are R-V88 as high as 77.8%
Guidar people of Cameroon speaking the Chadic and Afro-Asiatic languages are R-V88 as high as 66.7%
Moundang people of Cameroon speaking the Niger–Congo and Adamawa languages are R-V88 as high as 66.7%
Daba people of Cameroon speaking the Chadic and Afro-Asiatic languages are R-V88 as high as 42.1%
Shuwa Arab people of Cameroon speaking the Semitic and Afro-Asiatic languages are R-V88 as high as 40.0%
Massa people of Cameroon speaking the Chadic and Afro-Asiatic languages are R-V88 as high as 28.6%
Berbers from Siwa people of Egypt speaking the Berber and Afro-Asiatic languages are R-V88 as high as 28.6%
Fali people of Cameroon speaking the the Niger–Congo and Adamawa languages are R-V88 as high as 20.8% ref
“Migration from Siberia behind the formation of Göbeklitepe: Expert states. People who migrated from Siberia formed the Göbeklitepe, and those in Göbeklitepe migrated in five other ways to spread to the world, said experts about the 12,000-year-old Neolithic archaeological site in the southwestern province of Şanlıurfa.“ The upper paleolithic migrations between Siberia and the Near East is a process that has been confirmed by material culture documents,” he said.” ref
“Semih Güneri, a retired professor from Caucasia and Central Asia Archaeology Research Center of Dokuz Eylül University, and his colleague, Professor Ekaterine Lipnina, presented the Siberia-Göbeklitepe hypothesis they have developed in recent years at the congress held in Istanbul between June 11 and 13. There was a migration that started from Siberia 30,000 years ago and spread to all of Asia and then to Eastern and Northern Europe, Güneri said at the international congress.” ref
“The relationship of Göbeklitepe high culture with the carriers of Siberian microblade stone tool technology is no longer a secret,” he said while emphasizing that the most important branch of the migrations extended to the Near East. “The results of the genetic analyzes of Iraq’s Zagros region confirm the traces of the Siberian/North Asian indigenous people, who arrived at Zagros via the Central Asian mountainous corridor and met with the Göbeklitepe culture via Northern Iraq,” he added.” ref
“Emphasizing that the stone tool technology was transported approximately 7,000 kilometers from east to west, he said, “It is not clear whether this technology is transmitted directly to long distances by people speaking the Turkish language at the earliest, or it travels this long-distance through using way stations.” According to the archaeological documents, it is known that the Siberian people had reached the Zagros region, he said. “There seems to be a relationship between Siberian hunter-gatherers and native Zagros hunter-gatherers,” Güneri said, adding that the results of genetic studies show that Siberian people reached as far as the Zagros.” ref
“There were three waves of migration of Turkish tribes from the Southern Siberia to Europe,” said Osman Karatay, a professor from Ege University. He added that most of the groups in the third wave, which took place between 2600-2400 BCE, assimilated and entered the Germanic tribes and that there was a genetic kinship between their tribes and the Turks. The professor also pointed out that there are indications that there is a technology and tool transfer from Siberia to the Göbeklitepe region and that it is not known whether people came, and if any, whether they were Turkish.” ref
“Around 12,000 years ago, there would be no ‘Turks’ as we know it today. However, there may have been tribes that we could call our ‘common ancestors,’” he added. “Talking about 30,000 years ago, it is impossible to identify and classify nations in today’s terms,” said Murat Öztürk, associate professor from İnönü University. He also said that it is not possible to determine who came to where during the migrations that were accepted to have been made thousands of years ago from Siberia. On the other hand, Mehmet Özdoğan, an academic from Istanbul University, has an idea of where “the people of Göbeklitepe migrated to.” ref
“According to Özdoğan, “the people of Göbeklitepe turned into farmers, and they could not stand the pressure of the overwhelming clergy and started to migrate to five ways.” “Migrations take place primarily in groups. One of the five routes extends to the Caucasus, another from Iran to Central Asia, the Mediterranean coast to Spain, Thrace and [the northwestern province of] Kırklareli to Europe and England, and one route is to Istanbul via [Istanbul’s neighboring province of] Sakarya and stops,” Özdoğan said. In a very short time after the migration of farmers in Göbeklitepe, 300 settlements were established only around northern Greece, Bulgaria, and Thrace. “Those who remained in Göbeklitepe pulled the trigger of Mesopotamian civilization in the following periods, and those who migrated to Mesopotamia started irrigated agriculture before the Sumerians,” he said.” ref
12,000-year-old Gobekli Tepe: “first human-made pagan temple”
Just think of the kind and amount of religious faith one would need to build such a site as this. Speaking of building, one of the most fascinating facts about this site is that they didn’t have the wheel nor metal tools. All they had were stone tools and little else.
- Epipalaeolithic Near East 20,000 to 9,000 years ago and the Emergence of Advanced Culture as well as New Religion?
- Epigravettians Join the Religious Partying at Gobekli Tepe?
- Gobekli Tepe is more like Shamanistic early Paganism, Not Adam, Eve, and Cain or Bible anything!
- Male-Homosexual (female-like) / Trans-woman (female) Seated Figurine from Gobekli Tepe
- Alcohol, where Agriculture and Religion Become one? Such as Gobekli Tepe’s Ritualistic use of Grain as Food and Ritual Drink
- Ritualistic Bird Symbolism at Gobekli Tepe and its “Ancestor Cult”
- Göbekli Tepe 12,000 years old T-shaped Pillars are not Alone (not Ancient Aliens)
- Could a 12,000-year-old Bull Geoglyph at Göbekli Tepe relate to older Bull and Female Art 25,000 years ago and Later Goddess and the Bull cults like Catal Huyuk?
- The Gravettian culture (Europe) shared ritual ideas and The Ancient North Eurasian culture (Asia) 24,000 years ago
- Are the Natufians of Israel around 15,000 to 11,500 years ago who you thought they were?
- 12,400 – 11,700 Years Ago – Kortik Tepe (Turkey) Pre/early-Agriculture Cultic Ritualism
- Pre-Pottery Neolithic (10000 – 6500 BCE) and Pottery Neolithic (7000–5000 BCE)
- Masked Head Hunters of “Karahan Tepe” 11,400-year-old monumental site from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A to B
“Haplogroup R* originated in North Asia just before the Last Glacial Maximum (26,500-19,000 years ago). This haplogroup has been identified in the remains of a 24,000 year-old boy from the Altai region, in south-central Siberia (Raghavan et al. 2013). This individual belonged to a tribe of mammoth hunters that may have roamed across Siberia and parts of Europe during the Paleolithic. Autosomally this Paleolithic population appears to have contributed mostly to the ancestry of modern Europeans and South Asians, the two regions where haplogroup R also happens to be the most common nowadays (R1b in Western Europe, R1a in Eastern Europe, Central and South Asia, and R2 in South Asia).” ref
“The oldest forms of R1b (M343, P25, L389) are found dispersed at very low frequencies from Western Europe to India, a vast region where could have roamed the nomadic R1b hunter-gatherers during the Ice Age. The three main branches of R1b1 (R1b1a, R1b1b, R1b1c) all seem to have stemmed from the Middle East. The southern branch, R1b1c (V88), is found mostly in the Levant and Africa. The northern branch, R1b1a (P297), seems to have originated around the Caucasus, eastern Anatolia or northern Mesopotamia, then to have crossed over the Caucasus, from where they would have invaded Europe and Central Asia. R1b1b (M335) has only been found in Anatolia.” ref
“It has been hypothesized that R1b people (perhaps alongside neighboring J2 tribes) were the first to domesticate cattle in northern Mesopotamia some 10,500 years ago. R1b tribes descended from mammoth hunters, and when mammoths went extinct, they started hunting other large game such as bisons and aurochs. With the increase of the human population in the Fertile Crescent from the beginning of the Neolithic (starting 12,000 years ago), selective hunting and culling of herds started replacing indiscriminate killing of wild animals. The increased involvement of humans in the life of aurochs, wild boars, and goats led to their progressive taming. Cattle herders probably maintained a nomadic or semi-nomadic existence, while other people in the Fertile Crescent (presumably represented by haplogroups E1b1b, G, and T) settled down to cultivate the land or keep smaller domesticates.” ref
“The analysis of bovine DNA has revealed that all the taurine cattle (Bos taurus) alive today descend from a population of only 80 aurochs. The earliest evidence of cattle domestication dates from circa 8,500 BCE in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic cultures in the Taurus Mountains. The two oldest archaeological sites showing signs of cattle domestication are the villages of Çayönü Tepesi in southeastern Turkey and Dja’de el-Mughara in northern Iraq, two sites only 250 km away from each others. This is presumably the area from which R1b lineages started expanding – or in other words the “original homeland” of R1b.” ref
“The early R1b cattle herders would have split in at least three groups. One branch (M335) remained in Anatolia, but judging from its extreme rarity today wasn’t very successful, perhaps due to the heavy competition with other Neolithic populations in Anatolia, or to the scarcity of pastures in this mountainous environment. A second branch migrated south to the Levant, where it became the V88 branch. Some of them searched for new lands south in Africa, first in Egypt, then colonizing most of northern Africa, from the Mediterranean coast to the Sahel. The third branch (P297), crossed the Caucasus into the vast Pontic-Caspian Steppe, which provided ideal grazing grounds for cattle. They split into two factions: R1b1a1 (M73), which went east along the Caspian Sea to Central Asia, and R1b1a2 (M269), which at first remained in the North Caucasus and the Pontic Steppe between the Dnieper and the Volga. It is not yet clear whether M73 actually migrated across the Caucasus and reached Central Asia via Kazakhstan, or if it went south through Iran and Turkmenistan. In any case, M73 would be a pre-Indo-European branch of R1b, just like V88 and M335.” ref
“R1b-M269 (the most common form in Europe) is closely associated with the diffusion of Indo-European languages, as attested by its presence in all regions of the world where Indo-European languages were spoken in ancient times, from the Atlantic coast of Europe to the Indian subcontinent, which comprised almost all Europe (except Finland, Sardinia and Bosnia-Herzegovina), Anatolia, Armenia, European Russia, southern Siberia, many pockets around Central Asia (notably in Xinjiang, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan), without forgetting Iran, Pakistan, northern India and Nepal. The history of R1b and R1a are intricately connected to each others.” ref
The Levantine & African branch of R1b (V88)
“Like its northern counterpart (R1b-M269), R1b-V88 is associated with the domestication of cattle in northern Mesopotamia. Both branches of R1b probably split soon after cattle were domesticated, approximately 10,500 years ago (8,500 BCE). R1b-V88 migrated south towards the Levant and Egypt. The migration of R1b people can be followed archeologically through the presence of domesticated cattle, which appear in central Syria around 8,000-7,500 BCE (late Mureybet period), then in the Southern Levant and Egypt around 7,000-6,500 BCE (e.g. at Nabta Playa and Bir Kiseiba). Cattle herders subsequently spread across most of northern and eastern Africa. The Sahara desert would have been more humid during the Neolithic Subpluvial period (c. 7250-3250 BCE), and would have been a vast savannah full of grass, an ideal environment for cattle herding.” ref
“Evidence of cow herding during the Neolithic has shown up at Uan Muhuggiag in central Libya around 5500 BCE, at the Capeletti Cave in northern Algeria around 4500 BCE. But the most compelling evidence that R1b people related to modern Europeans once roamed the Sahara is to be found at Tassili n’Ajjer in southern Algeria, a site famous pyroglyphs (rock art) dating from the Neolithic era. Some painting dating from around 3000 BCE depict fair-skinned and blond or auburn haired women riding on cows. The oldest known R1b-V88 sample in Europe is a 6,200 year-old farmer/herder from Catalonia tested by Haak et al. (2015). Autosomally this individual was a typical Near Eastern farmer, possessing just a little bit of Mesolithic West European admixture.” ref
“After reaching the Maghreb, R1b-V88 cattle herders could have crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to Iberia, probably accompanied by G2 farmers, J1 and T1a goat herders. These North African Neolithic farmers/herders could have been the ones who established the Almagra Pottery culture in Andalusia in the 6th millennium BCE.” ref
“Nowadays small percentages (1 to 4%) of R1b-V88 are found in the Levant, among the Lebanese, the Druze, and the Jews, and almost in every country in Africa north of the equator. Higher frequency in Egypt (5%), among Berbers from the Egypt-Libya border (23%), among the Sudanese Copts (15%), the Hausa people of Sudan (40%), the the Fulani people of the Sahel (54% in Niger and Cameroon), and Chadic tribes of northern Nigeria and northern Cameroon (especially among the Kirdi), where it is observed at a frequency ranging from 30% to 95% of men. According to Cruciani et al. (2010) R1b-V88 would have crossed the Sahara between 9,200 and 5,600 years ago, and is most probably associated with the diffusion of Chadic languages, a branch of the Afroasiatic languages. V88 would have migrated from Egypt to Sudan, then expanded along the Sahel until northern Cameroon and Nigeria. However, R1b-V88 is not only present among Chadic speakers, but also among Senegambian speakers (Fula-Hausa) and Semitic speakers (Berbers, Arabs).” ref
“R1b-V88 is found among the native populations of Rwanda, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau. The wide distribution of V88 in all parts of Africa, its incidence among herding tribes, and the coalescence age of the haplogroup all support a Neolithic dispersal. In any case, a later migration out of Egypt would be improbable since it would have brought haplogroups that came to Egypt during the Bronze Age, such as J1, J2, R1a or R1b-L23. The maternal lineages associated with the spread of R1b-V88 in Africa are mtDNA haplogroups J1b, U5 and V, and perhaps also U3 and some H subclades (=> see Retracing the mtDNA haplogroups of the original R1b people).” ref
R1b-v88 haplogroup
“According to ancient DNA studies, most R1a and R1b lineages would have expanded from the Pontic Steppe along with the Indo-European languages. Analysis of ancient Y-DNA from the remains from early Neolithic Central and North European Linear Pottery culture settlements have not yet found males belonging to haplogroup R1b-M269. Olalde et al. (2017) trace the spread of haplogroup R1b-M269 in western Europe, particularly Britain, to the spread of the Beaker culture, with a sudden appearance of many R1b-M269 haplogroups in Western Europe ca. 5000–4500 years BP during the early Bronze Age. Two branches of R-V88, R-M18 and R-V35, are found almost exclusively on the island of Sardinia. As can be seen in the above data table, R-V88 is found in northern Cameroon in west central Africa at a very high frequency, where it is considered to be caused by a pre-Islamic movement of people from Eurasia.” ref
R1b1b (R-V88)
“R1b1b (PF6279/V88; previously R1b1a2) is defined by the presence of SNP marker V88, the discovery of which was announced in 2010 by Cruciani et al. Apart from individuals in southern Europe and Western Asia, the majority of R-V88 was found in the Sahel, especially among populations speaking Afroasiatic languages of the Chadic branch. Studies in 2005–08 reported “R1b*” at high levels in Jordan, Egypt and Sudan. Subsequent research by Myres et al. (2011) indicates that the samples concerned most likely belong to the subclade R-V88, which is now concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa.” ref
“According to Myres et al. (2011), this may be explained by a back-migration from Asia into Africa by R1b-carrying people. Gonzales et al. (2013), using more advanced techniques, indicate that it is equally probable that V88 originated in Central Africa and spread northward towards Asia. The patterns of diversity in African R1b-V88 did not seem to fit with a movement of Chadic-speaking people from the North, across the Sahara to West-Central Africa, but was compatible with the reverse. An origin of V88 lineages in Central Africa, followed by a migration to North Africa. However, Shriner, D., & Rotimi, C. N. (2018), associate the introduction of R1b into Chad, with the more recent movements of Baggara Arabs.” ref
“D’Atanasio et al. (2018) propose that R1b-V88 originated in Europe about 12 000 years ago and crossed to North Africa by about 8000 years ago; it may formerly have been common in southern Europe, where it has since been replaced by waves of other haplogroups, leaving remnant subclades almost exclusively in Sardinia. It first radiated within Africa likely between 8000 and 7000 years ago – at the same time as trans-Saharan expansions within the unrelated haplogroups E-M2 and A-M13 – possibly due to population growth allowed by humid conditions and the adoption of livestock herding in the Sahara. R1b-V1589, the main subclade within R1b-V88, underwent a further expansion around 5500 years ago, likely in the Lake Chad Basin region, from which some lines recrossed the Sahara to North Africa.” ref
“Marcus et al. (2020) provide strong evidence for this proposed model of North to South trans-Saharan movement: The earliest basal R1b-V88 haplogroups are found in several Eastern European Hunter Gatherers close to 10,000 years ago. The haplogroup then seemingly further spread with the Neolithic Cardial Ware expansion, which established agriculture in the Western Mediterranean around 7500 years ago: R1b-V88 haplogroups were identified in ancient Neolithic individuals in central Italy, Iberia and, at a particularly high frequency, in Sardinia. A part of the branch leading to present-day African haplogroups (V2197) is already derived in some of these ancient Neolithic European individuals, providing further support for a North-to-South trans-Saharan movement.” ref
“Early human remains found to carry R1b include:
- Villabruna 1 (individual I9030), a Western Hunter-Gatherer (WHG), found in an Epigravettian culture setting in the Cismon valley (modern Veneto, Italy), who lived circa 14000 years ago and belonged to R1b1a.
- Several males of the Iron Gates Mesolithic in the Balkans buried between 11,200 to 8,200 years ago carried R1b1a1a. These individuals were determined to be largely of WHG ancestry, with slight Eastern Hunter-Gatherer (EHG) admixture.
- Several males of the Mesolithic Kunda culture and Neolithic Narva culture buried in the Zvejnieki burial ground in modern-day Latvia c. 9,500–6,000 years ago carried R1b1b. These individuals were determined to be largely of WHG ancestry, with slight EHG admixture.
- Several Mesolithic and Neolithic males buried at Deriivka and Vasil’evka in modern-day Ukraine c. 9500-7000 years ago carried R1b1a. These individuals were largely of EHG ancestry, with significant WHG admixture.
- A WHG male buried at Ostrovul Corbuli, Romania c. 8,700 years ago carried R1b1c.
- A male buried at Lepenski Vir, Serbia c. 8,200-7,900 years ago carried R1b1a.
- An EHG buried near Samara, Russia 7,500 years ago carried R1b1a1a.
- An Eneolithic male buried at Khvalynsk, Russia c. 7,200-6,000 years ago carried R1b1a.
- A Neolithic male buried at Els Trocs, Spain c. 7,178-7,066 years ago, who may have belonged to the Epi-Cardial culture, was found to be a carrier of R1b1.
- A Late Chalcolithic male buried in Smyadovo, Bulgaria c. 6,500 years ago carried R1b1a.
- An Early Copper Age male buried in Cannas di Sotto, Carbonia, Sardinia c. 6,450 years ago carried R1b1b2.
- A male of the Baalberge group in Central Europe buried c. 5,600 years ago carried R1b1a.
- A male of the Botai culture in Central Asia buried c. 5,500 years ago carried R1b1a1 (R1b-M478).
- 7 males that were tested of the Yamnaya culture were all found to belong to the M269 subclade of haplogroup R1b.” ref
“R1b is a subclade within the “macro-haplogroup“ K (M9), the most common group of human male lines outside of Africa. K is believed to have originated in Asia (as is the case with an even earlier ancestral haplogroup, F (F-M89). Karafet T. et al. (2014) “rapid diversification process of K-M526 likely occurred in Southeast Asia, with subsequent westward expansions of the ancestors of haplogroups R and Q.” ref
“Three genetic studies in 2015 gave support to the Kurgan hypothesis of Marija Gimbutas regarding the Proto-Indo-European homeland. According to those studies, haplogroups R1b-M269 and R1a, now the most common in Europe (R1a is also common in South Asia) would have expanded from the West Eurasian Steppe, along with the Indo-European languages; they also detected an autosomal component present in modern Europeans which was not present in Neolithic Europeans, which would have been introduced with paternal lineages R1b and R1a, as well as Indo-European languages.” ref
A Unique Human-Fox Burial from a Pre-Natufian Cemetery in the Levant (Jordan)
“Abstract: New human burials from northern Jordan provide important insights into the appearance of cemeteries and the nature of human-animal relationships within mortuary contexts during the Epipalaeolithic period (around 23,000–11,600 years ago) in the Levant, reinforcing a socio-ideological relationship that goes beyond predator-prey. Previous work suggests that archaeological features indicative of social complexity occur suddenly during the latest Epipalaeolithic phase, the Natufian (around 14,500–11,600 years ago). These features include sedentism, cemeteries, architecture, food production, including animal domestication, and burials with elaborate mortuary treatments. Our findings from the pre-Natufian (Middle Epipalaeolithic) cemetery of ‘Uyun al-Hammam demonstrate that joint human-animal mortuary practices appear earlier in the Epipalaeolithic. We describe the earliest human-fox burial in the Near East, where the remains of dogs have been found associated with human burials at a number of Natufian sites. This is the first time that a fox has been documented in association with human interments pre-dating the Natufian and with a particular suite of grave goods. Analysis of the human and animal bones and their associated artifacts provides critical data on the nature and timing of these newly-developing relationships between people and animals prior to the appearance of domesticated dogs in the Natufian.” ref
A 12,000-year-old Shaman burial from the southern Levant (Israel)
“Abstract: The Natufians of the southern Levant (15,000–11,500 cal BP) underwent pronounced socioeconomic changes associated with the onset of sedentism and the shift from a foraging to farming lifestyle. Excavations at the 12,000-year-old Natufian cave site, Hilazon Tachtit (Israel), have revealed a grave that provides a rare opportunity to investigate the ideological shifts that must have accompanied these socioeconomic changes. The grave was constructed and specifically arranged for a petite, elderly, and disabled woman, who was accompanied by exceptional grave offerings. The grave goods comprised 50 complete tortoise shells and select body-parts of a wild boar, an eagle, a cow, a leopard, and two marten weasels (somewhat similar to a fox to me), as well as a complete human foot. The interment rituals and the method used to construct and seal the grave suggest that this is the burial of a shaman, one of the earliest known from the archaeological record. Several attributes of this burial later become central in the spiritual arena of human cultures worldwide.” ref
Fox Mythology
“The fox appears in the folklore of many cultures, but especially European and East Asian, as a figure of cunning, trickery, or as a familiar animal possessed of magic powers, and sometimes associated with transformation. In Dogon African mythology, the fox is reported to be either the trickster god of the desert, who embodies chaos, or a messenger for the gods. Kuma Lisa is a female fox from Bulgarian folklore and Russian folklore who usually plays the role of the trickster. Kuma Lisa is encountered with another character known as Kumcho Vulcho – a wolf which is opposite to her and very often suffers from her tricks.” ref
“In Scotland, the trickster figure of the fox (or tod in traditional Scots) was represented as Lowrence, as in the Morall Fabillis of Robert Henryson. In Finnish mythology, the fox is depicted usually as a cunning trickster, but seldom evil. The fox, while weaker, in the end outsmarts both the evil and voracious wolf and the strong but not-so-cunning bear. It symbolizes the victory of intelligence over both malevolence and brute strength. In Northern Finland, the fox is said to conjure the aurora borealis while it runs through the snowy hills. When the fox’s fur touches the snow it creates magical sparks and sets the sky ablaze. Still today, the Finnish word for the aurora is “revontulet” which literally translates to “fox-fires.” ref
“In the ancient Greek story of the Teumessian Fox, the god Dionysus sends a giant fox as punishment to eat the children of Thebes. To defend the children, Creon, the leader of Thebes, sends a dog with special powers to catch the giant fox. Zeus then intervenes and turns both animals into stone and throws them into the sky, where they become the constellations Canis Major and Canis Minor. In early Mesopotamian mythology, the fox is one of the sacred animals of the goddess Ninhursag. The fox acts as her messenger. The Bible‘s Song of Solomon (2:15) includes a well-known verse “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom” which had been given many interpretations over the centuries by Jewish and Christian Bible commentators.” ref
“In Classic of Mountains and Seas (edited by Liu Xiang in Han Dynasty and probably composed by people before Qin Dynasty), foxes eat people, and predicts war. In Chinese, Japanese, and Korean folklores, foxes (huli jing in China, kitsune in Japan, and kumiho in Korea) are powerful spirits that are known for their highly mischievous and cunning nature, and they often take on the form of female humans to seduce men. In contemporary Chinese, the word huli jing is often used to describe a mistress negatively in an extramarital affair. In Shinto of Japan, kitsune sometimes helps people as an errand of their deity, Inari. And the Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped animals and often depicted the fox in their art. The Moche people believed the fox to be a warrior that would use his mind to fight. The fox would not ever use physical attack, only mental.” ref
“The fox spirit (Chinese: pinyin: húlijīng) is a mythical fox entity originating from Japanese mythology that is a common motif in East Asian mythology. In East Asian folklore, foxes are depicted as a spirit possessed of magic powers. These foxes are depicted as mischievous, usually tricking other people, with the ability to disguise themselves as a beautiful woman. The fox spirit is an especially prolific shapeshifter, known variously as the húli jīng (fox spirit) and jiǔwěihú (nine-tailed fox) in China, the kitsune (fox) in Japan, the kumiho (nine-tailed fox) in Korea, and the hồ ly tinh (fox spirit) or cáo tinh (fox goblin) and cửu vĩ hồ or cáo chín đuôi (nine-tailed fox) in Vietnam. Although the specifics of the tales vary, these fox spirits can usually shapeshift, often taking the form of beautiful young women who attempt to seduce men, whether for mere mischief or to consume their bodies or spirits.” ref
“Inari Ōkami also called Ō-Inari is the Japanese kami of foxes, fertility, rice, tea and sake, of agriculture and industry, of general prosperity and worldly success, and one of the principal kami of Shinto. In earlier Japan, Inari was also the patron of swordsmiths and merchants. Represented as male, female, or androgynous, Inari is sometimes seen as a collective of three or five individual kami. kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena, or “holy powers.” ref, ref
“Húxiān (“Fox Immortal”), also called Húshén (“Fox God”) or Húwáng (“Fox Ruler”) is a deity in Chinese religion whose cult is present in provinces of north China (from Henan and Shandong upwards), but especially in northeast China where it can be said to be the most popular deity. The deity can be represented as either male or female, but is most frequently identified as the female Húxiān Niángniáng (“Fox Immortal Lady”) whose animal form is a nine-tailed fox. She is the Chinese equivalent of the Japanese Shintō cult of Inari Ōkami, both god(desses) of the foxes or collective representations of the fox spirits.” ref
“Mythology tells that fox spirits are masters of the arts of metamorphosis, and can manifest in human form to seduce men or women. In exchange, they convey wealth and property. In mystical literature, influenced by Taoism, fox spirits are immortal or transcendent beings of a high level in the spiritual hierarchy or beings who engage in the pursuit of becoming immortals. The fox deity is also represented as a couple of gods, male and female, called the Great Lord of the Three Foxes (Húsān Tàiyé) and the Great Lady of the Three Foxes (Húsān Tàinǎi). As a goddess, the Fox Immortal is related to Xīwángmǔ (“Queen Mother of the West”), the great goddess guardian of Mount Kunlun (axis mundi).” ref
Tails of animism: a joint burial of humans and foxes in Pre-Pottery Neolithic Motza, Israel
“Abstract: The recent discovery of a Late/Final Pre-Pottery Neolithic B burial of an adult and two children associated with fox bones at the site of Motza, Israel, demonstrates the broader socio-cultural perspective, and possibly continued animistic world views, of Neolithic foragers at the onset of the agricultural revolution. Recent excavations at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B mega-site of Motza (7600–6000 BCE), central Israel, have revealed a rare human burial with two foxes. The fox bones were dismembered, except for one foot found in articulation, and scattered among the human remains. What could this burial reveal about interactions between humans and small carnivores in the eighth and seventh millennia BC? We propose that Neolithisation entails closer relations between humans and small carnivores, relations that find expression in ritual practice. This is an animistic reflection of an anthropogenic ecology, which is advantageous to such animals and can be related to the general transition to agriculture in the Levant during this period.” ref
The silver fox domestication experiment
“The experiment was the brainchild of Trut’s mentor, Dmitri Belyaev, who, in 1959, began an experiment to study the process of domestication in real time. He was especially keen on understanding the domestication of wolves to dogs, but rather than use wolves, he used silver foxes as his subjects. Today the domesticated foxes at an experimental farm near the Institute of Cytology and Genetics in Novosibirsk, Siberia are inherently as calm as any lapdog. What’s more, they look eerily dog-like. Domesticated foxes like many domesticated animals, have longer reproductive periods than their wild progenitors. Another change associated with selection for tameness is that the domesticated foxes, unlike wild foxes, are capable of following human gaze as well as dogs do. A “hotspot” for changes associated with domestication has been located on fox chromosome 15. SorCS, one gene in this hotspot, is linked with synaptic plasticity, which itself is associated with memory and learning, and so together, these studies are helping us better understand how the process of domestication has led to important changes in cognitive abilities.” ref
“Prehistoric rock art in Saudi Arabia adds to 13,000-year-old burials in Israel with pets, dog pottery in ancient Iran, a Phoenician predilection for pooch and canine cemeteries in Ashkelon. The authors of the paper in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology date the Arabian art to roughly 9,000 years ago, though critics cavil that the date could be off by centuries if not millennia. Even the writers themselves, led by Maria Guagnin of Max Planck, admit that the dating is speculative. Even if that dating from 8,000 to 9,000 years ago for the Arabian art is askew, pottery fragments with dog pictures found in Khuzistan, Iran, date to about 8,000 years ago. The shards arguably show dogs, not wolves, on the grounds that wolves do not normally sport merrily curling tails. People were found buried with dogs in prehistoric sites in Israel. At Eynan (a.k.a. Ain Mallaha), one of 12 bodies found was a woman with her hand resting on a puppy, dated to around 12,000 years ago. At Hayonim Terrace, a man was found interred with two small dogs, some 13,000 years ago. “A detailed analysis of these dogs, and a comparison with all known Natufian remains, suggested that genuine dogs were already living around and within human habitations during this period,” wrote Eitan Tchernov and Francois Valla in 1997. (Do not confuse these with the enigmatic pre-Natufian burial with a fox, found in Jordan). The dogs of the Natufian (around 12,500 to 9,500 BCE) looked like dogs.” ref
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“The earth-diver is a common character in various traditional creation myths. In these stories, a supreme being usually sends an animal (most often a type of bird, but also crustaceans, insects, and fish in some narratives) into the primal waters to find bits of sand or mud with which to build habitable land.” ref
Axis Mundi Mythology– cosmic axis, world axis, world pillar, center of the world, mound/mountain of creation, or “World/Cosmic tree,” or “Eagle and Serpent tree.” ref, ref
“The World Turtle, also called the Cosmic Turtle or the World-bearing Turtle, is a mytheme of a giant turtle (or tortoise) supporting or containing the world. It occurs in Hindu mythology, Chinese mythology, and the mythologies of some of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.” ref
“Chucalissa, Mississippian culture Mounds in Memphis, art shows all the elements involved in the Path of Souls death journey, a widely held belief system among the mound builders of America.” ref
“Interpretation of southeastern Native cosmology, showing the tripartite division of the world. The axis mundi is depicted as a tree or post connecting the fire symbol of this world, the sun symbol of the upper world, and the ‘swastika’ symbol of the lower world.” ref
“It should be remembered that the Mississippian culture that built Cahokia may have considered a cedar tree or a striped cedar pole to be a symbol of the Axis Mundi (also called the cosmic axis, world axis, world pillar, the center of the world, or world tree – has been greatly extended to refer to any mythological concept representing “the connection between Heaven and Earth” or the “higher and lower realms), the pillar connecting the above, middle, & below worlds, & around which the cosmos turns An American Yggdrasil (Norse tree of life). Some work has gone into reconstructing the woodhenge, and it is one of the sites around Cahokia that you can visit today. (The Solar Calendar of Woodhenge in Cahokia | Native America: Cities of the Sky).” – Vulpine Outlaw @Rad_Sherwoodism
“Items adduced as examples of the axis mundi by comparative mythologists include plants (notably a tree but also other types of plants such as a vine or stalk), a mountain, a column of smoke or fire, or a product of human manufacture (such as a staff, a tower, a ladder, a staircase, a maypole, a cross, a steeple, a rope, a totem pole, a pillar, a spire). Its proximity to heaven may carry implications that are chiefly religious (pagoda, temple mount, minaret, church) or secular (obelisk, lighthouse, rocket, skyscraper). The image appears in religious and secular contexts. The axis mundi symbol may be found in cultures utilizing shamanic practices or animist belief systems, in major world religions, and in technologically advanced “urban centers.” ref
Do we know what the symbols represent?
“Yes. It’s a bit more than I’d want to post on TwiX right now. It’s showing the 3-part universe, an upper, lower, and middle world, & the Milky Way is shown as well as Orion the Hand Constellation, Scorpius the ruler of the underworld, and Cygnus, the Judge. Also the main powers of the upper & lower worlds.” – Gregory L Little, Ed.D. @DrGregLittle2
Gregory L Little, Ed.D. BA/MS Psychology, Ed.D. Counseling/Ed. Psych Author since ’84 (70+ books/workbooks). Mound Builder Society: Be Kind; Respect Everything; Honor the Ancient Ones.
EVIDENCE FOR STEPPED PYRAMIDS OF SHELL IN THE WOODLAND PERIOD OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA
FOLKLORE PARALLELS BETWEEN SIBERIA AND SOUTH ASIA AND THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE EURASIAN STEPPES*
“According to the myth about the origin of man recorded among the people of Eastern Europe and Siberia, the creator set a dog to guard the half-made human figures, but the antagonist bribed the guard and spoiled the creation, making humans vulnerable to disease. The creator told the dog to become the servant of man. Texts recorded in India (mostly among the Munda-speaking groups), the Dards of the Hindu Kush and the Abkhasians, though partly similar to the Northern Eurasian ones, do not share some important details: the antagonist is a horse, it tried to destroy man but a dog drove it away. In the Mongolian (more precisely, the Oirat) version, a cow acts instead of a horse, but in other respects, this variant is similar to the Abkhasian ones. Negative associations related to the horse are rather widespread
in Europe and Central Asia. Stories about the creation of man recorded in northern and southern Eurasia stemmed from the anthropogenic myth that was known to the Indo-Europeans of the Bronze Age. South Asia and the European–Siberian zone also share other tales, in particular the Earth-diver myth. Their analysis opens possibilities for reconstructing the early mythology of the inhabitants of the Eurasian steppe.” ref
Comparative Mythology
“Since the term ‘Ancient North Eurasian’ refers to a genetic bridge of connected mating networks, scholars of comparative mythology have argued that they probably shared myths and beliefs that could be reconstructed via the comparison of stories attested within cultures that were not in contact for millennia and stretched from the Pontic–Caspian steppe to the American continent. The mytheme of the dog guarding the Otherworld possibly stems from an older Ancient North Eurasian belief, as suggested by similar motifs found in Indo-European, Native American and Siberian mythology. In Siouan, Algonquian, Iroquoian, and in Central and South American beliefs, a fierce guard dog was located in the Milky Way, perceived as the path of souls in the afterlife, and getting past it was a test.” ref
“The Siberian Chukchi and Tungus believed in a guardian-of-the-afterlife dog and a spirit dog that would absorb the dead man’s soul and act as a guide in the afterlife. In Indo-European myths, the figure of the dog is embodied by Cerberus, Sarvarā, and Garmr. In Zoroastrianism, two four-eyed dogs guard the bridge to the afterlife called Chinvat Bridge. Anthony and Brown note that it might be one of the oldest mythemes recoverable through comparative mythology.” ref
“A second canid-related series of beliefs, myths and rituals connected dogs with healing rather than death. For instance, Ancient Near Eastern and Turkic–Kipchaq myths are prone to associate dogs with healing and generally categorised dogs as impure. A similar myth-pattern is assumed for the Eneolithic site of Botai in Kazakhstan, dated to 3500 BC, which might represent the dog as absorber of illness and guardian of the household against disease and evil. In Mesopotamia, the goddess Nintinugga, associated with healing, was accompanied or symbolized by dogs. Similar absorbent-puppy healing and sacrifice rituals were practiced in Greece and Italy, among the Hittites, again possibly influenced by Near Eastern traditions.” ref
Earth-diver myth
(creation myth or cosmogonic myth, which is a type of cosmogony,
a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it.)
“The earth-diver is a common character in various traditional creation myths. In these stories, a supreme being usually sends an animal (most often a type of bird, but also crustaceans, insects, and fish in some narratives) into the primal waters to find bits of sand or mud with which to build habitable land. Some scholars interpret these myths psychologically while others interpret them cosmogonically. In both cases, emphasis is placed on beginnings emanating from the depths.” ref
“According to Gudmund Hatt and Tristram P. Coffin, Earth-diver myths are common in Native American folklore, among the following populations: Shoshone, Meskwaki, Blackfoot, Chipewyan, Newettee, Yokuts of California, Mandan, Hidatsa, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Ojibwe, Yuchi, and Cherokee. American anthropologist Gladys Reichard located the distribution of the motif across “all parts of North America”, save for “the extreme north, northeast, and southwest.” ref
“In a 1977 study, anthropologist Victor Barnouw surmised that the earth-diver motif appeared in “hunting-gathering societies“, mainly among northerly groups such as the Hare, Dogrib, Kaska, Beaver, Carrier, Chipewyan, Sarsi, Cree, and Montagnais. Similar tales are also found among the Chukchi and Yukaghir, the Tatars, and many Finno-Ugric traditions, as well as among the Buryat and the Samoyed. In addition, the earth-diver motif also exists in narratives from Eastern Europe, namely Romani, Romanian, Slavic (namely, Bulgarian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Belarusian), and Lithuanian mythological traditions.” ref
“The pattern of distribution of these stories suggest they have a common origin in the eastern Asiatic coastal region, spreading as peoples migrated west into Siberia and east to the North American continent. However, there are examples of this mytheme found well outside of this boreal distribution pattern, for example the West African Yoruba creation myth of Ọbatala and Oduduwa. Characteristic of many Native American myths, earth-diver creation stories begin as beings and potential forms linger asleep or suspended in the primordial realm. The earth-diver is among the first of them to awaken and lay the necessary groundwork by building suitable lands where the coming creation will be able to live. In many cases, these stories will describe a series of failed attempts to make land before the solution is found.” ref
“Among the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the earth-diver cosmogony is attested in Iroquois mythology: a female sky deity falls from the heavens, and certain animals, the beaver, the otter, the duck, and the muskrat dive in the waters to fetch mud to construct an island. In a similar story from the Seneca, people lived in a sky realm. One day, the chief’s daughter was afflicted with a mysterious illness, and the only cure recommended for her (revealed in a dream) was to lie beside a tree and to have it be dug up. The people do so, but a man complains that the tree was their livelihood, and kicks the girl through the hole. She ends up falling from the sky to a world of only water, but is rescued by waterfowl.” ref
“A turtle offers to bear her on its shell, but asked where would be a definitive dwelling place for her. They decide to create land, and the toad dives into the depths of the primal sea to get pieces of soil. The toad puts it on the turtle’s back, which grows larger with every deposit of soil. In another version from the Wyandot, the Wyandot lived in heaven. The daughter of the Big Chief (or Mighty Ruler) was sick, so the medicine man recommends that they dig up the wild apple tree that stands next to the Lodge of the Mighty Ruler, because the remedy is to be found on its roots.” ref
“However, as the tree has been dug out, the ground begins to sink away, and the treetops catch and carry down the sick daughter with it. As the girl falls from the skies, two swans rescue her on their backs. The birds decide to summon all the Swimmers and the Water Tribes. Many volunteer to dive into the Great Water to fetch bits of earth from the bottom of the sea, but only the toad (female, in the story) is the one successful.” ref
GENES AND MYTHS: ANCIENT MAL’TA DNA AND THE EARTH-DIVER MYTHOLOGICAL MOTIF
“Earth-Diver is one of the most widely-distributed and well-studied cosmological myths. Found in mostly Uralic-speaking Eastern Europe, in Siberia, in Munda-speaking Northeast India and North America, its action is set in post-diluvial times when a demiurge sends various creatures to bring a piece of mud from the bottom of the ocean. The first creature fails, but the second one succeeds. Importantly, it’s the least likely creature that succeeds, while the more obvious favorite fails. A loon is a much better diver than a duck but it’s the duck that succeeds. In the end, the demiurge blows the earth out of the tiny piece of mud and restores life on it. Depending on the region, the diving creatures are different – in Eurasia it’s waterfowl birds – loon and duck, in North America it’s amphibians such as turtle or frog, animals such as otter or beaver or waterbirds, in Northeast India and the American Southwest – it’s arthropods.” ref
“The Initial Stages of Evolution of Uralic-Speakers: Evidence from a Mythological Reconstruction (Proto-Uralic Cosmogonic Myth) have suggested that the Earth-Diver motif is the folkloric manifestation of a more comprehensive system of beliefs related to the experiences of a shamanic flight in Northern Eurasian and Amerindian cultures. Siberian shamans liken themselves to waterfowl birds flying between worlds in search of the soul of their patient and they manipulate waterfowl figurines during their shamanic seances. Remarkably, very similar figurines are found at the 24,000-year-old Mal’ta archaeological site in South Siberia (see one on the left made out of a mammoth tusk), and Napol’skikh, in his 1991 book as well as in a recent talk (see video in Russian, roughly from 11:40 on) proposed that the Mal’ta people possessed the “cult of a waterfowl” and told the Earth-Diver myth. This means that the Earth-Diver motif may go back to pre-LGM times.” ref
“Mal’ta has recently made headlines thanks to the sequencing of the genome of a 4-year-old boy found at this site. The DNA sample fell in-between West Eurasians and Amerindians, without any special connection to East Asians, and showed typical West Eurasian mtDNA and Y-DNA haplogroups, namely U and R, respectively. They are sister lineages of widely distributed in the Americas hg B (mtDNA) and hg Q (Y-DNA). It appears that, in pre-LGM times, Amerindians and West Eurasians formed a genetic continuum and that modern East Asians did not yet emerge as a distinct population. This finding may put the distribution of the Earth-Diver myth into a new perspective. Per Davidski’s request, adduce the map of the distribution of the Earth-Diver motif in Eurasia and North America (see the shaded areas on the left).” ref
“One should not expect a perfect fit between the distribution of myths and genes but the Earth-Diver distribution is rather clearly demarcated on a worldwide scale and does show continuity between West Eurasia and North America. The motif is notably absent from Western Europe – precisely the area that was covered with the glacier from 25,000 to 14,000 years ago – and from Beringia (Paleoasiatic peoples such as Chukchees and Koryaks as well as Eskimos don’t tell earth-diver stories), which may have been blocked by ice as well. Its presence in the Balkans is a due to relatively recent events such as Turkic and Avar migrations across the southern European steppe.” ref
“According to Napol’skikh’s motif phylogeny (on the left), the Earth-Diver myth has gone through 3 evolutionary stages – MNP-0, MNP-1 and MNP-2. At MNP-0, any creature (and any number of creatures) could become the demiurge’s helper as long as the least likely creature succeeded. At MNP-1, the plot crystallized around a pair of waterfowls in Siberia and Western North America and a pair of animals in Eastern North America. At MNP-3, one of the creatures dropped off and the demiurge used the help of only one helper. The “cladistics” of the myth is, therefore, rather simple: the dynamic and variable ancestral forms crystallize into progressively fewer characters.” ref
“As the detailed maps of motif and submotif distribution show, North America and Northern Eurasia share MNP-2 but then the rest of the variation is continent-specific. Eurasia has a number of clearly derived variants that are missing from the Americas, while America has a number variants not seen in Eurasia. Napol’skikh observes that stage MNP-0 is better represented in North America – the region that tends to have more archaic versions of the motif and more basal motif diversity (not just waterfowls, but animals, too; not just two creatures but many, etc.). Remarkably, the use of arthropods by the demiurge is a trait shared by Munda-speaking Northeast Indians (see the Berezkin map of Eurasia above) and the Muskogean-speaking Amerindians from the Southeast, both areas being the southernmost extremes of the Earth-Diver distribution. As the Mal’ta boy is re-writing the prehistory of Eurasia, opportunities are growing for cross-disciplinary integration that would tie together genes and culture into a coherent story.” ref
Folklore Parallels Between Siberia And South Asia And The Mythology Of The Eurasian Steppes
“According to the myth about the origin of man recorded among the people of Eastern Europe and Siberia, the creator set a dog to guard the half-made human figures, but the antagonist bribed the guard and spoiled the creation, making humans vulnerable to disease. The creator told the dog to become the servant of man. Texts recorded in India (mostly among the Munda-speaking groups), the Dards of the Hindu Kush and the Abkhasians, though partly similar to the Northern Eurasian ones, do not share some important details: the antagonist is a horse, it tried to destroy man but a dog drove it away. In the Mongolian (more precisely, the Oirat) version, a cow acts instead of a horse, but in other respects this variant is similar to the Abkhasian ones. Negative associations related to the horse are rather widespread in Europe and Central Asia. Stories about the creation of man recorded in northern and southern Eurasia stemmed from the anthropogenic myth that was known to the Indo-Europeans of the Bronze Age. South Asia and the European–Siberian zone also share other tales, in particular the Earth-diver myth. Their analysis opens possibilities for reconstructing the early mythology of the inhabitants of the Eurasian steppe.” ref
Diver-Myths
“Scientific evidence has shown that at one point parts of the earth that are now dry were covered by water. Many myths allude to this fact by imagining a world once covered by water. Many myths, called diver-myths (Long 188), consisted of a being diving into the water that covers the earth to retrieve some earth. The earth brought to the surface became the land we know today. Other stories had the mud brought to the surface in a different way, but many had the common element of some earth being brought to the surface of the water and growing until it became the Earth.” ref
“According to the Iroquois Native Americans water animals inhabited the Earth before there was land. When a Sky Woman fell from her home above they caught her and dove into the seas to bring up mud. This mud they spread onto the back of Big Turtle. There it began to grow until it became North America.” ref
“The Japanese creation myth painted a picture of a muddy ocean which covered the world at the beginning of time. A god and goddess, Izanagi and Izanami, became curious about what was beneath the ocean. Izanagi took his staff and threw it into the ocean. As he lifted it back up some lumps of earth fell off into the water. These became the islands of Japan. No being dove beneath the waters to find mud, but the element of earth being covered by water and a being bringing the earth up is there.” ref
“The creation myth of Christians and Jews does not tell of God diving into the water to bring up mud, but Genesis 1:2 says Òthe Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.Ó Therefore according to the Torah and Bible the Earth was once covered entirely by water.” ref
Power of Myths
“The most obvious function of myths is the explanation of facts, whether natural or cultural. One North American Indian (Abenaki) myth, for example, explains the origin of corn (maize): a lonely man meets a beautiful woman with long, fair hair; she promises to remain with him if he follows her instructions; she tells him in detail how to make a fire and, after he has done so, she orders him to drag her over the burned ground; as a result of these actions, he will see her silken hair (viz., the cornstalk) reappear, and thereafter he will have corn seeds for his use. Henceforth, whenever Abenaki Indians see corn (the woman’s hair), they know that she remembers them.” ref
“Obviously, a myth such as this one functions as an explanation, but the narrative form distinguishes it from a straightforward answer to an intellectual question about causes. The function of explanation and the narrative form go together, since the imaginative power of the myth lends credibility to the explanation and crystallizes it into a memorable and enduring form. Hence myths play an important part in many traditional systems of education. Many myths explain ritual and cultic customs. According to myths from the island of Ceram (in Indonesia), in the beginning life was not complete, or not yet “human”: vegetation and animals did not exist, and there was neither death nor sexuality. In a mysterious manner Hainuwele, a girl with extraordinary gift-bestowing powers, appeared.” ref
“The people killed her at the end of their great annual celebration, and her dismembered body was planted in the earth. Among the species that sprang up after this act of planting were tubers—the staple diet of the people telling the myth. With a certain circularity frequent in mythology, the myth validates the very cultic celebration mentioned in the myth. The cult can be understood as a commemoration of those first events. Hence, the myth can be said to validate life itself together with the cultic celebration. Comparable myths are told in a number of societies where the main means of food production is the cultivation of root crops; the myths reflect the fact that tubers must be cut up and buried in the earth for propagation to take place.” ref
“Ritual sacrifices are typical of traditional peasant cultures. In most cases such customs are related to mythical events. Among important themes are the necessity of death (e.g., the grain “dies” and is buried, only to yield a subsequent harvest), a society’s cyclic renewal of itself (e.g., New Year’s celebrations), and the significance of women and sexuality. New Year’s celebrations, often accompanied by a temporary abandonment of all rules, may be related to or justified by mythical themes concerning a return to chaos and a return of the dead.” ref
“In every mythological tradition one myth or cluster of myths tends to be central. The subject of the central mythology is often cosmogony (origin of the cosmos). In many of those ceremonies that each society has developed as a symbol of what is necessary to its well-being, references are made to the beginning of the world. Examples include the enthronements of kings, which in some traditions (as in Fiji or ancient India) are associated with a creation or re-creation of the world. Analogously, in ancient Mesopotamia the creation epic Enuma elish, which was read each New Year at Babylon, celebrated the progress of the cosmos from initial anarchy to government by the kingship of Marduk; hence the authority of earthly rulers, and of earthly monarchy in general, was implicitly supported and justified.” ref
“Ruling families in ancient civilizations frequently justified their position by invoking myths—for example, that they had divine origins. Examples are known from imperial China, pharaonic Egypt, the Hittite empire, Polynesia, the Inca empire, and India. Elites have also based their claims to privilege on myths. The French historian of ancient religion Georges Dumézil was the pioneer in suggesting that the priestly, warrior, and producing classes in ancient Indo-European societies regarded themselves as having been ordained to particular tasks by virtue of their mythological origins. And in every known cultural tradition there exists some mythological foundation that is referred to when defending marriage and funerary customs.” ref
“Creation myths play a significant role in healing the sick; they are recited (e.g., among the Navajo people of North America) when an individual’s world—that is to say, the person’s life—is in jeopardy. Thus, healing through recitation of a cosmogony is one example of the use of myth as a magical incantation. Another example is the case of Icelandic poets, who, in the singing of the episode in Old Norse mythology in which the god Odin wins for gods and humans the “mead of song” (a drink containing the power of poetic inspiration), can be said to be celebrating the origins of their own art and, hence, renewing it.” ref
“Modern science did not evolve in its entirety as a rebellion against myth, nor at its birth did it suddenly throw off the shackles of myth. In ancient Greece the naturalists of Ionia (western Asia Minor), long regarded as the originators of science, developed views of the universe that were in fact very close to the creation myths of their time. Those who laid the foundations of modern science, such as Nicholas of Cusa, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, and Gottfried Leibniz, were absorbed by metaphysical problems of which the traditional, indeed mythological, character is evident. Among these problems were the nature of infinity and the question of the omnipotence of God. The influence of mythological views is seen in the English physician William Harvey’s association of the circulation of the blood with the planetary movements and Charles Darwin’s explanation of woman’s menstrual cycles by the tides of the ocean.” ref
Human Y chromosome haplogroup R-V88: a paternal genetic record of early mid Holocene trans-Saharan connections and the spread of Chadic languages
“Although human Y chromosomes belonging to haplogroup R1b are quite rare in Africa, being found mainly in Asia and Europe, a group of chromosomes within the paragroup R-P25* are found concentrated in the central-western part of the African continent, where they can be detected at frequencies as high as 95%. Phylogenetic evidence and coalescence time estimates suggest thatR-P25* chromosomes (or their phylogenetic ancestor) may have been carried to Africa by an Asia-to-Africa back migration in prehistoric times. Here, we describe six new mutations that define the relationships among the African R-P25* Y chromosomes and between these African chromosomes and earlier reported R-P25 Eurasian sub-lineages. The incorporation of these new mutations into a phylogeny of the R1b haplogroup led to the identification of a new clade (R1b1a or R-V88) encompassing all the African R-P25* and about half of the few European/west Asian R-P25* chromosomes.” ref
“A worldwide phylogeographic analysis of the R1b haplogroup provided strong support to the Asia-to-Africa back-migration hypothesis. The analysis of the distribution of the R-V88 haplogroup in 41800 males from 69 African populations revealed a striking genetic contiguity between the Chadic-speaking peoples from the central Sahel and several other Afroasiatic-speaking groups from North Africa. The R-V88coalescence time was estimated at 9200–5600 years ago, in the early mid Holocene. We suggest that R-V88 is a paternal genetic record of the proposed mid-Holocene migration of proto-Chadic Afroasiatic speakers through the Central Sahara into the Lake Chad Basin, and geomorphological evidence is consistent with this view.” ref
“After a hyper-arid period about 23,000–14,500 years ago, the Saharan region experienced a monsoonal moist climate, characterized by increased rainfall. During the Holocene Climatic Optimum (about 10,000–5,000 years ago), a few thousand years after the beginning of the humid period, flora and fauna repopulated the desert, and a mosaic of savannah and woodland became well-established throughout much of the Sahara. At the same time, the Sahara was home to giant lakes, the largest of which, the paleolake Megachad, may have possibly covered an area of at least 400 000 km2, more than the Caspian Sea, the biggest lake on earth today. This greening scenario was interrupted by a number of arid episodes, and at about 5,000–6,000 years ago, the region experienced a rapid onset of dryer conditions. These marked the beginning of a shift towards permanent aridity, with variations in the distribution and timing of these changes between the eastern and central/westernSahara.3Human–environment interactions in the Sahara have been greatly influenced by these climate fluctuations.” ref
“Close links between climatic variations and prehistoric human occupation of the Sahara during the early mid Holocene (10,000–5,000 years ago) are documented by archeological6–8 and paleoanthropological9,10evidence. However, genetic studies have been limited and mainly focused on uniparental markers and the role of the Nile basin as a corridor for human movements between northeastern and eastern Africa. There have only been a few high-resolution analyses to date regarding the distribution of Y-specific haplogroups in the African continent. The emerging picture indicates a clear differentiation between central/western sub-Saharan and northern African populations. Haplogroup E-DYS271, which accounts for 470% of the Y chromosomes in most of the populations south of the Sahara, is found on an average at a frequency of 2–3% in Northern Africa, whereas haplogroups J-M304, E-M81, and E-M78, which on the whole account for 50–90% of the northern African male-specific region of the Y chromosome (MSY) gene pool, have been only rarely observed in west/central sub-Saharan Africa.” ref
Iberomaurusian Culture
“The Iberomaurusian is a backed bladelet lithic industry found near the coasts of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. It is also known from a single major site in Libya, the Haua Fteah, where the industry is locally known as the Eastern Oranian. The Iberomaurusian seems to have appeared around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), somewhere between c. 25,000 and 23,000 years ago. It would have lasted until the early Holocene c. 11,000 years ago. In Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, but not in Morocco, the industry is succeeded by the Capsian industry, whose origins are unclear. The Capsian is believed either to have spread into North Africa from the Near East, or to have evolved from the Iberomaurusian. In Morocco and Western Algeria, the Iberomaurusian is succeeded by the Cardial culture after a long hiatus.” ref
“The Iberomaurusian is a backed bladelet lithic industry found near the coasts of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. It is also known from a single major site in Libya, the Haua Fteah, where the industry is locally known as the Eastern Oranian. The Iberomaurusian seems to have appeared around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, somewhere between 25,000 and 23,000 years ago. It would have lasted until the early Holocene c. 11,000 years ago. In Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, but not in Morocco, the industry is succeeded by the Capsian industry, whose origins are unclear. The Capsian is believed either to have spread into North Africa from the Near East, or to have evolved from the Iberomaurusian. In Morocco and Western Algeria, the Iberomaurusian is succeeded by the Cardial culture after a long hiatus.” ref
“The Mitochondrial DNA of 31 prehistoric skeletons dated from the site of Taforalt, Morocco in a cave called ‘Grotte des pigeons’ was analyzed by the Tunisian geneticist Rym Kefi (Pasteur Institute of Tunis) and her team. The remains at Taforalt Iberomaurusian industry appeared at least 22,093–21,420 years ago and 8 skeletons from the Algerian Iberomaurusian site called ‘Afalou’ site dated from 15,000 to 11,000 years ago.” ref
“23 individuals from Taforalt sample were determined to be of the maternal genetic lineage U6 and of Eurasian haplogroups H, U, R0 and at the Algerian Afalou site maternal groups were JT, J, T, H, R0a1 and U. This suggests genetic flow between North Africa and southern Mediterranean littoral since the Epipaleolithic. In a article entitled ‘Pleistocene North African genomes link Near Eastern and sub-Saharan African human populations’, Marieke Van de Loosdrecht et al. (2018) did a full genome-wide analysis including Y-DNA from seven ancient individuals from the Taforalt site. The fossils were directly dated to between 15,100 and 13,900 calibrated years before present.” ref
“All males at Taforalt belonged to haplogroup E1b1b1a1 (M-78). This haplogroup occurs most frequently in present-day North and East African populations. The closely related E1b1b1b (M-123) haplogroup has been reported for Epipaleolithic Natufians and Pre-Pottery Neolithic Levantines. Loosdrecht states: “Present-day North Africans share a majority of their ancestry with present-day Near Easterners, but not with sub-Saharan Africans” although the predominant Y-DNA of the Maghreb is E-M81 (see Haplogroup E-Z827 ) Maternally, six individuals of the Taforalt remains bore the U6a haplogroup and one individual was of the M1b haplogroup, these haplogroups proposed as markers for autochthonous Maghreb ancestry. A two-way admixture scenario using Natufian and modern sub-Saharan samples (including West Africans and the Tanzanian Hadza) as reference populations inferred that the seven Taforalt individuals are best modeled genetically as of 63.5% West-Eurasian-related and 36.5% sub-Saharan ancestry (with the latter having both West African-like and Hadza-like affinities), with no apparent gene flow from the Epigravettian culture of Paleolithic southern Europe. ” ref
“The Sub-Saharan African DNA in Taforalt individuals has the closest affinity, most of all, to that of modern West Africans (e.g., Yoruba, or Mende). In addition to having similarity with the remnant of a more basal Sub-Saharan African lineage (e.g., a basal West African lineage shared between Yoruba and Mende peoples), the Sub-Saharan African DNA in the Taforalt individuals of the Iberomaurusian culture may be best represented by modern West Africans (e.g., Yoruba). Iosif Lazaridis et al. (2018), as summarized by Rosa Fregel (2021), contested the conclusion of Loosdrecht (2018) and argued instead that the Iberomaurusian population of Upper Paleolithic North Africa, represented by the Taforalt sample, can be better modeled as an admixture between a Dzudzuana-like [West-Eurasian] component and an “Ancient North African” component, “that may represent an even earlier split than the Basal Eurasians.” ref
“Losif Lazaridis et al. (2018) also argued that an Iberomaurusian/Taforalt-like population contributed to the genetic composition of Natufians “and not the other way around”, and that this Iberomaurusian/Taforalt lineage also contributed around 13% ancestry to modern West Africans “rather than Taforalt having ancestry from an unknown Sub-Saharan African source”. Fregel (2021) summarized: “More evidence will be needed to determine the specific origin of the North African Upper Paleolithic populations. Martiniano et al. (2022) later reassigned all the Taforalt samples to haplogroup E-M78 and none to E-L618, the predecessor to EV13. D’Atanasio et al. 2023 found that Iberomaurusian-like ancestry was characterizing for the “ancient Green Saharan” population about 12,000-5,000 years ago, and that modern-day Fula people derive around 30% of their ancestry from this ancient Saharan population, which was “modeled as a sister group of ancient Northern Africans, or alternatively, as an outgroup of all the “Eurasian-ancestry” enriched groups.” ref
“The practice of Tooth Evulsion was widespread in the Maghreb from the Iberomaurusian through to the Neolithic.” ref
Tooth Evulsion
“Tooth ablation (also known as tooth evulsion, dental evulsion and tooth extraction) is the deliberate removal of a person’s healthy teeth, and has been recorded in a variety of ancient and modern societies around the world. This type of dental modification is visually very striking and immediately obvious to other people from the same or different communities. There are numerous reasons for performing tooth ablation, including group identification, ornamentation, and rites of passage such as coming of age, marriage, and mourning. The social meaning of tooth evulsion is likely to remain unknown for ancient populations and may have changed over time within those groups. Dental evulsion can significantly affect the emergence, occlusion, and wear patterns of the remaining teeth.” ref
“There are various techniques used to perform dental evulsion; however, regardless of the technique, dental evulsion could not have been achieved without causing pain and a risk of infection. In Africa, extractive techniques were used. In Sudan, fish hooks and metal wires were used to remove deciduous tooth germs before an infant reached one month. In the Upper Nile, the entire tooth was removed by loosening the anterior teeth from their sockets with an iron spike. The Nuer people of South Sudan still practice an extractive technique whereby a fine blade is used to loosen the teeth alongside the root, which takes place without anesthetic, and the individual is not allowed to show emotion or pain. The evulsion of the lower teeth would have resulted in a highly visible change to the individual’s facial characteristics and would also have affected the pronunciation of language and other sounds.” ref
“Dental evulsion was at one time a common practice in Africa, especially in East and East Central Africa. In West Africa, the custom of extraction is rather uncommon, but it was found among the Ashanti who broke teeth out of their war prisoners, and a few tribes in Cameroon, Ghana, Togo, and Liberia. Dental evulsion also occurred in Angola and Namibia. In Kenya, Tanzania, and South Sudan, dental evulsion is mainly a Nilotic custom. In South Sudan, lower incisors (and sometimes also the canines), are extracted shortly after their eruption, as a rite of passage, for beauty, to allow the emission of specific linguistic sounds, and to facilitate oral sex. This is found among the Dinka, Nuer, and Maban tribes, especially in rural villages. The Luo people extract the six lower teeth as a form of initiation into adulthood. The Maasai people of Kenya extract the lower deciduous incisors of infants at six months, and the lower permanent incisors at six years; this is performed only for boys to facilitate feeding them in case they are ill with tetanus, and to exorcize the kidnapping of babies.” ref
Nile during the Last Glacial Maximum
“Geological cores in the eastern Mediterranean show that sediment input from the Nile during the LGM, while present, is highly reduced compared to previous periods. These data are consistent with a Nile that continued to flow during MIS 2, but possibly only seasonally or during major flood events. Element analyses of core sediments from the eastern Mediterranean confirm a negligible input from the White Nile, vs. an input from the Blue Nile and Atbara, and indicates an increase of Saharan dust input during the Last Glacial Maximum. A recent high-resolution multi-proxy study of a sediment core from the eastern Mediterranean documents the most severe period of aridity in the Nile Basin in the past 28,000 years, after the Last Glacial Maximum, during the second phase of HS 1, 16,000-14,500 years ago (HS 1b).” ref
“From 14,500 years ago, the Mediterranean sea level starts to rise again and several proxies, such as pollen data and lake levels, indicate wetter conditions over at least some areas of eastern Africa, in two phases 14,500 and 11,000 years ago. In particular, the abrupt return of precipitation over eastern Africa 14,500 years ago led to an overflow of Lake Victoria into Lake Albert, the Ugandan headwaters of the White Nile, which triggered high floods in the White Nile Valley as well as at the northern end of the Nile Valley. These data are mirrored by data from the Delta, indicating a marked increase in the sedimentary input of the Blue Nile and Atbara in Delta sediment cores, with evidence for high floods in the Delta ca. 15,000–10,000 years ago. However, millennial-scale episodes of aridity are noted, such as one ca. 13,000-12,000 years ago before a return to humid conditions 12,000 years ago. Maximum Nile flow is documented in the Delta at that time leading to the deposition of an organic-rich dark layer known as Sapropel 1 in the Delta ca. 9,500-7,000 years ago.” ref
“Under present environmental conditions, the Nile Valley acts as a ‘natural’ route between Africa and Eurasia, and is often considered as a corridor for dispersals out of and back into Africa in the past. This review aims to address the role played by the Nile Valley at the end of the Pleistocene (28,000-15,000 years ago) in the context of post-‘Out of Africa’ modern human dispersals. Genetic studies based on both modern and ancient DNA suggest pre-Holocene dispersals ‘back into Africa’ as well as genetic interactions between modern humans across Africa and the Levant. During the Last Glacial, the lowering, or even complete desiccation of major eastern African lakes, including Lake Victoria, reduced the White Nile to a highly seasonal river, depriving the main Nile from its most important tributary in the dry season. This had major consequences, the specifics of which are still debated, on the behavior of the main Nile and the landscape around the Nile Delta. Despite this shift to more arid conditions, there is abundant evidence for human occupation in the main Nile Valley.” ref
Halfan culture (Halfan tool-making Egypt c. 18,000 and 15,000 BCE)
“The Halfan culture flourished along the Nile Valley of Egypt and Nubia between 18,000 and 15,000 BCE, though one Halfan site dates to before 24,000 BCE or around 26,000 years ago. People survived on a diet of large herd animals and the Khormusan tradition of fishing. Greater concentrations of artifacts indicate that they were not bound to seasonal wandering, but settled for longer periods. They are viewed as the parent culture of the Ibero-Maurusian industry, which spread across the Sahara and into Spain. The Halfan culture was derived in turn from the Khormusan, which depended on specialized hunting, fishing, and collecting techniques for survival. The primary material remains of this culture are stone tools, flakes, and a multitude of rock paintings. The Halfan industry is one of the Late Epipalaeolithic industries of the Nile Valley that began to appear by 22,000 years ago. It is one of the earliest known backed-bladelet industries in Eastern Africa, largely dating between 19,000 and 14,000 years ago in Nubia and Egypt. The Halfan was formerly seen as the parent culture of the Ibero-Maurusian industry in the Maghreb, however, since the earliest Ibero-Maurusian is dated to ≥ 21,000 BP it is more likely that both the Halfan and the Ibero-Maurusian are descended from a common cultural ancestor. The Halfan culture is believed to have descended from the Khormusan Culture which depended on specialized hunting, fishing, and collecting techniques for survival. The Halfan people survived on a diet of large herd animals and the Khormusan tradition of fishing. Greater concentrations of artifacts indicate that they were not bound to seasonal wandering, but settled for longer periods at preferred and more convenient sites from where to make short forays into their seasonal ones. The primary material remains of the Halfan culture complex are their stone tools, flakes, and a multitude of rock paintings. The Halfan industry is characterized by three main tools: Halfa flakes, backed microflakes, and backed microblades. It is only during a transitional stage that all three occur in significant amounts, but all types do occur in every assemblage. The most general observation, is the relative proportions of flakes, microblades, and cores chosen for retouch. This reflects both the tools desired in each assemblage (i.e., Halfa flakes vs. backed microblades), and the degree of the development of the microblade technology (i.e., backed flakes vs. backed microblades). The only type which shows a high stage of development is the Halfa core. The basic orientation of the Halfa core to opposed platforms is reflected in the number of poor opposed platform flake cores. These are never extensively utilized, and no real care has gone into their initial preparation. The Haifa core does, however, have a number of features which could lead to more generalized, yet effective, core types. Levallois cores are present, but they are poorly made and have not received the careful attention that the Halfa cores have. In fact, the Levallois flake is merely a more generalized form of Halfa flake and as such could have been of no great value to an industry producing Halfa flakes.” Ref Ref
“The Halfan industry is one of the Late Epipalaeolithic industries of the Upper Nile Valley that seems to have appeared in northern Sudan 22,500-22,000 years ago. It is one of the earliest known backed-bladelet industries in Northern Africa, dating between 22,500 and 16,000 years ago in Nubia. The Halfan is restricted to the north of Sudan, its Egyptian counterpart, which is in all respects similar, is known as the Kubbaniyan. It has been suggested that the Halfan was related to the Iberomaurusian industry in the Maghreb. The earliest Iberomaurusian is dated to c. 26,000-22,500 years ago and it is not clear whether the Iberomaurusian or the Halfan is more ancient. The Halfan is believed to have descended from the Khormusan Culture which depended on specialized hunting, fishing, and collecting techniques for survival.” ref
“The Halfan people survived on a diet of large herd animals and the Khormusan tradition of fishing. Greater concentrations of artifacts indicate that they were not bound to seasonal wandering, but settled for longer periods at preferred and more convenient sites from where to make short forays into their seasonal one. The primary material remains of the Halfan complex are their stone tools, flakes, and a multitude of rock paintings. The Halfan industry is characterized by three main tools: Halfa flakes, backed microflakes, and backed microblades. It is only during a transitional stage that all three occur in significant amounts, but all types do occur in every assemblage.” ref
“The most general observation, is the relative proportions of flakes, microblades, and cores chosen for retouch. This reflects both the tools desired in each assemblage (i.e., Halfa flakes vs. backed microblades), and the degree of the development of the microblade technology (i.e., backed flakes vs. backed microblades). The only type which shows a high stage of development is the Halfa core. The basic orientation of the Halfa core to opposed platforms is reflected in the number of poor opposed platform flake cores. These are never extensively utilized, and no real care has gone into their initial preparation. The Halfa core does, however, have a number of features which could lead to more generalized, yet effective, core types. Levallois cores are present, but they are poorly made and have not received the careful attention that the Halfa cores have. In fact, the Levallois flake is merely a more generalized form of Halfa flake and as such could have been of no great value to an industry producing Halfa flakes.” ref
Sebilian culture (Sebilian tool-making)
Dates: circa 13,000 B.C.E. — 10,000 B.C.E.
Preceded by: Halfan culture
Followed by: Qadan culture
“Sebilian is a pre-historic archaeological culture in Egypt spanning the period c.13,000-10,000 B.C. The culture is known by the name given by Edmond Vignard to finds he located at Kom Ombo on the banks of the river Nile from 1919 continuing into the 1920s. Nine sites were found by A. Marks in the area of the Wadi Halfa; Wendorf located three approximately 10 kilometres from Abu Simbel. The culture is located in entirety only in proximity to the Nile, ranging from Wadi Halfa to Qena. The culture was dated by Vignard as spanning the period c.13,000-10,000 B.C. Dating by way of geology shows the industry to have occurred within a period 15,000 – 10,500 B.C. though the industry has been subsequently re-established sui generis as emerging during 13,000 BC. Later archaeology had identified the Sebilian as having occurred during the same periods of time as those industries named the Silsilian, and the Sebekian of Upper Egypt that occurred 12,000 B.C. or perhaps earlier. Vignard’s analysis of the findings have been criticised, and later re-evaluated by P.E.L. Smith and Fekri Hassan though are considered to have given life to the modern field of investigation into a hitherto unknown (or only surmised) area of pre-history of Egypt. Sebilian implements were located along the Nile River at the 10–15 foot terraces. The formal characteristics of the finds indicate a development of technique that passed through three phases. SEBILIAN I were formally akin to Mousteroid tool-points, using a technique typical of the levallois diorite based industry, with few microburins present archaeologically. SEBILIAN II and III tools were made using a technique indicative of a microblade industry that had changed the production material to flint with a much greater number of microburins found. The industry was re-designated SEBILIAN based on those previously classified type I, and described as crudely produced, possibly resultant of the necessities of the occasional opportunities for groups engaged in hunting activities. The dietary manifestations evidenced were of the sort expected from a semi-sedentary population living near to the Nile river, namely fish, and much less frequently crocodile and turtle.” Ref
Qadan culture (Qadan tool-making)
Dates: 13,000 B.C.E. — 9,000 B.C.E.
Major sites: Cemetery 117
Preceded by: Sebilian
Followed by: Harifian
“The Qadan culture (13,000-9,000 BC) was an ancient culture that, archaeological evidence suggests, originated in Northeast Africa approximately 15,000 years ago, specifically in Upper Egypt (present day south Egypt). This way of life is estimated to have persisted for approximately 4,000 years, and was characterized by hunting, as well as a unique approach to food gathering that incorporated the preparation and consumption of wild grasses and grains. Systematic efforts were made by the Qadan people to water, care for, and harvest local plant life, but grains were not planted in ordered rows. Sites from this period span from the Second Cataract of the Nile to Tushka, situated approximately 250 kilometers upriver from Aswan. In archaeological terms, the Qadan culture is generally viewed as a cluster of Mesolithic Stage communities living in Nubia in the upper Nile Valley prior to 9000 BC. At a time of relatively high water levels in the Nile, it is characterized by a diverse stone tool industry that is taken to represent increasing degrees of specialization and locally differentiated regional groupings. Large numbers of grinding stones and blades have been found with glossy films of silica on them, which could possibly be the result of cutting grass stems on their surfaces. There is some evidence of conflict between the groups, suggesting periods of invasion or intense inter-tribal war. In fact, about 40 percent of individuals buried in the Jebel Sahaba cemetery near the border of Sudan on the Nile river show signs of fatal wounds caused by projectiles, from weapons such as spears, darts, or arrows. The remains found in the cemeteries suggest that ritual burials were practiced. The Qadan economy was based on fishing, hunting, and, as mentioned, the extensive use of wild grain. About twenty archaeological sites in upper Nubia give evidence for the existence of a grain-grinding Mesolithic culture called the Qadan Culture, which practiced wild grain harvesting along the Nile during the beginning of the Sahaba Daru Nile phase, when desiccation in the Sahara caused residents of the Libyan oases to retreat into the Nile valley. Qadan peoples developed sickles and grinding stones to aid in the collecting and processing of these plant foods prior to consumption. However, there are no indications of the use of these tools after around 10,000 BC, when hunter-gatherers replaced them. In Egypt, analyses of pollen found at archaeological sites indicate that the Sebilian culture (also known as the Esna culture) were gathering wheat and barley. Domesticated seeds were not found (modern wheat and barley originated in Asia Minor and Canaan). It has been hypothesized that the sedentary lifestyle used by farmers led to increased warfare, which was detrimental to farming and brought this period to an end.” Ref Ref
“The Qadan culture (13000-9000 BCE) was an ancient culture that, archaeological evidence suggests, originated in Nubia approximately 15,000 years ago. This way of life is estimated to have persisted for approximately 4,000 years, and was characterized by hunting, as well as a unique approach to food gathering that incorporated the preparation and consumption of wild grasses and grains. Systematic efforts were made by the Qadan people to water, care for, and harvest local plant life, but grains were not planted in ordered rows. Sites from this period span from the Second Cataract of the Nile to Tushka, situated approximately 250 kilometers upriver from Aswan. In archaeological terms, the Qadan culture is generally viewed as a cluster of Mesolithic Stage communities living in Nubia in the upper Nile Valley prior to 9000 BCE or around 11,000 years ago.” ref
“At a time of relatively high water levels in the Nile, it is characterized by a diverse stone tool industry that is taken to represent increasing degrees of specialization and locally differentiated regional groupings. Large numbers of grinding stones and blades have been found with glossy films of silica on them, which could possibly be the result of cutting grass stems on their surfaces. There is some evidence of conflict between the groups, suggesting periods of invasion or intense inter-tribal war. In fact, about 40 percent of individuals buried in the Jebel Sahaba cemetery near the border of Sudan on the Nile river show signs of fatal wounds caused by projectiles, from weapons such as spears, darts, or arrows. The remains found in the cemeteries suggest that ritual burials were practiced. The Qadan economy was based on fishing, hunting, and, as mentioned, the extensive use of wild grain.” ref
“Harifian culture (Harifian tool-making)
Dates: 8,800 — 8,000 B.C.E.
Major sites: Negev Desert
Preceded by: Qadan culture
Followed by: Faiyum A
“The Harifians are viewed as migrating out of the Fayyum and the Eastern Deserts of Egypt during the late Mesolithic to merge with the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) culture, whose tool assemblage resembles that of the Harifian. This assimilation led to the Circum-Arabian Nomadic Pastoral Complex, a group of cultures that invented nomadic pastoralism, and may have been the original culture which spread Proto-Semitic languages throughout Mesopotamia. The Harifian is a specialized regional cultural development of the Epipalaeolithic of the Negev Desert. It corresponds to the latest stages of the Natufian culture. Like the Natufian, it is characterized by semi-subterranean houses. These are often more elaborate than those found at Natufian sites. For the first-time arrowheads are found among the stone tool kit. Andy Burns states “The Harifian dates to between approximately 10,800/10,500bp and 10,000/10,200bp. It is restricted to the Sinai and Negev, and is probably broadly contemporary with the Late Natufian or Pre-Pottery Neolithic A. Microlithic points are a characteristic feature of the industry, with the Harif point being both new and particularly diagnostic – Bar-Yosef (1998) suggests that it is an indication of improved hunting techniques. Lunates, isosceles and other triangular forms were backed with retouch, and some Helwan lunates are found. This industry contrasts with the Desert Natufian which did not have the roughly triangular points in its assemblage. There are two main groups within the Harifian. One group consists of ephemeral base camps in the north of Sinai and western Negev, where stone points comprise up to 88% of all microliths, accompanied by only a few lunates and triangles. The other group consists of base camps and smaller campsites in the Negev and features a greater number of lunates and triangles than points. These sites probably represent functional rather than chronological differences. The presence of Khiam points in some sites indicates that there was communication with other areas in the Levant at this time.” Harifian has close connections with the late Mesolithic cultures of Fayyum and the Eastern Deserts of Egypt, whose tool assemblage resembles that of the Harifian. Fusion with animal domestication elements of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) culture is hypothesised by Juris Zarins, to have led to the Circum Arabian Nomadic Pastoral Complex, a group of cultures that invented nomadic pastoralism, and may have been the original culture which spread Proto-Semitic languages throughout the region.” Ref Ref
Faiyum A (also called Fayum Neolithic) culture (Fayum tool-making)
Dates: 5,500 — 4,000 B.C.E.
Major sites: Faiyum
Preceded by: Sebilian
Followed by: Harifian
“There is a gap of around 1,000 years between the Epipaleolithi settlements (of the Faiyum B or Quarian culture) in the Faiyum and the establishment of earliest Neolithic settlements, at around 5500 BC. These early sites constitute the earliest fully Neolithic Culture in the Nile Valley. Like the people of the Western Desert the Neolithic peoples of the Faiyum do not seem to have been fully sedentary (although granaries and hearths seem to have been more permanent). They had seasonal camps composed of mat or reed huts with communal underground granaries to exploit the resources of the area. The most obvious difference between the two cultures is the domestication of sheep and goats, and the farming of emmer wheat and six row barley. Unlike other Neolithic cultures in the Nile Valley the Faiyum A culture never developed permanent agricultural villages, the only permanent features are hearths and granaries. The Faiyum was to some degree cut off from the Nile Valley cultures and lagged behind them in social and cultural development. They used sickle flints set in wooden handles, large thick flaked tools, and winged arrowheads and leaf-shaped pieces. Pottery did not develop beyond fairly crude open pots made with chaff tempered clay, but there is evidence of linen woven from flax and imported beads and shells being used as adornments. Wendorf and others have suggested, on the basis of differences in technology, pottery and tool use, that the Faiyum A culture did not derive from any local Paleolithic culture. Rather, the culture was formed by a group of settlers who may also have brought with them the prototype of the ancient Egyptian language. These settlers may have come from the Levant, they share some similar tools and domesticated the same animals. However, others (Hoffman, Hendrickx and Vermeersch) still consider the Faiyum A culture emerged from the peoples of the Saharan Neolithic culture with whom they also share many similarities. The evidence to date is not sufficient to confirm this issue one way or another. Faiyum or El Faiyūm is a city in Middle Egypt. Located 100 kilometres (62 miles) southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum Governorate. Originally called Shedet in Ancient Egypt, the Greeks called it Crocodilopolis or Krocodilopolis, the Romans Arsinoë. It is one of Egypt’s oldest cities due to its strategic location. Archaeological evidence has found occupations around the Fayum dating back to at least the Epipalaeolithic period (generally dated from 20,000 BP to about 10,500 BP). Epipalaeolithic hunter-gatherers, generally nomadic, made relatively advanced tools from small flint or obsidian blades, known as microliths. that were hafted in wooden implements. Around 5500–4500 BCE In the Middle and Lower Egyptian Nile Valley farming and herding were just beginning to be established. And therefore, nearly at the same time, when the Middle European landscape was transformed by the Linear Pottery Culture. Since the Neolithic transition had occurred much earlier in southwest Asia, it seems strange that the Neolithic economy appeared so much later in Egypt. For an explanation of this fact, several factors could be of importance: The Sinai Peninsula, too dry for farming, provided an effective barrier for the flow of farming technology between the southern Levant. And Egypt. None of the species of wild plants or animals that later became domesticated, with the possible exception of cattle, were present in Egypt at the end of the Pleistocene. During the early Holocene, the Nile Valley was extremely rich of natural resources, with no further need to supplement this subsistence with farming and herding. Much information about the final Epipaleolithic and early Neolithic transition in the Nil-valley is buried under thick sediments especially if such settlements were located next to the river. Most sites of the Fayum Neolithic (also called Fayum A) were found at the northern rim of the Fayum, first excavated by Caton-Thompson andGardner (1924-1926). While these sites show evidence of domesticated cereals, sheep and goat, there is no evidence of permanent houses or villages. Therefore many researchers have suggested that the inhabitants of Fayum were nomadic hunters and fishers that used only parts of the “Neolithic package” in addition to their original lifestyle. In this respect the Fayum people may be compared with the Ertebølle people 4000 km away at the Shores of the Baltic Sea(http://www.aggsbach.de/2010/09/the-erteb%c3%b8lle-lifestyle/) . Noriyuki Shirai from the Leiden University argued, that the timing of the advent of farming in the Fayum can be estimated by the presence of peculiar sickle blades during the early Neolithic of this area. Neolithic sickle blades at Fayum and in Lower Egypt are bifacially-retouched and deeply serrated on their working edge. Such sickle blades are known from early Levantine Pottery Neolithic sites (the Yarmukian, and Lodian [Jericho IX]), dated to the early 6th millennium cal. BC. It seems reasonable to consider that specific Neolithic techniques were accepted in Lower Egypt not earlier than during the early 6th millennium cal. BC. This process was possibly triggered by a climatic and environmental change around 6200 cal. BC, that finally lead to the desiccation of the southern Levant, Negev and Sinai and to changes of the rain regime in these areas and in Lower Egypt. These changes enabled for the first time during the Holocene winter crops like Levantine wheat and barley to thrive Northern Egypt. The people of Fayum adopted farming and herding into their lifestyle, but without abandon their major subsistence forms of hunting and fishing for the next millennium. The thesis of Noriyuki Shirai “The archaeology of the first farmer-herders in Egypt : new insights into the Fayum Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic” can be download at: https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/15339 Continued expansion of the desert forced the early ancestors of the Egyptians to settle around the Nile more permanently and adopt a more sedentary lifestyle. The period from 9000 to 6000 BC has left very little in the way of archaeological evidence. Around 6000 BC, Neolithic settlements appear all over Egypt. Studies based on morphological, genetic, and archaeological data have attributed these settlements to migrants from the Fertile Crescent in the Near East returning during the Egyptian and North African Neolithic, bringing agriculture to the region. However, other regions in Africa independently developed agriculture at about the same time: the Ethiopian highlands, the Sahel, and West Africa. Some morphological and post-cranial data has linked the earliest farming populations at Fayum, Merimde, and El-Badari, to Near Eastern populations. However, the archaeological data also suggests that Near Eastern domesticates were incorporated into a pre-existing foraging strategy and only slowly developed into a full-blown lifestyle, contrary to what would be expected from settler colonists from the Near East. Finally, the names for the Near Eastern domesticates imported into Egypt were not Sumerian or Proto-Semitic loan words, which further diminishes the likelihood of a mass immigrant colonization of lower Egypt during the transition to agriculture. Weaving is evidenced for the first time during the Faiyum A Period. People of this period, unlike later Egyptians, buried their dead very close to, and sometimes inside, their settlements. Although archaeological sites reveal very little about this time, an examination of the many Egyptian words for “city” provide a hypothetical list of reasons why the Egyptians settled. In Upper Egypt, terminology indicates trade, protection of livestock, high ground for flood refuge, and sacred sites for deities.” Ref Ref Ref Ref
*8.2 kiloyear event (Climatic Event 5,200 BCE or 8,200 years ago)
“The 8.2 kiloyear event is the term that climatologists have adopted for a sudden decrease in global temperatures that occurred approximately 8,200 years before the present, or c. 6,200 BCE, and which lasted for the next two to four centuries. Milder than the Younger Dryas cold spell that preceded it, but more severe than the Little Ice Age that would follow, the 8.2 kiloyear cooling was a significant exception to general trends of the Holocene climatic optimum. During the event, atmospheric methane concentration decreased by 80 ppb or an emission reduction of 15%, by cooling and drying at a hemispheric scale. A rapid cooling around 6200 BCE was first identified by Swiss botanist Heinrich Zoller in 1960, who named the event Misox oscillation (for the Val Mesolcina). It is also known as Finse event in Norway. Bond et al. argued that the origin of the 8.2 kiloyear event is linked to a 1,500-year climate cycle; it correlates with Bond event 5. The strongest evidence for the event comes from the North Atlantic region; the disruption in climate shows clearly in Greenland ice cores and in sedimentary and other records of the temperate and tropical North Atlantic. It is less evident in ice cores from Antarctica and in South American indices. The effects of the cold snap were global, however, most notably in changes in sea level during the relevant era. The 8.2 kiloyear cooling event may have been caused by a large meltwater pulse from the final collapse of the Laurentide ice sheet of northeastern North America, most likely when the glacial lakes Ojibway and Agassiz suddenly drained into the North Atlantic Ocean. The same type of action produced the Missoula floods that created the Channeled scablands of the Columbia River basin. The melt-water pulse may have affected the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation, reducing northward heat transport in the Atlantic and causing significant circum-North Atlantic cooling. Estimates of the cooling vary and depend somewhat on the interpretation of the proxy data, but drops of around 1 to 5 °C (1.8 to 9.0 °F) have been reported. In Greenland, the event started at 8175 BP, and the cooling was 3.3 °C (decadal average) in less than 20 years, and the coldest period lasted for about 60 years, and the total duration was about 150 years. The melt-water causation theory is, however, thrown in to speculation due to inconstancies with its onset and an unknown region of impact. Researchers suggest the discharge was probably superimposed upon a longer episode of cooler climate lasting up to 600 years, and merely one contributing factor the event as a whole. Further afield, some tropical records report a 3 °C (5.4 °F) cooling from cores drilled into an ancient coral reef in Indonesia. The event also caused a global CO2 decline of ~25 ppm over ~300 years. However, dating and interpretation other tropical sites are more ambiguous than the North Atlantic sites. In addition, climate modeling work shows that not only the amount of meltwater, but also the pathway of meltwater is important in perturbing the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation. Drier conditions were notable in North Africa while East Africa suffered five centuries of general drought. In West Asia and especially Mesopotamia, the 8.2 kiloyear event was a 300-year aridification and cooling episode, which may have provided the natural force for Mesopotamian irrigation agriculture and surplus production that were essential for the earliest class-formation and urban life. However, multi-centennial changes around the same period are difficult to link specifically to the approximately 100-year abrupt event as recorded most clearly in the Greenland ice cores. The initial meltwater pulse caused between 0.5 and 4 m (1 ft 8 in and 13 ft 1 in) of sea-level rise. Based on estimates of lake volume and decaying ice cap size, values of 0.4–1.2 m (1 ft 4 in–3 ft 11 in) circulate. Based on sea-level data from the Mississippi Delta, the very final stage of the Lake Agassiz–Ojibway (LAO) drainage occurred at 8.18 to 8.31 ka and ranges from 0.8 to 2.2 m. The sea-level data from the Rhine–Meuse Delta indicate a 2–4 m (6 ft 7 in–13 ft 1 in) of near-instantaneous rise at 8.54–8.2 ka, in addition to ‘normal’ post-glacial sea-level rise. Meltwater pulse sea-level rise was experienced fully at great distance from the release area. Gravity and rebound effects associated with the shifting of water masses meant that the sea-level fingerprint was smaller in areas closer to the Hudson Bay. The Mississippi delta records ~20%, NW Europe records ~70% and Asia records ~105% of the global averaged amount. The cooling of the 8.2 kiloyear event was a temporary feature; the sea-level rise of the meltwater pulse was permanent. In 2003, the Office of Net Assessment at the United States Department of Defense was commissioned to produce a study on the likely and potential effects of a modern climate change. The study, conducted under ONA head Andrew Marshall, modeled its prospective climate change on the 8.2 kiloyear event, precisely because it was the middle alternative between the Younger Dryas and the Little Ice Age.” Ref
Merimde culture (Merimde tool-making)
Dates: 4,800 — 4,200 B.C.E. (6,800 – 6,300 years ago)
Preceded by: Faiyum A culture
Followed by: Amratian culture
“The Merimde culture (also Merimde Beni-Salame or Benisalam) was a Neolithic culture in the West Nile Delta in Lower Egypt, which corresponds in its later phase to the Faiyum A culture and the Badari culture in Predynastic Egypt. It is estimated that the culture evolved between 4800 and 4300 BC. Merimde also refers to the archaeological site of the same name. The culture was concentrated around the main settlement site of 25 hectares in the West delta of the Nile in Lower Egypt 45 km northwest of Cairo. The site was discovered by German archaeologist and former Roman Catholic priest Hermann Junker, who excavated 6,400 m² of the site during his West Nile Delta expedition in 1928. The expedition was financed by Albert Rothbart from New York City for the account of the Vienna Academy. Later excavations in the 1970s performed by the Egyptian Antiquities Organization and the German Institute of Archaeology led to the establishment of the stratigraphical sequence. Characteristics, Merimde shows a sequence of occupations which lasted almost a millennium according to some estimates. While Junker identified three sequences, others such as Joseph Eiwanger established in 1977 that there are five with significantly different levels of development. Artifacts such as ceramics were quite primitive during phase I —a phase characterized by a light occupation. Eiwanger documented that storage areas appeared during phase II when the intensity of the occupation increased. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Merimde economy was dominated by agriculture although some fishing and hunting were practiced to a lesser degree. The settlement consisted of small huts made of wattle and reed with a round or elliptical ground plan. Merimde pottery lacked rippled marks. Burials had unique characteristics, different from those practiced in Upper Egyptian Predynastic Egypt and later Dynastic Egypt. There were no separate areas for cemeteries and the dead were buried within the settlement in a contracted position in oval pits without grave goods and offerings. In the time of the Maadi culture, the place was used as a cemetery. Excavations of Merimde burials have yielded a number of skeletons, chiefly those of females. The fossils are generally taller and more robust than later predynastic Egyptian specimens. In this regard, the Merimde skeletons are most similar to those associated with the Tasian culture. Furthermore, although the Merimde crania are dolichocephalic (long-headed) like many of the other predynastic skulls, they have a large and wide vault like the Tasian crania. Skulls excavated from Badarian, Amratian and Natufian sites tend instead to be smaller and narrow. From about 5000 to 4200 BC the Merimde culture, so far only known from a big settlement site at the edge of the Western Delta, flourished in Lower Egypt. The culture has strong connections to the Faiyum A culture as well as the Levant. People lived in small huts, produced a simple undecorated pottery and had stone tools. Cattle, sheep, goats and pigs were held. Wheat, sorghum and barley were planted. The Merimde people buried their dead within the settlement and produced clay figurines. The first Egyptian lifesize head made of clay comes from Merimde.” Ref Ref
Tasian culture (Tasian tool-making)
Dates: — 4,500 B.C.E. (unknown to 6,500 years ago)
“The Tasian culture is possibly the oldest-known Predynastic culture in Upper Egypt, which evolved around 4500 BC. It is named for the burials found at Deir Tasa, a site on the east bank of the Nile located between Asyut and Akhmim. The Tasian culture group is notable for producing the earliest blacktop-ware, a type of red and brown pottery, which has been painted black on its top and interior. This pottery is vital to the dating of the various predynastic Egyptian civilizations. Since all dates for the Predynastic period are tenuous at best, Flinders Petrie developed a system called Sequence Dating through which the relative date, if not the absolute date, of any given Predynastic site can be ascertained by examining the handles on pottery. As the Predynastic period in ancient Egypt progressed, the handles on pottery evolved from functional to ornamental, and the degree to which any given archaeological site has functional or ornamental pottery can be used to determine the relative date of the site. Since there is little difference between Tasian and Badarian pottery, the Tasian Culture overlaps the Badarian place on the scale between Sequence Dating 21 and 29 significantly. Excavations of Tasian burials have yielded a number of skeletons. The fossils are generally taller and more robust than later predynastic Egyptian specimens. In this regard, the Tasian skeletons are most similar to those associated with the Merimde culture. Furthermore, although the Tasian crania are dolichocephalic (long-headed) like many of the other predynastic skulls, they have a large and wide vault like the Merimde crania. Skulls excavated from Badarian, Amratian and Natufian sites tend instead to be smaller and narrow.” Ref
Badari culture (Badari tool-making)
Dates: 4400 — 4000 B.C.E. (6,800 – 6,300 years ago)
“The Badarian culture provides the earliest direct evidence of agriculture in Upper Egypt during the Predynastic Era. It flourished between 4400 and 4000 BCE, and might have already emerged by 5000 BCE. It was first identified in El-Badari, Asyut Governorate. About forty settlements and six hundred graves have been located. Social stratification has been inferred from the burying of more prosperous members of the community in a different part of the cemetery. The Badarian economy was based mostly on agriculture, fishing and animal husbandry. Tools included end-scrapers, perforators, axes, bifacial sickles and concave-base arrowheads. Remains of cattle, dogs and sheep were found in the cemeteries. Wheat, barley, lentils and tubers were consumed. The culture is known largely from cemeteries in the low desert. The deceased were placed on mats and buried in pits with their heads usually laid to the South, looking West. This seems contiguous with the later dynastic traditions regarding the West as the land of the dead. The pottery that was buried with them is the most characteristic element of the Badarian culture. It had been given a distinctive, decorative rippled surface. Badari culture is so named because of its discovery at El-Badari, an area in the Asyut Governorate in Upper Egypt. It is located between Matmar and Qau, approximately 200 km northwest of present-day Luxor (ancient Thebes). El-Badari includes numerous Predynastic cemeteries (notably Mostagedda, Deir Tasa and the cemetery of el-Badari itself), as well as at least one early Predynastic settlement at Hammamia. The area stretches for 30 km along the east bank of the Nile, was first excavated by Guy Brunton and Gertrude Caton-Thompson between 1922 and 1931. Most of the local cemeteries have yielded distinctive pottery vessels (particularly red-polished ware with blackened tops), as well as terracotta and ivory anthropomorphic figures, slate palettes, stone vases and flint tools. The contents of Predynastic cemeteries at el-Badari have been subjected to a number of analyses attempting to clarify the chronology and social history of the Badarian period. Populations in the Badari culture planted wheat and barley, and kept cattle, sheep, and goats. They fished from the Nile and hunted gazelle. Little is known of their buildings, although remains of wooden stumps have been found at one site and may have been associated with a hut or shelter of unknown construction. Pits that have been found may have served as granaries. Some Badarian sites also show evidence of later predynastic use. Badarian grave goods were relatively simple and the deceased wrapped in reed matting or animal skins and placed with personal items such as shell or stone beads. Green malachite ore, perhaps for personal decoration, has also been detected on stone palettes. Basalt vases found at Badari sites were most likely traded up the river from the Delta region or from the northwest. Shells came in quantities from the Red Sea. Turquoise possibly came from Sinai; copper from the North. A Syrian connection is suggested for a four-handled pot of hard pink ware. The black pottery, with white incised designs, may have come directly from the West, or from the South. The porphyry slabs are like the later ones in Nubia, but the material could have come from the Red Sea mountains. The glazed steatite beads were not made locally. These all suggest the Badarians were not an isolated tribe, but were in contact with the cultures on all sides of them. Nor were they nomadic, having pots of such size and fragility that would have been unsuitable for use by wanderers. Ancestral origins of the Badarian culture seems to have had multiple sources, of which the Western Desert was probably the most influential. Badari culture was likely not to have been solely restricted to the Badari region since related finds have been made farther to the south at Mahgar Dendera, Armant, Elkab and Nekhen (named Hierakonpolis by the Greeks), as well as to the east in the Wadi Hammamat.” Ref
Amratian culture (Amratian tool-making)
Dates: 4,400 — 3,500 B.C.E. (6,400 – 5,500 years ago)
Major sites: El-Amra
Preceded by: Tasian culture, Badari culture, Merimde culture
Followed by: Naqada culture, Gerzeh culture
“The Amratian culture was a culture of prehistoric Upper Egypt. It lasted approximately from 4000 to 3500 BCE. named after the archaeological site of el-Amra, located around 120 km (75 mi) south of Badari in Upper Egypt. El-Amra was the first site where this culture group was found without being mingled with the later Gerzeh culture (Naqada II). However, this period is better attested at the Nagada site, thus it also is referred to as the Naqada I culture. Black-topped ware continued to be produced, but white cross-line ware, a type of pottery which has been decorated with close parallel white lines being crossed by another set of close parallel white lines, begins to be produced during this time. The Amratian falls between S.D. 30 and 39 in Petrie’s sequence dating system. Trade between the Amratian culture bearers in Upper Egypt and populations of Lower Egypt is attested during this time through new excavated objects. A stone vase from the north has been found at el-Amra, and copper, which is not present in Egypt, apparently was imported from the Sinai Peninsula or perhaps from Nubia. Obsidian and an extremely small amount of gold were both definitively imported from Nubia during this time. Trade with the oases also was likely. New innovations such as adobe buildings, for which the Gerzeh culture is well-known, also begin to appear during this time, attesting to cultural continuity. However, they did not reach nearly the widespread use that they were known for in later times. Additionally, oval and theriomorphic cosmetic palettes appear to be used in this period. However, the workmanship was still very rudimentary and the relief artwork for which they were later known is not yet present.” Ref Ref
Naqada culture (Naqada tool-making)
Dates: 4,400 — 3,000 B.C.E. (6,400 – 5,000 years ago)
Preceded by: Amratian culture
Followed by: Gerzeh culture
“The Naqada culture is an archaeological culture of Chalcolithic Predynastic Egypt (ca. 4400–3000 BC), named for the town of Naqada, Qena Governorate. A 2013 Oxford University radio carbon dating study of the Predynastic period, however, suggests a much later date beginning sometime between 3,800-3,700 BC. Its final phase, Naqada III is coterminous with the so-called Protodynastic Period of Ancient Egypt (Early Bronze Age, 3200–3000 BCE). Naqada I a-b-c (about 4400–3500 BC) = black-topped and painted pottery trade with Nubia, Western Desert oases and Eastern Mediterranean obsidian from Ethiopia. Naqada II a-b-c (about 3500–3200 BC) = this culture represented throughout Egypt first marl pottery, and metalworking. Naqada III a-b-c (about 3200–3000 BC) = more elaborate grave goods, cylindrical jars, & writing. Predynastic Egyptians in the Naqada I period traded with Nubia to the south, the oases of the western desert to the west, and the cultures of the eastern Mediterranean to the east. They also imported obsidian from Ethiopia to shape blades and other objects from flakes. Charcoal samples found in the tombs of Nekhen, which were dated to the Naqada I and II periods, have been identified as cedar from Lebanon.” Ref
Maadi culture (Maadi tool-making)
Dates: 4000 – 3500 B.C.E. (6,000 – 5,500 years ago)
“The Maadi culture (also called Buto Maadi culture) is the most important Lower Egyptian prehistoric culture “Predynastic culture” contemporary with Naqada I and II phases in Upper Egypt. The culture is best known from the site Maadi near Cairo, but is also attested in many other places in the Delta to the Fayum region. Copper was known, and some copper adzes have been found. The pottery is simple and undecorated and shows, in some forms, strong connections to Southern Israel. People lived in small huts, partly dug into the ground. The dead were buried in cemeteries, but with few burial goods. The Maadi culture was replaced by the Naqada III culture; whether this happened by conquest or infiltration is still an open question. The Maadi culture seems to have its origins in the other cultures of Lower Egypt (Fayum Neolithic, Merimde Beni-salame, el-Omari). Pottery pots are shaped by hand. The clay has always a dark hue. Some large storage jars were found in the settlements. There are a few black-topped red pots (indicating contact with the south- Naqada) and many imported vessels from Palestine. There are many black basalt stone vessels. Burial customs involve cemeteries which are located some distance from the settlement; only infant burials were within a settlement, the bodies placed in vessels or directly into pits. The adult dead are buried in oval graves in a contracted position with the hand in front of the face. While the orientation of the dead in earlier graves shows no regular pattern, the dead are laid later always with the head to the south, the body on the right side. The graves have only a few goods.” Ref Ref
*The 5.9 kiloyear event (Climatic Event 3,900 BCE or 5,900 years ago)
“The 5.9 kiloyear event was one of the most intense aridification events during the Holocene Epoch. It occurred around 3900 BC (5900 years Before Present) and ended the Neolithic Subpluvial and probably initiating the most recent desiccation of the Sahara. It also triggered human migration to river valleys, such as from central North Africa to the Nile, which eventually led to the emergence of the first complex, highly organized, state-level societies in the 4th millennium BC. It is associated with the last round of the Sahara pump theory. Cause? A model by Claussen et al. (1999) suggested rapid desertification, associated with vegetation-atmosphere interactions following a cooling event, Bond event 4. Bond et al. (1997) identified a North Atlantic cooling episode 5900 years ago from ice-rafted debris as well as other such now called Bond events, which indicate the existence of a quasiperiodic cycle of Atlantic cooling events approximately every 1470 years ± 500 years. For some reason, all the earlier arid events (including the 8.2 kiloyear event) were followed by recovery, as is attested by the wealth of evidence of humid conditions in the Sahara between 10,000 and 6,000 BP. However, it appears that the 5.9 kiloyear event was followed by a partial recovery at best, with accelerated desiccation in the millennium that followed. For example, Cremaschi (1998) describes evidence of rapid aridification in Tadrart Acacus of southwestern Libya, in the form of increased aeolian erosion, sand incursions and the collapse of the roofs of rock shelters. The 5.9 kiloyear event was also recorded as a cold event in the Erhai Lake (China) sediments. Effects: In the eastern Arabian Peninsula, the 5.9 kiloyear event may have contributed to an increase in relatively greater social complexity and have corresponded to an end of the local Ubaid period. Also, it may have contributed to the decline of Old Europe and the first Indo-European migrations into the Balkans from the Pontic-Caspian Steppe, according to the book The Horse, the Wheel, and Language, by David W. Anthony.” Ref
***Bible Creation Timeline Begins***
(This is the thinking of young earth creationism)
“5,777 Years Ago – According to rabbinic tradition and based upon pertinent calculations that rely upon scriptural data as well as the start of the traditional jewish (or Hebrew) calendar year 5777 A.M. (“A.M.” here is short for Anno Mundi, which is Latin for “in the year of the world”). Finally, the bible allows us to have a “start date” the presumed time of all creation and no time before. Where did a young-earth worldview come from that contradicts the current scientific understanding that the earth is 4.55 billion years old? Simply put, it came from the bible. Of course, the bible does not say explicitly anywhere the earth is 5,777 or even 6,000 years old as it is usually stated in young earth creationism. So, what is their argument in Genesis 1 that says the earth was created on the first day of creation. From there, young earth creationists calculate the age of the earth’s creation by calculating bible genealogies from Adam to Abraham in Genesis 5 and 11, then adding in the time from Abraham to our current time. If we add up the dates from Adam to Abraham, we get about 2,000 years, whether christian or secular, most scholars would agree that Abraham claimed to have lived about 4,000 years ago. Therefore, a simple calculation is: 2,000 years + 4,000 years = 6,000 years old young earth creationism thinking for the age of the earth.” ref, ref
5,600-year-old tomb complete with mummy that PREDATES the First Dynasty of pharaohs?
“5,600 Years Ago – (Egypt), Hierakonpolis (Nekhen), “City of the Falcon,” found a tomb and mummy of a male along with several small items most notably a crude ivory figurine of a thin bearded man possibly a god or an ancestor. 5,100 years ago, this old tomb was built before the rule of Narmer/Menes, the founder of the First Pharaonic Dynasty who unified Lower Egypt (northern) and Upper Egypt (southern). There are two temple sites associated with the ancient city of Hierakonpolis: 5,400 – 5,200 years ago, the pre-dynastic structures that were initially built of wood and reed matting were replaced with mud brick and sits in a pre-dynastic settlement near the desert to the west of the main settlement of Nekhen. The second and later temple was built within the town stonewalls of the city of Nekhen consisting of a large mound of clean sand supported by limestone blocks on which there may have been an Early Dynasty shrine containing several artifacts. The Narmer Palette is one of the items found and is a famous artifact of ancient Egypt. Likewise, a variety of ivory carvings with some inscribed with the names of Narmer. Also, found in Hierakonpolis, were the tombs of King Narmer and King Ka/Sekhen, a pre-dynastic pharaoh who paved the way to Egypt’s unification. King Narmer and King Ka expanded Egyptian power which is evident in the activity found in southern Canaan by the discovery of 33 serekhs on pottery shards at sites in Canaan dating 3,200 – 3,000 years ago proto-dynastic to First Dynasty. Thirteen of these belong to Narmer from six sites: Tel Arad (central Israel), Ein HaBesor (southern Israel), Tel es-Sakan (Gaza region of Israel), Nahal Tillah, Tel Erani, and Lod. An additional serekh from Lod is attributed to Narmer’s probable predecessor, Ka. The Ka hieroglyph holds the serekh with the horus name of the king, while the Ka itself holds an ostrich feather, the symbol of world order or ma’at, in one hand, and a long staff with a finial shaped like the king’s head in the other hand. Hence, the royal ka is related to the horus name describing the presence of that god in the king. This shows the dual nature of the king, which combines divine and mortal components. Also at Hierakonpolis, a sanctuary temple was composed of five small chambers likely not until the Middle Kingdom 4,134 – 3,991 years ago. A golden statue of nekheny meaning “falcon” (the falcon god who was assimilated by or was an early form of horus) was found buried in the floor of the central chamber.” Ref Ref Ref
Gerzeh (Naqada II) culture (Gerzeh tool-making)
Dates: 3,500 — 3,200 B.C.E. (5,500 – 5,200 years ago)
Major sites: al-Girza
Preceded by: Amratian culture, Naqada culture
Preceded by: Amratian culture, Maadi culture, Naqada I
Followed by: Naqada III
“Gerzeh (also Girza or Jirzah) was a prehistoric Egyptian cemetery located along the west bank of the Nile. The necropolis is named after el-Girzeh, the nearby present day town in Egypt. Gerzeh is situated only several miles due east of the lake of the Faiyum. The Gerzean culture is a material culture identified by archaeologists. It is the second of three phases of the prehistoric Nagada cultures and so is also known as Naqada II. Gerzeh culture was preceded by the Amratian culture (“Naqada I”) and followed by the Naqada III (“protodynastic” or “Semainian culture”). Though varying dates have historically been assigned by sundry authorities, the Gerzean culture as used as follows distinguishes itself from the Amratian and begins circa 3500 BC lasting through circa 3200 BC. Accordingly, some authorities place the onset of the Gerzeh coincident with the Amratian or Badari cultures, i.e. c.3800 BC to 3650 BC even though some Badarian artifacts may in fact date earlier. Nevertheless, because the Naqada sites were first divided by the British Egyptologist Flinders Petrie in 1894, into Amratian (after the cemetery near el-Amrah) and “Gerzean” (after the cemetery near Gerzeh) sub-periods, the original convention is used in this text. The Gerzeh culture lasted through a period of time when the desertification of the Sahara had nearly reached its present state. The primary distinguishing feature between the earlier Amratian and the Gerzeh is the extra decorative effort exhibited in the pottery of the period. Artwork on Gerzeh ceramics features stylised animals and environment to a greater degree than the earlier Amratian artwork. Further, images of ostriches on the pottery artwork possibly indicate an inclination these early peoples may have felt to explore the Sahara desert. Some symbols on Gerzeh pottery resemble traditional Egyptian hieroglyphs, which were contemporaneous with the proto-cuneiform script of Sumer. Burial sites in Gerzeh have uncovered artifacts, such as cosmetic palettes, a bone harpoon, an ivory pot, stone vessels and several meteoritic iron beads. Technologies at Gerzeh also include fine ripple-flaked knives of exceptional workmanship. The meteoritic iron beads discovered in two Gerzean graves by Egyptologist Wainwright in 1911 are in fact the earliest artifacts of iron known. Lapis lazuli trade, in the form of beads, from its only known prehistoric source – Badakhshan in northeastern Afghanistan – also reached ancient Gerzeh. Other discovered grave goods are on display here. One burial uncovered evidence of dismemberment in the form of decapitation. The end of the Gerzeh culture is generally regarded as coinciding with the unification of Egypt, the Naqada III period.” Ref
Naqada III culture (Naqada III tool-making)
Dates: 3,500 — 3,200 B.C.E. (5,500 – 5,200 years ago)
Preceded by: Gerzeh (Naqada II) culture
Followed by: 5,150 years ago the First Dynasty appeared in Egypt
“Naqada III is the last phase of the Naqada culture of ancient Egyptian prehistory, dating approximately from 3200 to 3000 BC. It is the period during which the process of state formation, which had begun to take place in Naqada II, became highly visible, with named kings heading powerful polities. Naqada III is often referred to as Dynasty 0 or the Protodynastic Period to reflect the presence of kings at the head of influential states, although, in fact, the kings involved would not have been a part of a dynasty. They would more probably have been completely unrelated and very possibly in competition with each other. In this period, those kings’ names were inscribed in the form of serekhs on a variety of surfaces including pottery and tombs. The Protodynastic Period in ancient Egypt was characterised by an ongoing process of political unification, culminating in the formation of a single state to begin the Early Dynastic Period. Furthermore, it is during this time that the Egyptian language was first recorded in hieroglyphs. There is also strong archaeological evidence of Egyptian settlements in southern Canaan during the Protodynastic Period, which are regarded as colonies or trading entrepôts. State formation began during this era and perhaps even earlier. Various small city-states arose along the Nile. Centuries of conquest then reduced Upper Egypt to three major states: Thinis, Naqada, and Nekhen. Sandwiched between Thinis and Nekhen, Naqada was the first to fall. Thinis then conquered Lower Egypt. Nekhen’s relationship with Thinis is uncertain, but these two states may have merged peacefully, with the Thinite royal family ruling all of Egypt. The Thinite kings were buried at Abydos in the Umm el-Qa’ab cemetery. Most Egyptologists consider Narmer to be both the last king of this period and the first king of the First Dynasty. He was possibly preceded over some parts of Upper Egypt by Crocodile, Iry-Hor, Ka and perhaps by the so-called “Scorpion King(s)”, whose name may refer to, or be derived from, the goddess Serket, a special early protector of other deities and the rulers. Naqada III extended all over Egypt and was characterized by some notable firsts: The first hieroglyphs, The first graphical narratives on palettes, The first regular use of serekhs, The first truly royal cemeteries, and Possibly the first example of irrigation.” Ref
*The First Dynasty*
Date: 3,150 B.C.E. (5,150 years ago)
The Beginning Rise of the Unequal State Government Hierarchies, Religions and Cultures Merger
“The Pharaoh in ancient Egypt was the political and religious leader holding the titles ‘Lord of the Two Lands’ Upper and Lower Egypt and ‘High Priest of Every Temple’. In 5,150 years ago the First Dynasty appeared in Egypt and this reign was thought to be in accordance with the will of the gods; but the office of the king itself was not associated with the divine until later. Around 4,890 years ago during the Second Dynasty the King was linked with the divine and reign with the will of the gods. Following this rulers of the later dynasties were equated with the gods and with the duties and obligations due those gods. As supreme ruler of the people, the pharaoh was considered a god on earth, the intermediary between the gods and the people, and when he died, he was thought to become Osiris, the god of the dead. As such, in his role of ‘High Priest of Every Temple’, it was the pharaoh’s duty to build great temples and monuments celebrating his own achievements and paying homage to the gods of the land. Among the earliest civilizations that exhibit the phenomenon of divinized kings are early Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. In 5,150 years ago the First Dynasty appeared in Egypt with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt by the king Menes (now believed to be Narmer). Menes/Narmer is depicted on inscriptions wearing the two crowns of Egypt, signifying unification, and his reign was thought to be in accordance with the will of the gods; but the office of the king itself was not associated with the divine until later. During the Second Dynasty of Egypt 4,890-4,670 years ago King Raneb (also known as Nebra) linked his name with the divine and his reign with the will of the gods. Following Raneb, the rulers of the later dynasties were equated with the gods and with the duties and obligations due those gods. As supreme ruler of the people, the pharaoh was considered a god on earth. The honorific title of `pharaoh’ for a ruler did not appear until the period known as the New Kingdom 3,570-3,069 years ago. Monarchs of the dynasties before the title of `pharaoh’ from the New Kingdom were addressed as `your majesty’ by foreign dignitaries and members of the court and as `brother’ by foreign rulers; both practices would continue after the king of Egypt came to be known as a pharaoh.” Ref Ref
*4.2 kiloyear event (Climatic Event 4,200 years ago)
“The 4.2 kiloyear BP aridification event was one of the most severe climatic events of the Holocene period in terms of impact on cultural upheaval. Starting in about 2200 BC, it probably lasted the entire 22nd century BC. It is very likely to have caused the collapse of the Old Kingdom in Egypt as well as the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia. The drought may have also initiated southeastward habitat tracking within the Indus Valley Civilization. Evidence? A phase of intense aridity about 4.2 ka BP is recorded across North Africa, the Middle East, the Red Sea, the Arabian peninsula, the Indian subcontinent, and midcontinental North America. Glaciers throughout the mountain ranges of western Canada advanced at about this time. Evidence has also been found in an Italian cave flowstone, the Kilimanjaro Ice sheet, and in Andean glacier ice. The onset of the aridification in Mesopotamia about 4100 BP also coincided with a cooling event in the North Atlantic, known as Bond event 3. Despite this, evidence for the 4.2 kyr event in northern Europe is ambiguous, suggesting the origin and impact of this event is spatially complex.” Ref
4.2 kiloyear event Aftermath?
Ancient Egypt: “In c. 2150 BC the Old Kingdom was hit by a series of exceptionally low Nile floods, which was instrumental in the sudden collapse of centralized government in ancient Egypt. Famines, social disorder, and fragmentation during approximately 40 years were followed by a phase of rehabilitation and restoration of order in various provinces. Egypt was eventually reunified within a new paradigm of kingship. The process of recovery depended on capable provincial administrators, the deployment of the idea of justice, irrigation projects, and an administrative reform.” Ref
Mesopotamia: “The aridification of Mesopotamia may have been related to the onset of cooler sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic (Bond event 3), as analysis of the modern instrumental record shows that large (50%) interannual reductions in Mesopotamian water supply result when subpolar northwest Atlantic sea surface temperatures are anomalously cool. The headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are fed by elevation-induced capture of winter Mediterranean rainfall. The Akkadian Empire—which in 2300 BC was the second civilization to subsume independent societies into a single state (the first being ancient Egypt at around 3100 BC) —was brought low by a wide-ranging, centuries-long drought. Archaeological evidence documents widespread abandonment of the agricultural plains of northern Mesopotamia and dramatic influxes of refugees into southern Mesopotamia around 2170 BC. A 180-km-long wall, the “Repeller of the Amorites,” was built across central Mesopotamia to stem nomadic incursions to the south. Around 2150 BC, the Gutian people, who originally inhabited the Zagros Mountains, defeated the demoralized Akkadian army, took Akkad, and destroyed it around 2115 BC. Widespread agricultural change in the Near East is visible at the end of the third millennium BC. Resettlement of the northern plains by smaller sedentary populations occurred near 1900 BC, three centuries after the collapse.” Ref
Arabian peninsula: “In the Persian Gulf region, there is a sudden change in settlement pattern, style of pottery and tombs at this time. The 22nd century BC drought marks the end of the Umm an-Nar Culture and the change to the Wadi Suq period.” Ref
Spain: “On the Iberian peninsula, the construction of Motillas type settlements in the period after 2200 BCE is believed to be the consequence of severe aridification that affected this area. According to Moreno et al., who reported the first palaeohydrogeological interdisciplinary research in La Mancha, Spain, “Recent studies show that the “motilla” sites from the Bronze Age in La Mancha may be the most ancient system of groundwater collection in the Iberian Peninsula. … These were built during the Climatic Event 4,200 years ago in a time of environmental stress due to a period of severe, prolonged drought.” The authors’ analysis verified a relationship between the geological substrate and the spatial distribution of the “motillas.” Ref
China: “The drought may have caused the collapse of Neolithic Cultures around Central China during the late third millennium BC. At the same time, the middle reaches of the Yellow River saw a series of extraordinary floods. In the Yishu River Basin, the flourishing Longshan culture was hit by a cooling that made the paddies shortfall in output or even no seeds were gathered. The scarcity in natural resource led to substantial decrease in population and subsequent drop in archaeological sites. About 4000 years BP Longshan was displaced by the Yueshi culture which was relatively underdeveloped.” Ref
Population history of Egypt
“Egypt has a long and involved demographic history. This is partly due to the territory’s geographical location at the crossroads of several major cultural areas: Northeast Africa, the Maghreb, the Sahara, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. In addition, Egypt has experienced several invasions during its long history, including by the Canaanites, the Ancient Libyans, the Assyrians, the Kushites (a Nubian civilization), the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Arabs. During the Paleolithic period, the Nile Valley was inhabited by various hunter-gatherer populations. Around 10,000 years ago, the Sahara had a wet phase, the Neolithic Subpluvial (Holocene Wet Phase). People from the surrounding areas moved into the Sahara, and evidence suggests that the populations of the Nile Valley reduced in size. Around 5,000 years ago, the wet phase of the Sahara came to an end. The Saharan populations retreated to the south towards the Sahel, and east in the direction of the Nile Valley. It was these populations, in addition to Neolithic farmers from the Near East, that played a major role in the formation of the Egyptian state as they brought their food crops, sheep, goats and cattle to the Nile Valley. Prehistoric Egypt (also known as “Predynastic Egypt”) dates to the end of the fourth millennium. From around 4800 to 4300, the Merimde culture (Merimde Beni-Salame) flourished in Lower Egypt. This culture, among others, has links to the Levant. The pottery of the Buto Maadi culture, best known from the site at Maadi near Cairo, also shows connections with the southern Levant. In Upper Egypt, the predynastic Badari culture was followed by the Naqada culture (Amratian).” Ref Ref Ref
Biogeographic origin based on cultural data
“Located in the extreme north-east corner of Africa, Ancient Egyptian society was at a crossroads between the African and Near Eastern regions. Early proponents of the dynastic race theory based this on the increased novelty and seemingly rapid change in Predynastic pottery and noted trade contacts between ancient Egypt and the Middle East. This is no longer the dominant view in Egyptology; however, the evidence on which it was based still suggests influence from these regions. Fekri Hassan and Edwin et al. point to mutual influence from both inner Africa as well as the Levant. This evidence suggests that Ancient Egypt was populated by Afro-Asiatic-speaking peoples from Northeast Africa and the Near East. Maria Gatto has suggested that the makers of the predynastic Egyptian Naqada culture centered in Upper Egypt shared an almost identical culture with the A-Group peoples in Lower Nubia. This is based in part on the similarities with the royal tombs at Qustul. Joseph Vogel, Cheikh Diop, Volney, and other scholars have even proposed an Egyptian origin in Nubia among the A-Group. In 1996, Lovell and Prowse reported the presence of individual rulers buried at Naqada in what they interpreted to be elite, high status tombs, showing them to be more closely related morphologically to populations in Northern Nubia than those in Southern Egypt. However, most scholars have rejected this hypothesis and cite the presence of royal tombs that are contemporaneous with those in Qustul and just as elaborate, together with problems with the dating techniques. Toby Wilkinson, in his book Genesis of the Pharaohs, proposes an origin for the Egyptians somewhere in the Eastern Desert. In addition, there is evidence that sheep and goats were introduced into the Nabta Playa from Western Asia about 8,000 years ago. There is some speculation that this culture is likely to have been the predecessor of the Egyptians, based on cultural similarities and social complexity which is thought to be reflective of the Old Kingdom of Egypt.” Ref Ref Ref
DNA history of Egypt
“Contamination from handling and intrusion from microbes create obstacles to the recovery of ancient DNA. Consequently, most DNA studies have been carried out on modern Egyptian populations with the intent of learning about the influences of historical migrations on the population of Egypt. Blood typing and DNA sampling on ancient Egyptian mummies is scant; however, blood typing of dynastic mummies found ABO frequencies to be most similar to modern Egyptians, and some also to Northern Haratin populations. ABO blood group distribution shows that the Egyptians form a sister group to North African populations Egyptologist. The use of craniofacial criteria as reliable indicators of population grouping or ethnicity has been a longstanding focus of biological anthropology. In 1912, Franz Boas argued that cranial shape was heavily influenced by environmental factors and could change within a few generations under differing conditions, thereby making the cephalic index an unreliable indicator of inherited influences such as ethnicity. Gravlee, Bernard and Leonard (2003), Beals, Smith, and Dodd (1984) and Williams and Armelagos (2005) similarly posited that “race” and cranial variation had low correlations, and proposed that cranial variation was instead strongly correlated with climate variables. Brace (1993) differentiated adaptive cranial traits from non-adaptive cranial traits, asserting that only the non-adaptive cranial traits served as reliable indicators of genetic relatedness between populations. This was further corroborated in studies by von Cramon-Taubadel (2008, 2009a, 2011). Clement and Ranson (1998) estimated that cranial analysis yields a 77%-95% rate of accuracy in determining the racial origins of human skeletal remains. A craniofacial study by C. Loring Brace et al. (1993) concluded that the Predynastic Egyptians of Upper Egypt and the Late Dynastic Egyptians of Lower Egypt were most closely related to each other. They also showed general ties with other Afro-Asiatic-speaking populations in Northeast Africa and Northwest Africa, as well as Nubians, Neolithic and modern Europe, and India, but not at all with populations of sub-Saharan Africa, eastern Asia, Oceania, or the New World. “Adjacent people in the Nile valley show similarities in trivial traits in an unbroken series from the delta in the north southward through Nubia and all the way to Somalia at the equator. At the same time, the gradient in skin color and body proportions suggests long-term adaptive response to selective forces appropriate to the latitude where they occur. An assessment of “race” is as useless as it is impossible. Neither clines nor clusters alone suffice to deal with the biological nature of a widely distributed population. Both must be used.” He also commented, “We conclude that the Egyptians have been in place since back in the Pleistocene and have been largely unaffected by either invasions or migrations. As others have noted, Egyptians are Egyptians, and they were so in the past as well.” Joseph Deniker and other early anthropologists similarly noted that the overall cranial form of Ethiopic, Arab and Berber ethnic groups, all of whom speak Hamito-Semitic languages, are largely the same.” Ref Ref Ref
Modern and ancient Egyptians
“A survey cited by Kemp (2005) of pooled ancient Egyptian crania spanning all time periods found that the ancient Egyptian population clustered closest to modern Egyptians. Egyptians in general, ancient and modern, also clustered closely with Nubian and Ethiopic populations, and more remotely with Northwest African, Near Eastern and Southern European populations. However, they were distant from Negroid populations. In Kemp’s unpooled dendrogram, the Pre-Dynastic Upper Egyptians (El Bardi and Naqada) samples further clustered closest to certain ancient samples from the Nubia region as well as modern Ethiopic populations, 5-26th dynasty Egyptians grouped New Kingdom Lower Nubians and with the ancient Levant, whereas Late Kingdom and some modern Egyptians leaned toward some Middle Eastern and modern European populations. Kemp also noted that Egypt conquered and settled Nubia beginning in the 1st Dynasty. Anthropologist Nancy Lovell states the following: “There is now a sufficient body of evidence from modern studies of skeletal remains to indicate that the ancient Egyptians, especially southern Egyptians, exhibited physical characteristics that are within the range of variation for ancient and modern indigenous peoples of the Sub Sahara and tropical Africa. In general, the inhabitants of Upper Egypt and Nubia had the greatest biological affinity to people of the Sahara and more southerly areas.” And, “must be placed in the context of hypotheses informed by archaeological, linguistic, geographic and other data. In such contexts, the physical anthropological evidence indicates that early Nile Valley populations can be identified as part of an African lineage, but exhibiting local variation. This variation represents the short- and long-term effects of evolutionary forces, such as gene flow, genetic drift, and natural selection, influenced by culture and geography.” This view was also shared by the late Egyptologist Frank Yurco.” Ref Ref Ref
“A 2005 study by Keita of predynastic Badarian (Southern Egyptian) crania found that the Badarian samples cluster more closely with East African (Ethiopic) samples than they do with Northern European (Berg and Norse) samples, though importantly no Asian and Southern Africa samples were included in the study. Sonia Zakrzewski in 2007 noted that population continuity occurs over the Egyptian Predynastic into the Greco-Roman periods, and that a relatively high level of genetic differentiation was sustained over this time period. She concluded therefore that the process of state formation itself may have been mainly an indigenous process, but that it may have occurred in association with in-migration, particularly during the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods. In 2008 Keita found that the early predynastic groups in Southern Egypt were similar craniometrically to Nile valley groups of Ethiopic extraction, and as a whole the dynastic Egyptians (includes both Upper and Lower Egyptians) show much closer affinities with these particular Northeast African populations. He also concluded that more material was needed to make a firm conclusion about the relationship between the early Holocene Nile valley populations and later ancient Egyptians. Anthropologist C. Loring Brace points out that limb elongation is “clearly related to the dissipation of metabolically generated heat” in areas of higher ambient temperature. He also stated that “skin color intensification and distal limb elongation is apparent wherever people have been long-term residents of the tropics”. He also points out that the term “super negroid” is inappropriate, as it is also applied to non negroid populations. These features have been observed among Egyptian samples. According to Robins and Shute the average limb elongation ratios among ancient Egyptians is higher than that of modern West Africans who reside much closer to the equator. Robins and Shute therefore term the ancient Egyptians to be “super-negroid” but state that although the body plans of the ancient Egyptians were closer to those of modern negroes than for modern whites, “this does not mean that the ancient Egyptians were negroes”. Anthropologist S.O.Y. Keita criticized Robins and Shute, stating they do not interpret their results within an adaptive context, and stating that they imply “misleadingly” that early southern Egyptians were not a “part of the Saharo-tropical group, which included Negroes”. Gallagher et al. also points out that “body proportions are under strong climatic selection and evidence remarkable stability within regional lineages”. Zakrzewski (2003) studied skeletal samples from the Badarian period to the Middle Kingdom. She confirmed the results of Robins and Shute that Ancient Egyptians in general had “tropical body plans” but that their proportions were actually “super-negroid”. Trikhanus (1981) found Egyptians to plot closest to tropical Africans and not Mediterranean Europeans residing in a roughly similar climatic area. A more recent study compared ancient Egyptian osteology to that of African-Americans and White Americans, and found that the stature of the Ancient Egyptians was more similar to the stature of African-Americans, although it was not identical: Our results confirm that, although ancient Egyptians are closer in body proportion to modern American Blacks than they are to American Whites, proportions in Blacks and Egyptians are not identical.” Ref Ref Ref
Dental morphology
“Modern studies on ancient Egyptian dentition clusters the Ancient Egyptians with Caucasoids (Europeans, Western Asians, and Northeast Africans such as Somalis and Ethiopians) who have small teeth, as opposed to Negroids (Western Sub-Saharan Africans) who have megadont/large teeth. A 2006 bioarchaeological study on the dental morphology of ancient Egyptians in Upper Egypt by Joel Irish found that their dental traits were most similar to those of other Nile Valley populations, with more remote ties with Bronze Age to Christian period Nubians (e.g. A-Group, C-Group, Kerma) and other Afro-Asiatic speaking populations in Northeast Africa (Tigrean). However, the Egyptian groups were generally distinct from the sampled West and Central African populations. Among the samples included in the study is skeletal material from the Hawara tombs of Fayum, (from the Roman period) which clustered very closely with the Badarian series of the predynastic period. All the samples, particularly those of the Dynastic period, were significantly divergent from a neolithic West Saharan sample from Lower Nubia. Biological continuity was also found intact from the dynastic to the post-pharaonic periods. According to Irish: [The Egyptian] samples [of 996 mummies] exhibit morphologically simple, mass-reduced dentitions that are similar to those in populations from greater North Africa and, to a lesser extent, western Asia and Europe. Anthropologist Shomarka Keita takes issue with the suggestion of Irish that Egyptians and Nubians were not primary descendants of the African epipaleolithic and Neolithic populations. Keita also criticizes him for ignoring the possibility that the dentition of the ancient Egyptians could have been caused by “in situ microevolution” driven by dietary change, rather than by racial admixture.” Ref Ref Ref
Egyptian Language element
“Egyptian language: “The language spoken in ancient Egypt was a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. The earliest known complete written sentence in the Egyptian language has been dated to about 2690 BCE, making it one of the oldest recorded languages known, along with Sumerian. Egyptian was spoken until the late seventeenth century in the form of Coptic. The national language of modern Egypt is Egyptian Arabic, which gradually replaced Coptic as the language of daily life in the centuries after the Muslim conquest of Egypt. Coptic is still used as the liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It has several hundred fluent speakers today. The Egyptian language belongs to the Afroasiatic language family. Among the typological features of Egyptian that are typically Afroasiatic are fusional morphology, nonconcatenative morphology, a series of emphatic consonants, a three-vowel system /a i u/, nominal feminine suffix *-at, nominal m-, adjectival *-ī, and characteristic personal verbal affixes. Of the other Afroasiatic branches, Egyptian shows its greatest affinities with Semitic, and to a lesser extent Cushitic. In Egyptian, the Proto-Afroasiatic voiced consonants */d z ð/ developed into pharyngeal ⟨ꜥ⟩ /ʕ/, e.g. Eg. ꜥr.t ‘portal’, Sem. *dalt ‘door’. Afroasiatic */l/ merged with Egyptian ⟨n⟩, ⟨r⟩, ⟨ꜣ⟩, and ⟨j⟩ in the dialect on which the written language was based, while being preserved in other Egyptian varieties. Original */k g ḳ/ palatalize to ⟨ṯ j ḏ⟩ in some environments and are preserved as ⟨k g q⟩ in others. Egyptian has many biradical and perhaps monoradical roots, in contrast to the Semitic preference for triradical roots. Egyptian probably is more archaic in this regard, whereas Semitic likely underwent later regularizations converting roots into the triradical pattern. Although Egyptian is the oldest Afroasiatic language documented in written form, its morphological repertoire is greatly different from that of the rest of the Afroasiatic in general and Semitic in particular. This suggests that Egyptian had already undergone radical changes from Proto-Afroasiatic before being recorded, that the Afroasiatic family has so far been studied with an excessively Semito-centric approach, or that Afroasiatic is a typological rather than genetic grouping of languages. The earliest Egyptian glyphs date back to around 3300 BC. These early texts are generally lumped together under the general term “Archaic Egyptian.” They record names, titles and labels, but a few of them show morphological and syntactic features familiar from later, more complete, texts. Old Egyptian is dated from the oldest known complete sentence, found in the tomb of Seth-Peribsen and dated to around 2690 BCE. Extensive texts appear from about 2600 BCE.” Ref Ref Ref
“Middle Egyptian was spoken from about 2000 BCE for a further 700 years, when Late Egyptian made its appearance; Middle Egyptian did, however, survive until the first few centuries CE as a written language, similar to the use of Latin during the Middle Ages and that of Classical Arabic today. Demotic first appears about 650 BCE and survived as a written language until the fifth century CE. Coptic appeared in the first century CE and survived as a living language until the sixteenth century, when European scholars traveled to Egypt to learn it from native speakers during the Renaissance. It probably survived in the Egyptian countryside as a spoken language for several centuries after that. Pre-Coptic Egyptian does not show great dialectal differences in the written language due to the centralized nature of Egyptian society. However, they must have existed in speech; this is evidenced by a letter from c. 1200 BCE complaining that the language of a correspondent is as unintelligible as the speech of a northern Egyptian to a southerner. Recently, some evidence of internal dialects has been found in pairs of similar words in Egyptian, which, based on similarities with later dialects of Coptic, may be derived from Northern and Southern dialects of Egyptian. Written Coptic has five major dialects which differ mainly in graphic conventions, most notably the southern Saidic dialect which was the main classical dialect and the northern Bohairic dialect which is currently used in Coptic Church services. The Ancient Egyptian language has been classified as a member of the Afroasiatic language family. There is no agreement on when and where these languages originated, though the language is generally believed to have originated somewhere in or near the region stretching from the Levant in the Near East to northern Kenya, and from the Eastern Sahara in North Africa to the Red Sea, or Southern Arabia, Ethiopia and Sudan. The language of the neighboring Nubian people is one of the Nilo-Saharan languages, and is not one of the Afroasiatic languages. (The general consensus is that Afroasiatic is indeed a genetic grouping, and that Egyptian did in fact diverge greatly in its prerecorded history, although there is almost certainly a Semitic bias in Afroasiatic reconstruction.” Ref Ref Ref
“Scholars group the Egyptian language into six major chronological divisions:
*Archaic Egyptian language (before 2600 BCE, the language of the Early Dynastic Period)
*Old Egyptian language (2686 BC – 2181 BCE, the language of the Old Kingdom)
*Middle Egyptian language (2055 BC – 1650 BCE), characterizing Middle Kingdom (2055 BC – 1650 BC, but enduring through the early 18th Dynasty until the Amarna Period (1353 BCE), and continuing on as a literary language into the fourth century CE).
*Late Egyptian language (1353–700 BCE, characterizing the Third Intermediate Period (1069–700 BC), but starting earlier with the Amarna Period).
*Demotic (7th century BCE – 5th century CE, Late Period through Roman Egypt)
*Coptic (first century CE – 17th century, early Roman Egypt to the early modern period)”
Genetic history of North Africa?
“The genetic history of North Africa has been heavily influenced by geography. The Sahara desert to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the North were important barriers to gene flow in prehistoric times. However, Northeast Africa and the Levant form a single land mass at the Suez. At the Straits of Gibraltar, North Africa and Europe are separated by only 15 km (9 mi). At periods of low sea-levels, such as during a glacial maximum, islands that are currently submerged would appear in the Mediterranean and possibly in between the Gibraltar straits. These may have encouraged humans to “island hop” between Africa and Europe. During wetter phases of the Sahara, some Saharan inhabitants would have expanded north into southern parts of North Africa. West Asian populations would have also been attracted to a wet Sahara. West Asian populations could also migrate into Africa via the coastal regions of the Mediterranean. As a result of these geographic influences, the genetic profile of North African populations is a complex mosaic of European, West Asian and Sub-Saharan African influences to variable degrees. Though North Africa has experienced gene-flow from the surrounding regions, it has also experienced long periods of genetic isolation in some parts, allowing a distinctive genetic markers to evolve in some Maghrebi populations, especially in some isolated Berber speaking people. Current scientific debate is concerned with determining the relative contributions of different periods of gene flow to the current gene pool of North Africans. Anatomically modern humans are known to have been present in North Africa during the Upper Paleolithic, 45,000 years ago, as attested by the Aterian culture. With no apparent continuity, 22,000 years ago, the Aterian was succeeded by the Iberomaurusian industry, whose lithic assemblages bore relations with the Cro-Magnon cultures. The Iberomaurusian was succeeded by the Capsian, a pre-Neolithic culture.” Ref
“Around 9,000 years ago, the Sahara desert entered a wet phase, the Neolithic Subpluvial, which attracted Neolithic peoples from elsewhere in Africa and the Near East. In historic times, North Africa was occupied by various populations, including the Phoenicians (814–146 BCE), Romans (146 BCE–439 CE), Vandals and Alains (439–534 CE), and Byzantines (534–647 CE). In the 7th century, Islam was diffused in the area. Under the unifying framework of Islam, on the one hand, and the settlement of some Middle Eastern tribes together with the migration of the Moors of Andalusia into the Maghreb (after the Spanish Catholic Reconquista) on the other, a fusion took place that resulted in a new ethnocultural entity all over the Maghreb and Egypt and all contributed to the diffusion of the Arab-Islamic culture among the North African populations. On 13 January 2012, an exhaustive genetic study of North Africa’s human populations was published in PLoS Genetics and was undertaken jointly by researchers in the Evolutionary Biology Institute (CSIC-UPF) and Stanford University, among other institutions. The study reveals that the genetic composition of North Africa’s human populations is extremely complex, and the result of a local component dating back thirteen thousand years and the varied genetic influence of neighboring populations on North African groups during successive migrations. According to David Comas, coordinator of the study and researcher at the Institute for Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), “some of the questions we wanted to answer were whether today’s inhabitants are direct descendants of the populations with the oldest archaeological remains in the region, dating back fifty thousand years, or whether they are descendants of the Neolithic populations in the Middle East, which introduced agriculture to the region around eight thousand years ago. We also wondered if there had been any genetic exchange between the North African populations and the neighboring regions and if so, when these took place.” Ref
“To answer these questions, the researchers analyzed around 800,000 genetic markers, distributed throughout the entire genome in 125 North African individuals belonging to seven representative populations in the whole region, and the information obtained was compared with the information from the neighbouring populations. The results of this study show that there is a native genetic component that defines North Africans. In-depth study of these markers shows that the people inhabiting North Africa today are not descendants of either the earliest occupants of this region fifty thousand years ago, or of the most recent Neolithic populations. The data shows that the ancestors of today’s North Africans were a group of populations that already lived in the region around thirteen thousand years ago. Furthermore, this local North African genetic component is very different from the one found in the populations in the south of the Sahara, which shows that the ancestors of today’s North Africans were members of a subgroup of humanity who left Africa to conquer the rest of the world and who subsequently returned to the north of the continent to settle in the region. As well as this local component, North African populations were also observed to share genetic markers with all the neighboring regions, as a result of more recent migrations, although these appear in different proportions. There is an influence from the Middle East, which becomes less marked as the distance from the Arabian Peninsula increases, similar proportions of European influence in all North African populations, and, in some populations, there are even individuals who present a large proportion of influence from the South of the Sahara in their genome. A 2015 study by Dobon et al. identified an ancestral autosomal component of West Eurasian origin that is common to many modern Afro-Asiatic-speaking populations in Northeast Africa. Known as the Coptic component, it peaks among Egyptian Copts who settled in Sudan over the past two centuries. The Coptic component evolved out of a main North African and Middle Eastern ancestral component that is shared by other Egyptians and also found at high frequencies among other Afro-Asiatic populations in Northeast Africa (~70%). The scientists suggest that this points to a common origin for the general population of Egypt. They also associate the Coptic component with Ancient Egyptian ancestry, without the later Arabian influence that is present among other Egyptians.” Ref
Nabta Playa
“Nabta Playa was once a large endorheic basin in the Nubian Desert, located approximately 800 kilometers south of modern-day Cairo or about 100 kilometers west of Abu Simbel in southern Egypt, 22.51° north, 30.73° east. Today the region is characterized by numerous archaeological sites. The Nabta Playa archaeological site, one of the earliest of the Egyptian Neolithic Period, is dated to circa 7500 BCE or around 9,500 years ago. Although today the western Egyptian desert is totally dry, this was not always the case. There is good evidence that there were several humid periods in the past (when up to 500 mm of rain would fall per year), the most recent one during the last interglacial and early last glaciation periods which stretched between 130,000 and 70,000 years ago. During this time, the area was a savanna and supported numerous animals such as extinct buffalo and large giraffes, varieties of antelope and gazelle. Beginning around the 10th millennium BC, this region of the Nubian Desert began to receive more rainfall, filling a lake. Early people may have been attracted to the region due to the source of water.” ref
“Archaeological findings indicate the presence of small seasonal camps in the region dating to the 9th–8th millennia BC. Fred Wendorf, the site’s discoverer, and ethno-linguist Christopher Ehret have suggested that the people who occupied this region at that time may have been early pastoralists, or like the Saami practiced semi-pastoralism. This is disputed by other sources as the cattle remains found at Nabta have been shown to be morphologically wild in several studies, and hunter-gatherers at the nearby Saharan site of Uan Afada in Libya were penning wild Barbary sheep, an animal that was never domesticated. According to Michael Brass (2018) early cattle remains from Nabta Playa were wild hunted aurochs, whilst domesticated cattle were introduced to northeast Africa in the late 7th millennium BC, originating from cattle domesticated in the Euphrates valley.” ref
“The Nabta Playa—Bir Kiseiba region of southern Egypt, and the initial rigorous debates. More recently, geneticists have entered the fray with determinations on the spread of haplotypes, and the timing thereof, that extend the scope and increase the complexity of the debate. Here, a new look at the botanical data and a re-analysis of the geology of Bir Kiseiba–Nabta Playa rejects the ecological foundations of the early African domestication model, while a detailed examination of the published osteological and radiometric data from the same area reveals a more nuanced picture than has been recognized to date. These results are placed into context by a wider review of the genetic and other archaeological evidence from the Western Desert of Northeast Africa, where no other cattle remains designated as domesticated have been found. It is concluded that (a) Bos remains from the early Holocene at Nabta Playa—Bir Kiseiba were those of hunted aurochs; (b) domesticated caprines were likely present in Northeast Africa before domesticated cattle; and (c) the domesticated cattle spreading across Northeast and northern Africa, including Nabta Playa—Bir Kiseiba, from the late seventh millennium BCE or early sixth millennium BCE onwards were descendants of Bos taurus domesticated in the Middle Euphrates area of the Middle East.” ref
“Most researchers thought the first domesticated cattle in Africa arrived from the Near East, perhaps as early as 7800 years ago. But in the 1980s, a few archaeologists began to argue that inhabitants of northeastern Africa had domesticated cattle independently some 10,000 years ago. A statistical analysis revealed three major genetic trends within current cattle populations across Africa. Two influences came from outside Africa. The genetic signature of zebu–a type of humped cattle domesticated some 8000 years ago in the area of Pakistan–was most prominent in cattle in the Horn of Africa. From this, the team concluded that zebu were introduced to that region primarily through sea trade. Cattle populations across northern Africa, in contrast, contained genetic influence from taurine cattle, which were domesticated at least 8000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent of Turkey and other countries. Another sizable component of the genetic variation featured neither of these influences, leading Hanotte’s team to suspect that it represents a unique domestication of native wild cattle in Africa. A few skeptics remain. “The article does not prove an earlier independent domestication event in Africa,” says Andrew Smith of the University of Cape Town, South Africa. For that, he wants to see archaeological evidence for African cattle domestication that might place it before the same achievement in Near East Asia. Fiona Marshall of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, however, is more impressed. To her, the new finding reinforces the idea that people living in Africa during the last 10,000 or so years took an unusual path to food production: domesticating livestock before plants.” ref
“Larger settlements began to appear at Nabta Playa by the 7th millennium BC, relying on deep wells for sources of water. Small huts were constructed in straight rows. Sustenance included wild plants, such as legumes, millets, sorghum, tubers, and fruit. Around 6800 BCE or around 8,800 years ago they began to make pottery locally. In the late 7th millennium BCE goats and sheep, apparently imported from Western Asia, appear. Many large hearths also appear. Early pottery from the Nabta Playa-Bir Kiseiba area has characteristics unlike pottery from surrounding regions. This is followed by pottery with characteristics found only in the Western Desert. Later pottery from c. 5500 BCE (Al Jerar phase) has similarities with pottery from the Sudanese region. Pottery decorations included complex patterns of impressions applied with a comb in a rocking motion.” ref
“Northwest African Neolithic initiated by migrants from Iberia (Portugal and Spain) and the Levant (includes present-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Palestinian territories, and most of Turkey southwest of the middle Euphrates). During the Neolithic expansion, various megalithic cultures developed in the Iberian Peninsula. An open seas navigation culture from the east Mediterranean, called the Cardium culture, also extended its influence to the eastern coasts of the peninsula, possibly as early as the 5th millennium BCE. These people may have had some relation to the subsequent development of the Iberian civilization. This pottery style gives its name to the main culture of the Mediterranean Neolithic: Cardium pottery culture or Cardial culture, or impressed ware culture, which eventually extended from the Adriatic sea to the Atlantic coasts of Portugal and south to Morocco. Older Neolithic cultures existed already at this time in eastern Greece and Crete, apparently having arrived from Anatolia, but they appear distinct from the Cardial or impressed ware culture. The ceramic tradition in the central Balkans also remained distinct from that along the Adriatic coastline in both style and manufacturing techniques for almost 1,000 years from the 6th millennium BCE. Early Neolithic impressed pottery is found in the Levant, and certain parts of Anatolia, including Mezraa-Teleilat, and in North Africa at Tunus-Redeyef, Tunisia. Impressed pottery also appears in Egypt. Along the East Mediterranean coast impressed ware has been found in North Syria, Israel, and Lebanon. In northwestern Africa, lifestyle transitioned from foraging to food production around 7,400 years ago but what sparked that change remains unclear. Archaeological data support conflicting views: (1) that migrant European Neolithic farmers brought the new way of life to North Africa or (2) that local hunter-gatherers adopted technological innovations. The latter view is also supported by archaeogenetic data. Here we fill key chronological and archaeogenetic gaps for the Maghreb, from Epipalaeolithic to Middle Neolithic, by sequencing the genomes of nine individuals (to between 45.8- and 0.2-fold genome coverage). Notably, we trace 8,000 years of population continuity and isolation from the Upper Palaeolithic, via the Epipaleolithic, to some Maghrebi Neolithic farming groups. However, remains from the earliest Neolithic contexts showed mostly European Neolithic ancestry. We suggest that farming was introduced by European migrants and was then rapidly adopted by local groups. During the Middle Neolithic a new ancestry from the Levant appears in the Maghreb, coinciding with the arrival of pastoralism in the region, and all three ancestries blend together during the Late Neolithic. Our results show ancestry shifts in the Neolithization of northwestern Africa that probably mirrored a heterogeneous economic and cultural landscape, in a more multifaceted process than observed in other regions.” ref, ref, ref
“Joel D. Irish (2001), reported in “Holocene Settlement of the Egyptian Sahara”, based on osteological and dental data suggested a mainly sub-Saharan African affinity and origin at Nabta (with sub-Saharan tendencies most commonly detected), but also possible North African tendencies, concluding that, “Henneberg et al. suggest that the Nabta Playa people may have been most similar to Negroes from south of the Sahara. The present qualitative dental comparison tentatively supports this conclusion.”. Some researchers, including Christopher Ehret, have suggested a Nilo-Saharan linguistic affinity for the Nabta people.” ref
“By the 6th millennium BC or between 8,000 to 7,000 years ago, evidence of a prehistoric religion or cult appears. From 5500 BCE or around 7,500 years ago the Late Neolithic period began, with “a new group that had a complex social system expressed in a degree of organisation and control not previously seen.” These new people were responsible for sacrificial cattle burials in clay-lined and roofed chambers covered by rough stone tumuli. It has been suggested that the associated cattle cult indicated in Nabta Playa marks an early evolution of Ancient Egypt‘s Hathor cult. For example, Hathor was worshipped as a nighttime protector in desert regions (see Serabit el-Khadim). To directly quote professors Wendorf and Schild: “… there are many aspects of political and ceremonial life in prehistoric Egypt and the Old Kingdom that reflects a strong impact from Saharan cattle pastoralists …” Rough megalithic stone structures buried underground are also found in Nabta Playa, one of which included evidence of what Wendorf described as perhaps “the oldest known sculpture in Egypt.” ref
“In the 5th millennium BC or between 7,000 to 6,000 years agothese peoples fashioned what may be among the world’s earliest known archeoastronomical devices (roughly contemporary to the Goseck circle in Germany and the Mnajdra megalithic temple complex in Malta). These include alignments of stones that may have indicated the rising of certain stars and a “calendar circle” that indicates the approximate direction of summer solstice sunrise. “Calendar circle” may be a misnomer as the spaces between the pairs of stones in the gates are a bit too wide, and the distances between the gates are too short for accurate calendar measurements.” An inventory of Egyptian archaeoastronomical sites for the UNESCO World Heritage Convention evaluated Nabta Playa as having “hypothetical solar and stellar alignments.” ref
“Astrophysicist Thomas G. Brophy suggests the hypothesis that the southerly line of three stones inside the Calendar Circle represented the three stars of Orion’s Belt and the other three stones inside the calendar circle represented the shoulders and head stars of Orion as they appeared in the sky. These correspondences were for two dates – circa 4800 BC and at precessional opposition – representing how the sky “moves” long term. Brophy proposes that the circle was constructed and used circa the later date, and the dual date representation was a conceptual representation of the motion of the sky over a precession cycle. Near the Calendar Circle, which is made of smaller stones, there are alignments of large megalithic stones. The southerly lines of these megaliths, Brophy argues, aligned to the same stars as represented in the Calendar Circle, all at the same epoch, circa 6270 BCE. Brophy argues that the Calendar Circle correlation with Orion’s belt occurred between 6400 and 4900 BCE or around 8,400 to 6,900 years ago, matching radio-carbon dates of some campfires in the area.” ref
“A 2007 article by a team of University of Colorado archaeoastronomers and archaeologists (Malville, Schild, Wendorf and Brenmer, three of whom had been involved in the original discovery of the site and its astronomical alignment) responded to the work of Brophy and Rosen, in particular their claims for an alignment with Sirius in 6088 BC and other alignments which they dated to 6270 BC, saying that these dates “are about 1500 years earlier than our best estimates for the Terminal Neolithic and the construction of megalithic structures” at Nabta Playa.” ref
“The Sirius alignment in question was originally proposed by Wendorf and Malville, for one of the most prominent alignments of megaliths labelled the “C-line”, which they said aligned to the rising of Sirius circa 4820 BCE or around 6,820 years ago. Brophy and Rosen stated in 2005 that megalith orientations and star positions reported by Wendorf and Malville were in error, noting that “Given these corrected data, we see that Sirius actually aligned with the C-line circa 6000 BCE. We estimate that 6088 BCE or around 8,088 years ago Sirius had a declination of -36.51 degrees, for a rising azimuth exactly on the C-line average”. However, according to Malville, Schild et al. (2007) the dates proposed by Brophy are inconsistent with the archaeological evidence, and “inference in archaeoastronomy must always be guided and informed by archaeology, especially when substantial field work has been performed in the region”. They also concluded that, on closer inspection, the C-line of megaliths “consists of stones resting on the sides and tops of dunes and may not represent an original set of aligned stele.” ref
“More complex structures followed during a megalith period the researchers dated to between about 4500 to 3600 BCE or around 6,500 to 5,600 years ago. Using their original measurements, complemented by satellite imagery and GPS measurements by Brophy and Rosen, they confirmed possible alignments with Sirius, Arcturus, Alpha Centauri, and the Belt of Orion. They suggest that there are three pieces of evidence suggesting astronomical observations by the herdsmen using the site, which may have functioned as a necropolis. “The repetitive orientation of megaliths, stele, human burials and cattle burials reveals a very early symbolic connection to the north.” Secondly, there is the orientation of the cromlech mentioned above. The third piece of evidence is the fifth millennium alignments of stele to bright stars. They conclude their report by writing that “The symbolism embedded in the archaeological record of Nabta Playa in the Fifth Millennium BCE is very basic, focussed on issues of major practical importance to the nomads: cattle, water, death, earth, sun and stars.” ref
“The Cave of Swimmers is a cave with ancient rock art in the mountainous Gilf Kebir plateau of the Libyan Desert section of the Sahara. It is located in the New Valley Governorate of southwest Egypt, near the border with Libya. It contains Neolithic pictographs (rock painting images) and is named due to the depictions of people with their limbs bent as if they were swimming. The drawings include those of giraffe and hippopotamus. They are estimated to have been created as early as 10,000 years ago with the beginning of the African Humid Period, when the Sahara was significantly greener and wetter than it is today. The cause of the climate change 10,000 years ago was due to changes in summer solar insolation and vegetation and dust feedbacks. Due to similar artwork being found in nearby caves, such as the Cave of Beasts, and the continuous line that the figures create extending across a majority of the cave’s interior has led researchers to believe that the cave art may display developing concepts that were later adapted to the configuration of the Nile valley.” ref
“The African humid period (AHP; also known by other names) is a climate period in Africa during the late Pleistocene and Holocene geologic epochs, when northern Africa was wetter than today. The covering of much of the Sahara desert by grasses, trees and lakes was caused by changes in the Earth’s axial tilt; changes in vegetation and dust in the Sahara which strengthened the African monsoon; and increased greenhouse gases. During the preceding Last Glacial Maximum, the Sahara contained extensive dune fields and was mostly uninhabited. It was much larger than today, and its lakes and rivers such as Lake Victoria and the White Nile were either dry or at low levels. The humid period began about 14,600–14,500 years ago at the end of Heinrich event 1, simultaneously to the Bølling–Allerød warming. Rivers and lakes such as Lake Chad formed or expanded, glaciers grew on Mount Kilimanjaro and the Sahara retreated. Two major dry fluctuations occurred; during the Younger Dryas and the short 8.2 kiloyear event. The African humid period ended 6,000–5,000 years ago during the Piora Oscillation cold period. While some evidence points to an end 5,500 years ago, in the Sahel, Arabia, and East Africa, the end of the period appears to have taken place in several steps, such as the 4.2-kiloyear event.” ref
“The African humid period took place in the late Pleistocene and early-middle Holocene, and saw increased precipitation in Northern and Western Africa due to a northward migration of the tropical rainbelt. The AHP is the most profound climate change of the low latitudes during the last 100,000 years and stands out within the otherwise relatively climatically stable Holocene. It is part of the so-called Holocene climatic optimum and coincides with a global warm phase, the Holocene Thermal Maximum. Liu et al. 2017 subdivided the humid period into an “AHP I” which lasted until 8,000 years ago, and an “AHP II” from 8,000 years onward, with the former being wetter than the latter. The AHP led to a widespread settlement of the Sahara and the Arabian Deserts, and had a profound effect on African cultures, such as the birth of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. People in the Sahara lived as hunter-gatherers and domesticated cattle, goats and sheep. They left archaeological sites and artifacts such as one of the oldest ships in the world, and rock paintings such as those in the Cave of Swimmers and in the Acacus Mountains. Earlier humid periods in Africa were postulated after the discovery of these rock paintings in now-inhospitable parts of the Sahara. When the period ended, humans gradually abandoned the desert in favour of regions with more secure water supplies, such as the Nile Valley and Mesopotamia, where they gave rise to early complex societies.” ref
- From a Gerzeh/Naqada II Late Predynastic Egyptian palette with a goddess “Bat/Hathor” cow-head sun/stars motif.
- From a Hierakonpolis late Gerzeh/Naqada II Predynastic or early Naqada III Proto-Dynastic Egyptian porphyry fluted bowl with two reliefs on the rim, one of which was a goddess “Hathor/Bat” cow-head sun/stars motif.
- From an Abydos tomb, u-210 which held a small seal with a goddess “Bat/Hathor” sun/stars motif from the Gerzeh/Naqada II Late Predynastic Egyptian period.
- A Mongolian Copper Age bull sun/star shamanism petroglyph
- A Mongolian Bronze Age deer sun/star shamanism petroglyph symbol.
- A Kyrgyzstan Saimaly-Tash possibly Bronze Age shamanism cow-sun person symbol petroglyph.
- Similar X-ray style images among different peoples of the North from Siberia to Central Asia with shamanism petroglyphs of horned animals with sun symbols from possibly as old as the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. ref, ref, ref
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12 Powerful Women that Held the Position of Rulers/Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt
Here are the names and possible dates for these women who may have been rulers. 1. Queen Meryt-Neith ruled 5,020 years ago. 2. Queen Nimaathap (Third Dynasty, 4,706–4,633 years ago). 3. Queen Khentkaus (Fourth Dynasty, 4,633–4,514 years ago). 4. Queen Ankhesenpepi II (Sixth Dynasty, 4,385–4,201 years ago). 5. Princess Neithhikret (Died 4,201 years ago). 6. Princess-Queen Sobeknefru (Died 3,822 years ago). 7. Queen Ashotep (3,580–3,550 years ago). 8. Princess-Queen Ahmose-Nefertari (3,582–3,515 years ago). 9. Queen Hatshepsut (3,527–3,478 years ago). 10. Queen Nefertiti (3,390–3,350 years ago). 11. Queen Tausret (Died 3,209 years ago). 12. Queen Cleopatra I (2,224–2,196 years ago).
The earliest centers of pottery origin in the Russian Far East and Siberia: Review of chronology for the oldest Neolithic cultures
“Abstract: The earliest pottery from the Russian Far East, Osipovka and Gromatukha cultural complexes, was radiocarbon-dated to c. 13,300-12,300 years ago. In Siberia, the earliest pottery is known from the Ust-Karenga complex, dated to c. 11,200-10,800 years ago. The Osipovka and Gromatukha complexes belong to the Initial Neolithic, and they are contemporaneous with the earliest Neolithic cultures in southern China and Japan. In spite of the very early emergence of pottery in the Russian Far East, there is no evidence of agriculture at the beginning of the Neolithic, and subsistence remains based on hunting and fishing, including anadromous salmonids in the Amur River and its tributaries.” ref
The earliest Neolithic complex in Siberia: the Ust-Karenga 12 site and its significance for the Neolithisation process in Eurasia
“Abstract: The discovery of Neolithic (i.e. pottery-containing) components at the Ust-Karenga 12 site in northern Transbaikal brought to light new data on the appearance of pottery in Siberia. Excavations and geoarchaeological studies identified the pottery complex in layer 7, 14C-dated to c. 12,180–10,750 years ago (charcoal dates) and c. 11,070–10,600 years ago (pottery organics dates). The pottery is thin and plant fibre-tempered; vessels are round-bottomed and with a comb-pattern design. Ust-Karenga 12 thus preserves by far the earliest Neolithic assemblage in Siberia, and is only slightly younger than the Initial Neolithic complexes of the Amur River basin, Russian Far East (c. 13,300–12,400 years ago).” ref
I think the “kurgan Origin” is found in “Stratified Ritual Mounds”
“From the later seventh-millennium cal BCE, in west Siberia, a new site type emerged in this period, the large, stratified mound (Russian kholm), with examples reaching 50m in diameter and up to 6m in height. These Mounds are characterized by unusual features such as groups of human skulls, clay figurines, bone and antler, hearths, and post-row structures, and are interpreted as ritual or sacrificial sites.” ref
“A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons, and horses. Some scepter graves could have been covered with a tumulus, placing the first kurgans as early as the 5th millennium BCE in Eastern Europe. Within the burial chamber at the heart of the kurgan, elite individuals were buried with grave goods and sacrificial offerings, sometimes including horses and chariots. These structures are of the earlier Neolithic period from the 4th to the 3rd millenniums BCE.” ref
My Speculations are in Comparative Mythologies?
For instance, the mytheme of an ancient belief that is seemingly shared though changed and adapted, a fundamental generic unit of narrative structure seems to be shared a common relation with mountains/ancestors/gods or sacred animals with Sacred Mounds, Mountains, Kurgans, and Pyramids.
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- Paganism 7,000-5,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Capitalism) (World War 0) Elite and their slaves!
- Evolution of human skin color, White-Skin is really under 10,000 years old? Yet, Racism is something Terrible and New, under 7,000 years ago!
- White (light complexion skin) Bigotry and Sexism started 7,000 years ago?
- The First Expression of the Male God around 7,000 years ago?
- Sacred Mounds, Mountains, Kurgans, and Pyramids may hold deep Mythology connections?
- Shell Mounds, Earth Mounds, Raised Platforms, and Pyramids: which I think are somewhat related in mythology thinking and culture beliefs
- Dené–Yeniseian language, Old Copper Complex, and Pre-Columbian Mound Builders?
Main African Language families, shown above:
- Afroasiatic languages are spread throughout Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel.
- Saharan, Nilotic, and Sudanic languages (previously grouped under the hypothetical Nilo-Saharan macro-family), are present in East Africa and Sahel.
- Niger–Congo, which includes the large Atlantic-Congo and Bantu branches in West, Central, Southeast, or Southern Africa.
- The Khoisan languages are a number of African languages that have click consonants but do not belong to other African language families and are now held to comprise three distinct language families and two language isolates. ref, ref
“The Bantu migration from their origins in southern West Africa saw a gradual population movement sweep through the central, eastern, and southern parts of the continent starting in the mid-2nd millennium BCE and finally ending before 1500 CE.” ref
“The impact of the Bantu expansion on pre-existing hunter-gatherer communities was also appreciable. The contribution of Bantu-speaking peoples to the male-specific gene pool of the Pygmies is >50%, and a similar degree of admixture is detected also in the Khoisan-speaking !Kung (45%) and Khwe (58%). These Y-chromosome data agree with mtDNA data showing a higher “Bantu component” in the Khwe than in the !Kung, and they also correlate with the physical appearance of the former. However, the impact of the Bantu on the hunter-gatherer communities could have been less extreme in other southern African regions, as is possibly indicated by the 17% of Bantu chromosomes observed in the composite Khoisan sample analyzed.” ref
“Surprisingly, the ancient DNA sequenced from the four children – one pair buried 8,000 years ago, the other 3,000 years ago – reveals ancestry very different from that of most Bantu-speakers today. The research team sequenced DNA from four children buried 8,000 and 3,000 years ago at Shum Laka in Cameroon. Shum Laka is a rock shelter located in the ‘Grassfields’ region of Cameroon, a place long pinpointed by linguists as the probable cradle of Bantu languages, a widespread and diverse group of languages spoken by more than a third of Africans today.” ref
“Linguists, archaeologists and geneticists have been studying the origin and spread of Bantu languages for decades, and the Grassfields region is key to this question,” said Mary Prendergast, Ph.D., a professor of anthropology and chair of humanities at Saint Louis University’s campus in Madrid, and a co-supervising author of the study. “The consensus is that the Bantu language group originated in west-central Africa, before spreading across the southern half of the continent after about 4,000 years ago.” This expansion is thought to be the reason why most people from central, eastern, and southern Africa are genetically closely related to each other and to West Africans.” ref
African Bantu mythology
“The nature of the supreme and highest God of all gods and deities is often only vaguely defined or even lacking, although he may be associated with the Sun, or the oldest of all ancestors, or have other specifications.” ref
MARK_OLOO_ @MK_OL_ Melophile, Physicist, Sapiophile. Nairobi, Kenya – Am a bantu. Interesting fact, the bantu has many tribes with their unique language. So many languages.
My response, I enjoy learning about how culture evolves and changes. I think it interesting to learn language migrations like that of Bantu.
MARK_OLOO_ – The coastal bantus of kenya intermarried with the arabs long ago & their union of culture and language brought about kiswahili language spoken by the swahili people.
My response, That is interesting, do they share any similar religion beliefs from this interaction?
MARK_OLOO_ – They have they own genesis story & each tribe has it’s own version of the genesis of life. For example the maasai people are bantus who believed their first ancestors descended from heaven with a ladder.
My response, Do you feel Bantu religion involves shamanism? Some people think so others question this.
MARK_OLOO_ – Traditionally the bantu had rain makers medicine men & religious leaders as well as a council of elders who governed with their great wisdom. They also believed in witchcraft and anyone suspected of practicing dark magic was banished from the community to the forest to be eaten by predatory wildlife.
My response, Did people who did light or dark magic have the same or different names or just different behaviors under the same name?
MARK_OLOO_ – Rain makers prayed for rain during prolonged droughts, healers or medicine men had expertise in herbs and had magical powers too. The healer is called mganga (kiswahili) & a sorcerer/witch is mchawi(witch) also kiswahili.
My response, In some cultures a shaman and a sorcerer are similar with shamans helping the people and sorcerers working for governments or elites. I think Bantu involved Animism and Totemism and some version of shamanism as well but under different names but some similar stuff to shamanism but wanted to see what you thought.
(2002) “The shaman is, above all, a connecting figure, bridging several worlds for his people, traveling between this world, the underworld, and the heavens. He transforms himself into an animal and talks with ghosts, the dead, the deities, and the ancestors. He dies and revives. He brings back knowledge from the shadow realm, thus linking his people to the spirits and places which were once mythically accessible to all.–anthropologist Barbara Meyerhoff” ref
People don’t commonly teach religious history, even that of their own claimed religion. No, rather they teach a limited “pro their religion” history of their religion from a religious perspective favorable to the religion of choice.
Do you truly think “Religious Belief” is only a matter of some personal choice?
Do you not see how coercive one’s world of choice is limited to the obvious hereditary belief, in most religious choices available to the child of religious parents or caregivers? Religion is more commonly like a family, culture, society, etc. available belief that limits the belief choices of the child and that is when “Religious Belief” is not only a matter of some personal choice and when it becomes hereditary faith, not because of the quality of its alleged facts or proposed truths but because everyone else important to the child believes similarly so they do as well simply mimicking authority beliefs handed to them. Because children are raised in religion rather than being presented all possible choices but rather one limited dogmatic brand of “Religious Belief” where children only have a choice of following the belief as instructed, and then personally claim the faith hereditary belief seen in the confirming to the belief they have held themselves all their lives. This is obvious in statements asked and answered by children claiming a faith they barely understand but they do understand that their family believes “this or that” faith, so they feel obligated to believe it too. While I do agree that “Religious Belief” should only be a matter of some personal choice, it rarely is… End Hereditary Religion!
Animism: Respecting the Living World by Graham Harvey
“How have human cultures engaged with and thought about animals, plants, rocks, clouds, and other elements in their natural surroundings? Do animals and other natural objects have a spirit or soul? What is their relationship to humans? In this new study, Graham Harvey explores current and past animistic beliefs and practices of Native Americans, Maori, Aboriginal Australians, and eco-pagans. He considers the varieties of animism found in these cultures as well as their shared desire to live respectfully within larger natural communities. Drawing on his extensive casework, Harvey also considers the linguistic, performative, ecological, and activist implications of these different animisms.” ref
We are like believing machines we vacuum up ideas, like Velcro sticks to almost everything. We accumulate beliefs that we allow to negatively influence our lives, often without realizing it. Our willingness must be to alter skewed beliefs that impend our balance or reason, which allows us to achieve new positive thinking and accurate outcomes.
My thoughts on Religion Evolution with external links for more info:
- (Pre-Animism Africa mainly, but also Europe, and Asia at least 300,000 years ago), (Pre-Animism – Oxford Dictionaries)
- (Animism Africa around 100,000 years ago), (Animism – Britannica.com)
- (Totemism Europe around 50,000 years ago), (Totemism – Anthropology)
- (Shamanism Siberia around 30,000 years ago), (Shamanism – Britannica.com)
- (Paganism Turkey around 12,000 years ago), (Paganism – BBC Religion)
- (Progressed Organized Religion “Institutional Religion” Egypt around 5,000 years ago), (Ancient Egyptian Religion – Britannica.com)
- (CURRENT “World” RELIGIONS after 4,000 years ago) (Origin of Major Religions – Sacred Texts)
- (Early Atheistic Doubting at least by 2,600 years ago) (History of Atheism – Wikipedia)
“Religion is an Evolved Product” and Yes, Religion is Like Fear Given Wings…
Atheists talk about gods and religions for the same reason doctors talk about cancer, they are looking for a cure, or a firefighter talks about fires because they burn people and they care to stop them. We atheists too often feel a need to help the victims of mental slavery, held in the bondage that is the false beliefs of gods and the conspiracy theories of reality found in religions.
Understanding Religion Evolution:
- Pre-Animism (at least 300,000 years ago)
- Animism (Africa: 100,000 years ago)
- Totemism (Europe: 50,000 years ago)
- Shamanism (Siberia: 30,000 years ago)
- Paganism (Turkey: 12,000 years ago)
- Progressed organized religion (Egypt: 5,000 years ago), (Egypt, the First Dynasty 5,150 years ago)
- CURRENT “World” RELIGIONS (after 4,000 years ago)
- Early Atheistic Doubting (at least by 2,600 years ago)
“An Archaeological/Anthropological Understanding of Religion Evolution”
It seems ancient peoples had to survived amazing threats in a “dangerous universe (by superstition perceived as good and evil),” and human “immorality or imperfection of the soul” which was thought to affect the still living, leading to ancestor worship. This ancestor worship presumably led to the belief in supernatural beings, and then some of these were turned into the belief in gods. This feeble myth called gods were just a human conceived “made from nothing into something over and over, changing, again and again, taking on more as they evolve, all the while they are thought to be special,” but it is just supernatural animistic spirit-belief perceived as sacred.
Quick Evolution of Religion?
Pre-Animism (at least 300,000 years ago) pre-religion is a beginning that evolves into later Animism. So, Religion as we think of it, to me, all starts in a general way with Animism (Africa: 100,000 years ago) (theoretical belief in supernatural powers/spirits), then this is physically expressed in or with Totemism (Europe: 50,000 years ago) (theoretical belief in mythical relationship with powers/spirits through a totem item), which then enlists a full-time specific person to do this worship and believed interacting Shamanism (Siberia/Russia: 30,000 years ago) (theoretical belief in access and influence with spirits through ritual), and then there is the further employment of myths and gods added to all the above giving you Paganism (Turkey: 12,000 years ago) (often a lot more nature-based than most current top world religions, thus hinting to their close link to more ancient religious thinking it stems from). My hypothesis is expressed with an explanation of the building of a theatrical house (modern religions development). Progressed organized religion (Egypt: 5,000 years ago) with CURRENT “World” RELIGIONS (after 4,000 years ago).
Historically, in large city-state societies (such as Egypt or Iraq) starting around 5,000 years ago culminated to make religion something kind of new, a sociocultural-governmental-religious monarchy, where all or at least many of the people of such large city-state societies seem familiar with and committed to the existence of “religion” as the integrated life identity package of control dynamics with a fixed closed magical doctrine, but this juggernaut integrated religion identity package of Dogmatic-Propaganda certainly did not exist or if developed to an extent it was highly limited in most smaller prehistoric societies as they seem to lack most of the strong control dynamics with a fixed closed magical doctrine (magical beliefs could be at times be added or removed). Many people just want to see developed religious dynamics everywhere even if it is not. Instead, all that is found is largely fragments until the domestication of religion.
Religions, as we think of them today, are a new fad, even if they go back to around 6,000 years in the timeline of human existence, this amounts to almost nothing when seen in the long slow evolution of religion at least around 70,000 years ago with one of the oldest ritual worship. Stone Snake of South Africa: “first human worship” 70,000 years ago. This message of how religion and gods among them are clearly a man-made thing that was developed slowly as it was invented and then implemented peace by peace discrediting them all. Which seems to be a simple point some are just not grasping how devastating to any claims of truth when we can see the lie clearly in the archeological sites.
I wish people fought as hard for the actual values as they fight for the group/clan names political or otherwise they think support values. Every amount spent on war is theft to children in need of food or the homeless kept from shelter.
Here are several of my blog posts on history:
- To Find Truth You Must First Look
- (Magdalenian/Iberomaurusian) Connections to the First Paganists of the early Neolithic Near East Dating from around 17,000 to 12,000 Years Ago
- Natufians: an Ancient People at the Origins of Agriculture and Sedentary Life
- Possible Clan Leader/Special “MALE” Ancestor Totem Poles At Least 13,500 years ago?
- Jewish People with DNA at least 13,200 years old, Judaism, and the Origins of Some of its Ideas
- Baltic Reindeer Hunters: Swiderian, Lyngby, Ahrensburgian, and Krasnosillya cultures 12,020 to 11,020 years ago are evidence of powerful migratory waves during the last 13,000 years and a genetic link to Saami and the Finno-Ugric peoples.
- The Rise of Inequality: patriarchy and state hierarchy inequality
- Fertile Crescent 12,500 – 9,500 Years Ago: fertility and death cult belief system?
- 12,400 – 11,700 Years Ago – Kortik Tepe (Turkey) Pre/early-Agriculture Cultic Ritualism
- Ritualistic Bird Symbolism at Gobekli Tepe and its “Ancestor Cult”
- Male-Homosexual (female-like) / Trans-woman (female) Seated Figurine from Gobekli Tepe
- Could a 12,000-year-old Bull Geoglyph at Göbekli Tepe relate to older Bull and Female Art 25,000 years ago and Later Goddess and the Bull cults like Catal Huyuk?
- Sedentism and the Creation of goddesses around 12,000 years ago as well as male gods after 7,000 years ago.
- Alcohol, where Agriculture and Religion Become one? Such as Gobekli Tepe’s Ritualistic use of Grain as Food and Ritual Drink
- Neolithic Ritual Sites with T-Pillars and other Cultic Pillars
- Paganism: Goddesses around 12,000 years ago then Male Gods after 7,000 years ago
- First Patriarchy: Split of Women’s Status around 12,000 years ago & First Hierarchy: fall of Women’s Status around 5,000 years ago.
- Natufians: an Ancient People at the Origins of Agriculture and Sedentary Life
- J DNA and the Spread of Agricultural Religion (paganism)
- Paganism: an approximately 12,000-year-old belief system
- Paganism 12,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Pre-Capitalism)
- Shaman burial in Israel 12,000 years ago and the Shamanism Phenomena
- Need to Mythicized: gods and goddesses
- 12,000 – 7,000 Years Ago – Paleo-Indian Culture (The Americas)
- 12,000 – 2,000 Years Ago – Indigenous-Scandinavians (Nordic)
- Norse did not wear helmets with horns?
- Pre-Pottery Neolithic Skull Cult around 11,500 to 8,400 Years Ago?
- 10,400 – 10,100 Years Ago, in Turkey the Nevail Cori Religious Settlement
- 9,000-6,500 Years Old Submerged Pre-Pottery/Pottery Neolithic Ritual Settlements off Israel’s Coast
- Catal Huyuk “first religious designed city” around 9,500 to 7,700 years ago (Turkey)
- Cultic Hunting at Catal Huyuk “first religious designed city”
- Special Items and Art as well as Special Elite Burials at Catal Huyuk
- New Rituals and Violence with the appearance of Pottery and People?
- Haplogroup N and its related Uralic Languages and Cultures
- Ainu people, Sámi people, Native Americans, the Ancient North Eurasians, and Paganistic-Shamanism with Totemism
- Ideas, Technology and People from Turkey, Europe, to China and Back again 9,000 to 5,000 years ago?
- First Pottery of Europe and the Related Cultures
- 9,000 years old Neolithic Artifacts Judean Desert and Hills Israel
- 9,000-7,000 years-old Sex and Death Rituals: Cult Sites in Israel, Jordan, and the Sinai
- 9,000-8500 year old Horned Female shaman Bad Dürrenberg Germany
- Neolithic Jewelry and the Spread of Farming in Europe Emerging out of West Turkey
- 8,600-year-old Tortoise Shells in Neolithic graves in central China have Early Writing and Shamanism
- Swing of the Mace: the rise of Elite, Forced Authority, and Inequality begin to Emerge 8,500 years ago?
- Migrations and Changing Europeans Beginning around 8,000 Years Ago
- My “Steppe-Anatolian-Kurgan hypothesis” 8,000/7,000 years ago
- Around 8,000-year-old Shared Idea of the Mistress of Animals, “Ritual” Motif
- Pre-Columbian Red-Paint (red ochre) Maritime Archaic Culture 8,000-3,000 years ago
- 7,522-6,522 years ago Linear Pottery culture which I think relates to Arcane Capitalism’s origins
- Arcane Capitalism: Primitive socialism, Primitive capital, Private ownership, Means of production, Market capitalism, Class discrimination, and Petite bourgeoisie (smaller capitalists)
- 7,500-4,750 years old Ritualistic Cucuteni-Trypillian culture of Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine
- Roots of a changing early society 7,200-6,700 years ago Jordan and Israel
- Agriculture religion (Paganism) with farming reached Britain between about 7,000 to 6,500 or so years ago and seemingly expressed in things like Western Europe’s Long Barrows
- My Thoughts on Possible Migrations of “R” DNA and Proto-Indo-European?
- “Millet” Spreading from China 7,022 years ago to Europe and related Language may have Spread with it leading to Proto-Indo-European
- Proto-Indo-European (PIE), ancestor of Indo-European languages: DNA, Society, Language, and Mythology
- The Dnieper–Donets culture and Asian varieties of Millet from China to the Black Sea region of Europe by 7,022 years ago
- Kurgan 6,000 years ago/dolmens 7,000 years ago: funeral, ritual, and other?
- 7,020 to 6,020-year-old Proto-Indo-European Homeland of Urheimat or proposed home of their Language and Religion
- Ancient Megaliths: Kurgan, Ziggurat, Pyramid, Menhir, Trilithon, Dolman, Kromlech, and Kromlech of Trilithons
- The Mytheme of Ancient North Eurasian Sacred-Dog belief and similar motifs are found in Indo-European, Native American, and Siberian comparative mythology
- Elite Power Accumulation: Ancient Trade, Tokens, Writing, Wealth, Merchants, and Priest-Kings
- Sacred Mounds, Mountains, Kurgans, and Pyramids may hold deep connections?
- Between 7,000-5,000 Years ago, rise of unequal hierarchy elite, leading to a “birth of the State” or worship of power, strong new sexism, oppression of non-elites, and the fall of Women’s equal status
- Paganism 7,000-5,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Capitalism) (World War 0) Elite & their slaves
- Hell and Underworld mythologies starting maybe as far back as 7,000 to 5,000 years ago with the Proto-Indo-Europeans?
- The First Expression of the Male God around 7,000 years ago?
- White (light complexion skin) Bigotry and Sexism started 7,000 years ago?
- Around 7,000-year-old Shared Idea of the Divine Bird (Tutelary and/or Trickster spirit/deity), “Ritual” Motif
- Nekhbet an Ancient Egyptian Vulture Goddess and Tutelary Deity
- 6,720 to 4,920 years old Ritualistic Hongshan Culture of Inner Mongolia with 5,000-year-old Pyramid Mounds and Temples
- First proto-king in the Balkans, Varna culture around 6,500 years ago?
- 6,500–5,800 years ago in Israel Late Chalcolithic (Copper Age) Period in the Southern Levant Seems to Express Northern Levant Migrations, Cultural and Religious Transfer
- KING OF BEASTS: Master of Animals “Ritual” Motif, around 6,000 years old or older…
- Around 6000-year-old Shared Idea of the Solid Wheel & the Spoked Wheel-Shaped Ritual Motif
- “The Ghassulian Star,” a mysterious 6,000-year-old mural from Jordan; a Proto-Star of Ishtar, Star of Inanna or Star of Venus?
- Religious/Ritual Ideas, including goddesses and gods as well as ritual mounds or pyramids from Northeastern Asia at least 6,000 years old, seemingly filtering to Iran, Iraq, the Mediterranean, Europe, Egypt, and the Americas?
- Maykop (5,720–5,020 years ago) Caucasus region Bronze Age culture-related to Copper Age farmers from the south, influenced by the Ubaid period and Leyla-Tepe culture, as well as influencing the Kura-Araxes culture
- 5-600-year-old Tomb, Mummy, and First Bearded Male Figurine in a Grave
- Kura-Araxes Cultural 5,520 to 4,470 years old DNA traces to the Canaanites, Arabs, and Jews
- Minoan/Cretan (Keftiu) Civilization and Religion around 5,520 to 3,120 years ago
- Evolution Of Science at least by 5,500 years ago
- 5,500 Years old birth of the State, the rise of Hierarchy, and the fall of Women’s status
- “Jiroft culture” 5,100 – 4,200 years ago and the History of Iran
- Stonehenge: Paganistic Burial and Astrological Ritual Complex, England (5,100-3,600 years ago)
- Around 5,000-year-old Shared Idea of the “Tree of Life” Ritual Motif
- Complex rituals for elite, seen from China to Egypt, at least by 5,000 years ago
- Around 5,000 years ago: “Birth of the State” where Religion gets Military Power and Influence
- The Center of the World “Axis Mundi” and/or “Sacred Mountains” Mythology Could Relate to the Altai Mountains, Heart of the Steppe
- Progressed organized religion starts, an approximately 5,000-year-old belief system
- China’s Civilization between 5,000-3,000 years ago, was a time of war and class struggle, violent transition from free clans to a Slave or Elite society
- Origin of Logics is Naturalistic Observation at least by around 5,000 years ago.
- Paganism 5,000 years old: progressed organized religion and the state: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Kings and the Rise of the State)
- Ziggurats (multi-platform temples: 4,900 years old) to Pyramids (multi-platform tombs: 4,700 years old)
- Did a 4,520–4,420-year-old Volcano In Turkey Inspire the Bible God?
- Finland’s Horned Shaman and Pre-Horned-God at least 4,500 years ago?
- 4,000-year-Old Dolmens in Israel: A Connected Dolmen Religious Phenomenon?
- Creation myths: From chaos, Ex nihilo, Earth-diver, Emergence, World egg, and World parent
- Bronze Age “Ritual” connections of the Bell Beaker culture with the Corded Ware/Single Grave culture, which were related to the Yamnaya culture and Proto-Indo-European Languages/Religions
- Low Gods (Earth/ Tutelary deity), High Gods (Sky/Supreme deity), and Moralistic Gods (Deity enforcement/divine order)
- The exchange of people, ideas, and material-culture including, to me, the new god (Sky Father) and goddess (Earth Mother) religion between the Cucuteni-Trypillians and others which is then spread far and wide
- Koryaks: Indigenous People of the Russian Far East and Big Raven myths also found in Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and other Indigenous People of North America
- 42 Principles Of Maat (Egyptian Goddess of the justice) around 4,400 years ago, 2000 Years Before Ten Commandments
- “Happy Easter” Well Happy Eostre/Ishter
- 4,320-3,820 years old “Shimao” (North China) site with Totemistic-Shamanistic Paganism and a Stepped Pyramid
- 4,250 to 3,400 Year old Stonehenge from Russia: Arkaim?
- 4,100-year-old beaker with medicinal & flowering plants in a grave of a woman in Scotland
- Early European Farmer ancestry, Kelif el Boroud people with the Cardial Ware culture, and the Bell Beaker culture Paganists too, spread into North Africa, then to the Canary Islands off West Africa
- Flood Accounts: Gilgamesh epic (4,100 years ago) Noah in Genesis (2,600 years ago)
- Paganism 4,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (First Moralistic gods, then the Origin time of Monotheism)
- When was the beginning: TIMELINE OF CURRENT RELIGIONS, which start around 4,000 years ago.
- Early Religions Thought to Express Proto-Monotheistic Systems around 4,000 years ago
- Kultepe? An archaeological site with a 4,000 years old women’s rights document.
- Single God Religions (Monotheism) = “Man-o-theism” started around 4,000 years ago with the Great Sky Spirit/God Tiān (天)?
- Confucianism’s Tiān (Shangdi god 4,000 years old): Supernaturalism, Pantheism or Theism?
- Yes, Your Male God is Ridiculous
- Mythology, a Lunar Deity is a Goddess or God of the Moon
- Sacred Land, Hills, and Mountains: Sami Mythology (Paganistic Shamanism)
- Horse Worship/Sacrifice: mythical union of Ruling Elite/Kingship and the Horse
- The Amorite/Amurru people’s God Amurru “Lord of the Steppe”, relates to the Origins of the Bible God?
- Bronze Age Exotic Trade Routes Spread Quite Far as well as Spread Religious Ideas with Them
- Sami and the Northern Indigenous Peoples Landscape, Language, and its Connection to Religion
- Prototype of Ancient Analemmatic Sundials around 3,900-3,150 years ago and a Possible Solar Connection to gods?
- Judaism is around 3,450 or 3,250 years old. (“Paleo-Hebrew” 3,000 years ago and Torah 2,500 years ago)
- The Weakening of Ancient Trade and the Strengthening of Religions around 3000 years ago?
- Are you aware that there are religions that worship women gods, explain now religion tears women down?
- Animistic, Totemistic, and Paganistic Superstition Origins of bible god and the bible’s Religion.
- Myths and Folklore: “Trickster gods and goddesses”
- Jews, Judaism, and the Origins of Some of its Ideas
- An Old Branch of Religion Still Giving Fruit: Sacred Trees
- Dating the BIBLE: naming names and telling times (written less than 3,000 years ago, provable to 2,200 years ago)
- Did a Volcano Inspire the bible god?
- Dené–Yeniseian language, Old Copper Complex, and Pre-Columbian Mound Builders?
- No “dinosaurs and humans didn’t exist together just because some think they are in the bible itself”
- Sacred Shit and Sacred Animals?
- Everyone Killed in the Bible Flood? “Nephilim” (giants)?
- Hey, Damien dude, I have a question for you regarding “the bible” Exodus.
- Archaeology Disproves the Bible
- Bible Battle, Just More, Bible Babble
- The Jericho Conquest lie?
- Canaanites and Israelites?
- Accurate Account on how did Christianity Began?
- Let’s talk about Christianity.
- So the 10 commandments isn’t anything to go by either right?
- Misinformed christian
- Debunking Jesus?
- Paulism vs Jesus
- Ok, you seem confused so let’s talk about Buddhism.
- Unacknowledged Buddhism: Gods, Savior, Demons, Rebirth, Heavens, Hells, and Terrorism
- His Foolishness The Dalai Lama
- Yin and Yang is sexist with an ORIGIN around 2,300 years ago?
- I Believe Archaeology, not Myths & Why Not, as the Religious Myths Already Violate Reason!
- Archaeological, Scientific, & Philosophic evidence shows the god myth is man-made nonsense.
- Aquatic Ape Theory/Hypothesis? As Always, Just Pseudoscience.
- Ancient Aliens Conspiracy Theorists are Pseudohistorians
- The Pseudohistoric and Pseudoscientific claims about “Bakoni Ruins” of South Africa
- Why do people think Religion is much more than supernaturalism and superstitionism?
- Religion is an Evolved Product
- Was the Value of Ancient Women Different?
- 1000 to 1100 CE, human sacrifice Cahokia Mounds a pre-Columbian Native American site
- Feminist atheists as far back as the 1800s?
- Promoting Religion as Real is Mentally Harmful to a Flourishing Humanity
- Screw All Religions and Their Toxic lies, they are all fraud
- Forget Religions’ Unfounded Myths, I Have Substantiated “Archaeology Facts.”
- Religion Dispersal throughout the World
- I Hate Religion Just as I Hate all Pseudoscience
- Exposing Scientology, Eckankar, Wicca and Other Nonsense?
- Main deity or religious belief systems
- Quit Trying to Invent Your God From the Scraps of Science.
- Archaeological, Scientific, & Philosophic evidence shows the god myth is man-made nonsense.
- Ancient Alien Conspiracy Theorists: Misunderstanding, Rhetoric, Misinformation, Fabrications, and Lies
- Misinformation, Distortion, and Pseudoscience in Talking with a Christian Creationist
- Judging the Lack of Goodness in Gods, Even the Norse God Odin
- Challenging the Belief in God-like Aliens and Gods in General
- A Challenge to Christian use of Torture Devices?
- Yes, Hinduism is a Religion
- Trump is One of the Most Reactionary Forces of Far-right Christian Extremism
- Was the Bull Head a Symbol of God? Yes!
- Primate Death Rituals
- Christian – “God and Christianity are objectively true”
- Australopithecus afarensis Death Ritual?
- You Claim Global Warming is a Hoax?
- Doubter of Science and Defamer of Atheists?
- I think that sounds like the Bible?
- History of the Antifa (“anti-fascist”) Movements
- Indianapolis Anti-Blasphemy Laws #Free Soheil Rally
- Damien, you repeat the golden rule in so many forms then you say religion is dogmatic?
- Science is a Trustable Methodology whereas Faith is not Trustable at all!
- Was I ever a believer, before I was an atheist?
- Atheists rise in reason
- Mistrust of science?
- Open to Talking About the Definition of ‘God’? But first, we address Faith.
- ‘United Monarchy’ full of splendor and power – Saul, David, and Solomon? Most likely not.
- Is there EXODUS ARCHAEOLOGY? The short answer is “no.”
- Lacking Proof of Bigfoots, Unicorns, and Gods is Just a Lack of Research?
- Religion and Politics: Faith Beliefs vs. Rational Thinking
- Hammer of Truth that lying pig RELIGION: challenged by an archaeologist
- “The Hammer of Truth” -ontology question- What do You Mean by That?
- Navigation of a bad argument: Ad Hominem vs. Attack
- Why is it Often Claimed that Gods have a Gender?
- Why are basically all monotheistic religions ones that have a male god?
- Shifting through the Claims in support of Faith
- Dear Mr. AtHope, The 20th Century is an Indictment of Secularism and a Failed Atheist Century
- An Understanding of the Worldwide Statistics and Dynamics of Terrorist Incidents and Suicide Attacks
- Intoxication and Evolution? Addressing and Assessing the “Stoned Ape” or “Drunken Monkey” Theories as Catalysts in Human Evolution
- Sacred Menstrual cloth? Inanna’s knot, Isis knot, and maybe Ma’at’s feather?
- Damien, why don’t the Hebrews accept the bible stories?
- Dealing with a Troll and Arguing Over Word Meaning
- Knowledge without Belief? Justified beliefs or disbeliefs worthy of Knowledge?
- Afrocentrism and African Religions
- Crecganford @crecganford offers history & stories of the people, places, gods, & culture
- Empiricism-Denier?
I am not an academic. I am a revolutionary that teaches in public, in places like social media, and in the streets. I am not a leader by some title given but from my commanding leadership style of simply to start teaching everywhere to everyone, all manner of positive education.
To me, Animism starts in Southern Africa, then to West Europe, and becomes Totemism. Another split goes near the Russia and Siberia border becoming Shamanism, which heads into Central Europe meeting up with Totemism, which also had moved there, mixing the two which then heads to Lake Baikal in Siberia. From there this Shamanism-Totemism heads to Turkey where it becomes Paganism.
Not all “Religions” or “Religious Persuasions” have a god(s) but
All can be said to believe in some imaginary beings or imaginary things like spirits, afterlives, etc.
Paganism 12,000-4,000 years old
12,000-7,000 years old: related to (Pre-Capitalism)
7,000-5,000 years old: related to (Capitalism) (World War 0) Elite and their slaves!
5,000 years old: related to (Kings and the Rise of the State)
4,000 years old: related to (First Moralistic gods, then the Origin time of Monotheism)
ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref
Low Gods “Earth” or Tutelary deity and High Gods “Sky” or Supreme deity
“An Earth goddess is a deification of the Earth. Earth goddesses are often associated with the “chthonic” deities of the underworld. Ki and Ninhursag are Mesopotamian earth goddesses. In Greek mythology, the Earth is personified as Gaia, corresponding to Roman Terra, Indic Prithvi/Bhūmi, etc. traced to an “Earth Mother” complementary to the “Sky Father” in Proto-Indo-European religion. Egyptian mythology exceptionally has a sky goddess and an Earth god.” ref
“A mother goddess is a goddess who represents or is a personification of nature, motherhood, fertility, creation, destruction or who embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother. In some religious traditions or movements, Heavenly Mother (also referred to as Mother in Heaven or Sky Mother) is the wife or feminine counterpart of the Sky father or God the Father.” ref
“Any masculine sky god is often also king of the gods, taking the position of patriarch within a pantheon. Such king gods are collectively categorized as “sky father” deities, with a polarity between sky and earth often being expressed by pairing a “sky father” god with an “earth mother” goddess (pairings of a sky mother with an earth father are less frequent). A main sky goddess is often the queen of the gods and may be an air/sky goddess in her own right, though she usually has other functions as well with “sky” not being her main. In antiquity, several sky goddesses in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Near East were called Queen of Heaven. Neopagans often apply it with impunity to sky goddesses from other regions who were never associated with the term historically. The sky often has important religious significance. Many religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, have deities associated with the sky.” ref
“In comparative mythology, sky father is a term for a recurring concept in polytheistic religions of a sky god who is addressed as a “father”, often the father of a pantheon and is often either a reigning or former King of the Gods. The concept of “sky father” may also be taken to include Sun gods with similar characteristics, such as Ra. The concept is complementary to an “earth mother“. “Sky Father” is a direct translation of the Vedic Dyaus Pita, etymologically descended from the same Proto-Indo-European deity name as the Greek Zeûs Pater and Roman Jupiter and Germanic Týr, Tir or Tiwaz, all of which are reflexes of the same Proto-Indo-European deity’s name, *Dyēus Ph₂tḗr. While there are numerous parallels adduced from outside of Indo-European mythology, there are exceptions (e.g. In Egyptian mythology, Nut is the sky mother and Geb is the earth father).” ref
Tutelary deity
“A tutelary (also tutelar) is a deity or spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of “tutelary” expresses the concept of safety and thus of guardianship. In late Greek and Roman religion, one type of tutelary deity, the genius, functions as the personal deity or daimon of an individual from birth to death. Another form of personal tutelary spirit is the familiar spirit of European folklore.” ref
“A tutelary (also tutelar) in Korean shamanism, jangseung and sotdae were placed at the edge of villages to frighten off demons. They were also worshiped as deities. Seonangshin is the patron deity of the village in Korean tradition and was believed to embody the Seonangdang. In Philippine animism, Diwata or Lambana are deities or spirits that inhabit sacred places like mountains and mounds and serve as guardians. Such as: Maria Makiling is the deity who guards Mt. Makiling and Maria Cacao and Maria Sinukuan. In Shinto, the spirits, or kami, which give life to human bodies come from nature and return to it after death. Ancestors are therefore themselves tutelaries to be worshiped. And similarly, Native American beliefs such as Tonás, tutelary animal spirit among the Zapotec and Totems, familial or clan spirits among the Ojibwe, can be animals.” ref
“A tutelary (also tutelar) in Austronesian beliefs such as: Atua (gods and spirits of the Polynesian peoples such as the Māori or the Hawaiians), Hanitu (Bunun of Taiwan‘s term for spirit), Hyang (Kawi, Sundanese, Javanese, and Balinese Supreme Being, in ancient Java and Bali mythology and this spiritual entity, can be either divine or ancestral), Kaitiaki (New Zealand Māori term used for the concept of guardianship, for the sky, the sea, and the land), Kawas (mythology) (divided into 6 groups: gods, ancestors, souls of the living, spirits of living things, spirits of lifeless objects, and ghosts), Tiki (Māori mythology, Tiki is the first man created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne and represents deified ancestors found in most Polynesian cultures). ” ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref
Mesopotamian Tutelary Deities can be seen as ones related to City-States
“Historical city-states included Sumerian cities such as Uruk and Ur; Ancient Egyptian city-states, such as Thebes and Memphis; the Phoenician cities (such as Tyre and Sidon); the five Philistine city-states; the Berber city-states of the Garamantes; the city-states of ancient Greece (the poleis such as Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and Corinth); the Roman Republic (which grew from a city-state into a vast empire); the Italian city-states from the Middle Ages to the early modern period, such as Florence, Siena, Ferrara, Milan (which as they grew in power began to dominate neighboring cities) and Genoa and Venice, which became powerful thalassocracies; the Mayan and other cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica (including cities such as Chichen Itza, Tikal, Copán and Monte Albán); the central Asian cities along the Silk Road; the city-states of the Swahili coast; Ragusa; states of the medieval Russian lands such as Novgorod and Pskov; and many others.” ref
“The Uruk period (ca. 4000 to 3100 BCE; also known as Protoliterate period) of Mesopotamia, named after the Sumerian city of Uruk, this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia and the Sumerian civilization. City-States like Uruk and others had a patron tutelary City Deity along with a Priest-King.” ref
“Chinese folk religion, both past, and present, includes myriad tutelary deities. Exceptional individuals, highly cultivated sages, and prominent ancestors can be deified and honored after death. Lord Guan is the patron of military personnel and police, while Mazu is the patron of fishermen and sailors. Such as Tu Di Gong (Earth Deity) is the tutelary deity of a locality, and each individual locality has its own Earth Deity and Cheng Huang Gong (City God) is the guardian deity of an individual city, worshipped by local officials and locals since imperial times.” ref
“A tutelary (also tutelar) in Hinduism, personal tutelary deities are known as ishta-devata, while family tutelary deities are known as Kuladevata. Gramadevata are guardian deities of villages. Devas can also be seen as tutelary. Shiva is the patron of yogis and renunciants. City goddesses include: Mumbadevi (Mumbai), Sachchika (Osian); Kuladevis include: Ambika (Porwad), and Mahalakshmi. In NorthEast India Meitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism) of Manipur, there are various types of tutelary deities, among which Lam Lais are the most predominant ones. Tibetan Buddhism has Yidam as a tutelary deity. Dakini is the patron of those who seek knowledge.” ref
“A tutelary (also tutelar) The Greeks also thought deities guarded specific places: for instance, Athena was the patron goddess of the city of Athens. Socrates spoke of hearing the voice of his personal spirit or daimonion:
You have often heard me speak of an oracle or sign which comes to me … . This sign I have had ever since I was a child. The sign is a voice which comes to me and always forbids me to do something which I am going to do, but never commands me to do anything, and this is what stands in the way of my being a politician.” ref
“Tutelary deities who guard and preserve a place or a person are fundamental to ancient Roman religion. The tutelary deity of a man was his Genius, that of a woman her Juno. In the Imperial era, the Genius of the Emperor was a focus of Imperial cult. An emperor might also adopt a major deity as his personal patron or tutelary, as Augustus did Apollo. Precedents for claiming the personal protection of a deity were established in the Republican era, when for instance the Roman dictator Sulla advertised the goddess Victory as his tutelary by holding public games (ludi) in her honor.” ref
“Each town or city had one or more tutelary deities, whose protection was considered particularly vital in time of war and siege. Rome itself was protected by a goddess whose name was to be kept ritually secret on pain of death (for a supposed case, see Quintus Valerius Soranus). The Capitoline Triad of Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva were also tutelaries of Rome. The Italic towns had their own tutelary deities. Juno often had this function, as at the Latin town of Lanuvium and the Etruscan city of Veii, and was often housed in an especially grand temple on the arx (citadel) or other prominent or central location. The tutelary deity of Praeneste was Fortuna, whose oracle was renowned.” ref
“The Roman ritual of evocatio was premised on the belief that a town could be made vulnerable to military defeat if the power of its tutelary deity were diverted outside the city, perhaps by the offer of superior cult at Rome. The depiction of some goddesses such as the Magna Mater (Great Mother, or Cybele) as “tower-crowned” represents their capacity to preserve the city. A town in the provinces might adopt a deity from within the Roman religious sphere to serve as its guardian, or syncretize its own tutelary with such; for instance, a community within the civitas of the Remi in Gaul adopted Apollo as its tutelary, and at the capital of the Remi (present-day Rheims), the tutelary was Mars Camulus.” ref
Household deity (a kind of or related to a Tutelary deity)
“A household deity is a deity or spirit that protects the home, looking after the entire household or certain key members. It has been a common belief in paganism as well as in folklore across many parts of the world. Household deities fit into two types; firstly, a specific deity – typically a goddess – often referred to as a hearth goddess or domestic goddess who is associated with the home and hearth, such as the ancient Greek Hestia.” ref
“The second type of household deities are those that are not one singular deity, but a type, or species of animistic deity, who usually have lesser powers than major deities. This type was common in the religions of antiquity, such as the Lares of ancient Roman religion, the Gashin of Korean shamanism, and Cofgodas of Anglo-Saxon paganism. These survived Christianisation as fairy-like creatures existing in folklore, such as the Anglo-Scottish Brownie and Slavic Domovoy.” ref
“Household deities were usually worshipped not in temples but in the home, where they would be represented by small idols (such as the teraphim of the Bible, often translated as “household gods” in Genesis 31:19 for example), amulets, paintings, or reliefs. They could also be found on domestic objects, such as cosmetic articles in the case of Tawaret. The more prosperous houses might have a small shrine to the household god(s); the lararium served this purpose in the case of the Romans. The gods would be treated as members of the family and invited to join in meals, or be given offerings of food and drink.” ref
“In many religions, both ancient and modern, a god would preside over the home. Certain species, or types, of household deities, existed. An example of this was the Roman Lares. Many European cultures retained house spirits into the modern period. Some examples of these include:
- Brownie (Scotland and England) or Hob (England) / Kobold (Germany) / Goblin / Hobgoblin
- Domovoy (Slavic)
- Nisse (Norwegian or Danish) / Tomte (Swedish) / Tonttu (Finnish)
- Húsvættir (Norse)” ref
“Although the cosmic status of household deities was not as lofty as that of the Twelve Olympians or the Aesir, they were also jealous of their dignity and also had to be appeased with shrines and offerings, however humble. Because of their immediacy they had arguably more influence on the day-to-day affairs of men than the remote gods did. Vestiges of their worship persisted long after Christianity and other major religions extirpated nearly every trace of the major pagan pantheons. Elements of the practice can be seen even today, with Christian accretions, where statues to various saints (such as St. Francis) protect gardens and grottos. Even the gargoyles found on older churches, could be viewed as guardians partitioning a sacred space.” ref
“For centuries, Christianity fought a mop-up war against these lingering minor pagan deities, but they proved tenacious. For example, Martin Luther‘s Tischreden have numerous – quite serious – references to dealing with kobolds. Eventually, rationalism and the Industrial Revolution threatened to erase most of these minor deities, until the advent of romantic nationalism rehabilitated them and embellished them into objects of literary curiosity in the 19th century. Since the 20th century this literature has been mined for characters for role-playing games, video games, and other fantasy personae, not infrequently invested with invented traits and hierarchies somewhat different from their mythological and folkloric roots.” ref
“In contradistinction to both Herbert Spencer and Edward Burnett Tylor, who defended theories of animistic origins of ancestor worship, Émile Durkheim saw its origin in totemism. In reality, this distinction is somewhat academic, since totemism may be regarded as a particularized manifestation of animism, and something of a synthesis of the two positions was attempted by Sigmund Freud. In Freud’s Totem and Taboo, both totem and taboo are outward expressions or manifestations of the same psychological tendency, a concept which is complementary to, or which rather reconciles, the apparent conflict. Freud preferred to emphasize the psychoanalytic implications of the reification of metaphysical forces, but with particular emphasis on its familial nature. This emphasis underscores, rather than weakens, the ancestral component.” ref
“William Edward Hearn, a noted classicist, and jurist, traced the origin of domestic deities from the earliest stages as an expression of animism, a belief system thought to have existed also in the neolithic, and the forerunner of Indo-European religion. In his analysis of the Indo-European household, in Chapter II “The House Spirit”, Section 1, he states:
The belief which guided the conduct of our forefathers was … the spirit rule of dead ancestors.” ref
“In Section 2 he proceeds to elaborate:
It is thus certain that the worship of deceased ancestors is a vera causa, and not a mere hypothesis. …
In the other European nations, the Slavs, the Teutons, and the Kelts, the House Spirit appears with no less distinctness. … [T]he existence of that worship does not admit of doubt. … The House Spirits had a multitude of other names which it is needless here to enumerate, but all of which are more or less expressive of their friendly relations with man. … In [England] … [h]e is the Brownie. … In Scotland this same Brownie is well known. He is usually described as attached to particular families, with whom he has been known to reside for centuries, threshing the corn, cleaning the house, and performing similar household tasks. His favorite gratification was milk and honey.” ref
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“These ideas are my speculations from the evidence.”
I am still researching the “god‘s origins” all over the world. So you know, it is very complicated but I am smart and willing to look, DEEP, if necessary, which going very deep does seem to be needed here, when trying to actually understand the evolution of gods and goddesses. I am sure of a few things and less sure of others, but even in stuff I am not fully grasping I still am slowly figuring it out, to explain it to others. But as I research more I am understanding things a little better, though I am still working on understanding it all or something close and thus always figuring out more.
Sky Father/Sky God?
“Egyptian: (Nut) Sky Mother and (Geb) Earth Father” (Egypt is different but similar)
Turkic/Mongolic: (Tengri/Tenger Etseg) Sky Father and (Eje/Gazar Eej) Earth Mother *Transeurasian*
Hawaiian: (Wākea) Sky Father and (Papahānaumoku) Earth Mother *Austronesian*
New Zealand/ Māori: (Ranginui) Sky Father and (Papatūānuku) Earth Mother *Austronesian*
Proto-Indo-European: (Dyḗus/Dyḗus ph₂tḗr) Sky Father and (Dʰéǵʰōm/Pleth₂wih₁) Earth Mother
Indo-Aryan: (Dyaus Pita) Sky Father and (Prithvi Mata) Earth Mother *Indo-European*
Italic: (Jupiter) Sky Father and (Juno) Sky Mother *Indo-European*
Etruscan: (Tinia) Sky Father and (Uni) Sky Mother *Tyrsenian/Italy Pre–Indo-European*
Hellenic/Greek: (Zeus) Sky Father and (Hera) Sky Mother who started as an “Earth Goddess” *Indo-European*
Nordic: (Dagr) Sky Father and (Nótt) Sky Mother *Indo-European*
Slavic: (Perun) Sky Father and (Mokosh) Earth Mother *Indo-European*
Illyrian: (Deipaturos) Sky Father and (Messapic Damatura’s “earth-mother” maybe) Earth Mother *Indo-European*
Albanian: (Zojz) Sky Father and (?) *Indo-European*
Baltic: (Perkūnas) Sky Father and (Saulė) Sky Mother *Indo-European*
Germanic: (Týr) Sky Father and (?) *Indo-European*
Colombian-Muisca: (Bochica) Sky Father and (Huythaca) Sky Mother *Chibchan*
Aztec: (Quetzalcoatl) Sky Father and (Xochiquetzal) Sky Mother *Uto-Aztecan*
Incan: (Viracocha) Sky Father and (Mama Runtucaya) Sky Mother *Quechuan*
China: (Tian/Shangdi) Sky Father and (Dì) Earth Mother *Sino-Tibetan*
Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian: (An/Anu) Sky Father and (Ki) Earth Mother
Finnish: (Ukko) Sky Father and (Akka) Earth Mother *Finno-Ugric*
Sami: (Horagalles) Sky Father and (Ravdna) Earth Mother *Finno-Ugric*
Puebloan-Zuni: (Ápoyan Ta’chu) Sky Father and (Áwitelin Tsíta) Earth Mother
Puebloan-Hopi: (Tawa) Sky Father and (Kokyangwuti/Spider Woman/Grandmother) Earth Mother *Uto-Aztecan*
Puebloan-Navajo: (Tsohanoai) Sky Father and (Estsanatlehi) Earth Mother *Na-Dene*
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Hinduism around 3,700 to 3,500 years old. ref
Judaism around 3,450 or 3,250 years old. (The first writing in the bible was “Paleo-Hebrew” dated to around 3,000 years ago Khirbet Qeiyafa is the site of an ancient fortress city overlooking the Elah Valley. And many believe the religious Jewish texts were completed around 2,500) ref, ref
Judaism is around 3,450 or 3,250 years old. (“Paleo-Hebrew” 3,000 years ago and Torah 2,500 years ago)
“Judaism is an Abrahamic, its roots as an organized religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Some scholars argue that modern Judaism evolved from Yahwism, the religion of ancient Israel and Judah, by the late 6th century BCE, and is thus considered to be one of the oldest monotheistic religions.” ref
“Yahwism is the name given by modern scholars to the religion of ancient Israel, essentially polytheistic, with a plethora of gods and goddesses. Heading the pantheon was Yahweh, the national god of the Israelite kingdoms of Israel and Judah, with his consort, the goddess Asherah; below them were second-tier gods and goddesses such as Baal, Shamash, Yarikh, Mot, and Astarte, all of whom had their own priests and prophets and numbered royalty among their devotees, and a third and fourth tier of minor divine beings, including the mal’ak, the messengers of the higher gods, who in later times became the angels of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Yahweh, however, was not the ‘original’ god of Israel “Isra-El”; it is El, the head of the Canaanite pantheon, whose name forms the basis of the name “Israel”, and none of the Old Testament patriarchs, the tribes of Israel, the Judges, or the earliest monarchs, have a Yahwistic theophoric name (i.e., one incorporating the name of Yahweh).” ref
“El is a Northwest Semitic word meaning “god” or “deity“, or referring (as a proper name) to any one of multiple major ancient Near Eastern deities. A rarer form, ‘ila, represents the predicate form in Old Akkadian and in Amorite. The word is derived from the Proto-Semitic *ʔil-, meaning “god”. Specific deities known as ‘El or ‘Il include the supreme god of the ancient Canaanite religion and the supreme god of East Semitic speakers in Mesopotamia’s Early Dynastic Period. ʼĒl is listed at the head of many pantheons. In some Canaanite and Ugaritic sources, ʼĒl played a role as father of the gods, of creation, or both. For example, in the Ugaritic texts, ʾil mlk is understood to mean “ʼĒl the King” but ʾil hd as “the god Hadad“. The Semitic root ʾlh (Arabic ʾilāh, Aramaic ʾAlāh, ʾElāh, Hebrew ʾelōah) may be ʾl with a parasitic h, and ʾl may be an abbreviated form of ʾlh. In Ugaritic the plural form meaning “gods” is ʾilhm, equivalent to Hebrew ʾelōhîm “powers”. In the Hebrew texts this word is interpreted as being semantically singular for “god” by biblical commentators. However the documentary hypothesis for the Old Testament (corresponds to the Jewish Torah) developed originally in the 1870s, identifies these that different authors – the Jahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, and the Priestly source – were responsible for editing stories from a polytheistic religion into those of a monotheistic religion. Inconsistencies that arise between monotheism and polytheism in the texts are reflective of this hypothesis.” ref
Jainism around 2,599 – 2,527 years old. ref
Confucianism around 2,600 – 2,551 years old. ref
Buddhism around 2,563/2,480 – 2,483/2,400 years old. ref
Christianity around 2,o00 years old. ref
Shinto around 1,305 years old. ref
Islam around 1407–1385 years old. ref
Knowledge to Ponder:
Stars/Astrology:
- Possibly, around 30,000 years ago (in simpler form) to 6,000 years ago, Stars/Astrology are connected to Ancestors, Spirit Animals, and Deities.
- The star also seems to be a possible proto-star for Star of Ishtar, Star of Inanna, or Star of Venus.
- Around 7,000 to 6,000 years ago, Star Constellations/Astrology have connections to the “Kurgan phenomenon” of below-ground “mound” stone/wood burial structures and “Dolmen phenomenon” of above-ground stone burial structures.
- Around 6,500–5,800 years ago, The Northern Levant migrations into Jordon and Israel in the Southern Levant brought new cultural and religious transfer from Turkey and Iran.
- “The Ghassulian Star,” a mysterious 6,000-year-old mural from Jordan may have connections to the European paganstic kurgan/dolmens phenomenon.
“Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Different cultures have employed forms of astrology since at least the 2nd millennium BCE, these practices having originated in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications. Most, if not all, cultures have attached importance to what they observed in the sky, and some—such as the Hindus, Chinese, and the Maya—developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. Western astrology, one of the oldest astrological systems still in use, can trace its roots to 19th–17th century BCE Mesopotamia, from where it spread to Ancient Greece, Rome, the Islamicate world and eventually Central and Western Europe. Contemporary Western astrology is often associated with systems of horoscopes that purport to explain aspects of a person’s personality and predict significant events in their lives based on the positions of celestial objects; the majority of professional astrologers rely on such systems.” ref
Around 5,500 years ago, Science evolves, The first evidence of science was 5,500 years ago and was demonstrated by a body of empirical, theoretical, and practical knowledge about the natural world. ref
Around 5,000 years ago, Origin of Logics is a Naturalistic Observation (principles of valid reasoning, inference, & demonstration) ref
Around 4,150 to 4,000 years ago: The earliest surviving versions of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, which was originally titled “He who Saw the Deep” (Sha naqba īmuru) or “Surpassing All Other Kings” (Shūtur eli sharrī) were written. ref
Hinduism:
- 3,700 years ago or so, the oldest of the Hindu Vedas (scriptures), the Rig Veda was composed.
- 3,500 years ago or so, the Vedic Age began in India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization.
Judaism:
- around 3,000 years ago, the first writing in the bible was “Paleo-Hebrew”
- around 2,500 years ago, many believe the religious Jewish texts were completed
Myths: The bible inspired religion is not just one religion or one myth but a grouping of several religions and myths
- Around 3,450 or 3,250 years ago, according to legend, is the traditionally accepted period in which the Israelite lawgiver, Moses, provided the Ten Commandments.
- Around 2,500 to 2,400 years ago, a collection of ancient religious writings by the Israelites based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh, or Old Testament is the first part of Christianity’s bible.
- Around 2,400 years ago, the most accepted hypothesis is that the canon was formed in stages, first the Pentateuch (Torah).
- Around 2,140 to 2,116 years ago, the Prophets was written during the Hasmonean dynasty, and finally the remaining books.
- Christians traditionally divide the Old Testament into four sections:
- The first five books or Pentateuch (Torah).
- The proposed history books telling the history of the Israelites from their conquest of Canaan to their defeat and exile in Babylon.
- The poetic and proposed “Wisdom books” dealing, in various forms, with questions of good and evil in the world.
- The books of the biblical prophets, warning of the consequences of turning away from God:
- Henotheism:
- Exodus 20:23 “You shall not make other gods besides Me (not saying there are no other gods just not to worship them); gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves.”
- Polytheism:
- Judges 10:6 “Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.”
- 1 Corinthians 8:5 “For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords.”
- Monotheism:
- Isaiah 43:10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.
Around 2,570 to 2,270 Years Ago, there is a confirmation of atheistic doubting as well as atheistic thinking, mainly by Greek philosophers. However, doubting gods is likely as old as the invention of gods and should destroy the thinking that belief in god(s) is the “default belief”. The Greek word is apistos (a “not” and pistos “faithful,”), thus not faithful or faithless because one is unpersuaded and unconvinced by a god(s) claim. Short Definition: unbelieving, unbeliever, or unbelief.
Expressions of Atheistic Thinking:
- Around 2,600 years ago, Ajita Kesakambali, ancient Indian philosopher, who is the first known proponent of Indian materialism. ref
- Around 2,535 to 2,475 years ago, Heraclitus, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher, a native of the Greek city Ephesus, Ionia, on the coast of Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor or modern Turkey. ref
- Around 2,500 to 2,400 years ago, according to The Story of Civilization book series certain African pygmy tribes have no identifiable gods, spirits, or religious beliefs or rituals, and even what burials accrue are without ceremony. ref
- Around 2,490 to 2,430 years ago, Empedocles, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of Agrigentum, a Greek city in Sicily. ref
- Around 2,460 to 2,370 years ago, Democritus, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher considered to be the “father of modern science” possibly had some disbelief amounting to atheism. ref
- Around 2,399 years ago or so, Socrates, a famous Greek philosopher was tried for sinfulness by teaching doubt of state gods. ref
- Around 2,341 to 2,270 years ago, Epicurus, a Greek philosopher known for composing atheistic critics and famously stated, “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him god?” ref
This last expression by Epicurus, seems to be an expression of Axiological Atheism. To understand and utilize value or actually possess “Value Conscious/Consciousness” to both give a strong moral “axiological” argument (the problem of evil) as well as use it to fortify humanism and positive ethical persuasion of human helping and care responsibilities. Because value-blindness gives rise to sociopathic/psychopathic evil.
“Theists, there has to be a god, as something can not come from nothing.”
Well, thus something (unknown) happened and then there was something. This does not tell us what the something that may have been involved with something coming from nothing. A supposed first cause, thus something (unknown) happened and then there was something is not an open invitation to claim it as known, neither is it justified to call or label such an unknown as anything, especially an unsubstantiated magical thinking belief born of mythology and religious storytelling.
While hallucinogens are associated with shamanism, it is alcohol that is associated with paganism.
The Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries Shows in the prehistory series:
Show two: Pre-animism 300,000 years old and animism 100,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show tree: Totemism 50,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show four: Shamanism 30,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show five: Paganism 12,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”
Show six: Emergence of hierarchy, sexism, slavery, and the new male god dominance: Paganism 7,000-5,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Capitalism) (World War 0) Elite and their slaves!
Prehistory: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” the division of labor, power, rights, and recourses: VIDEO
Pre-animism 300,000 years old and animism 100,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO
Totemism 50,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO
Shamanism 30,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO
Paganism 12,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Pre-Capitalism): VIDEO
Paganism 7,000-5,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Capitalism) (World War 0) Elite and their slaves: VIEDO
Paganism 5,000 years old: progressed organized religion and the state: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Kings and the Rise of the State): VIEDO
Paganism 4,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (First Moralistic gods, then the Origin time of Monotheism): VIEDO
I do not hate simply because I challenge and expose myths or lies any more than others being thought of as loving simply because of the protection and hiding from challenge their favored myths or lies.
The truth is best championed in the sunlight of challenge.
An archaeologist once said to me “Damien religion and culture are very different”
My response, So are you saying that was always that way, such as would you say Native Americans’ cultures are separate from their religions? And do you think it always was the way you believe?
I had said that religion was a cultural product. That is still how I see it and there are other archaeologists that think close to me as well. Gods too are the myths of cultures that did not understand science or the world around them, seeing magic/supernatural everywhere.
I personally think there is a goddess and not enough evidence to support a male god at Çatalhöyük but if there was both a male and female god and goddess then I know the kind of gods they were like Proto-Indo-European mythology.
This series idea was addressed in, Anarchist Teaching as Free Public Education or Free Education in the Public: VIDEO
Our 12 video series: Organized Oppression: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of power (9,000-4,000 years ago), is adapted from: The Complete and Concise History of the Sumerians and Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia (7000-2000 BC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szFjxmY7jQA by “History with Cy“
Show #1: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Samarra, Halaf, Ubaid)
Show #2: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power
Show #3: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Uruk and the First Cities)
Show #4: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (First Kings)
Show #5: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Early Dynastic Period)
Show #6: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power
Show #7: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Sargon and Akkadian Rule)
Show #9: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Gudea of Lagash and Utu-hegal)
Show #12: Mesopotamian State Force and the Politics of Power (Aftermath and Legacy of Sumer)
The “Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries”
Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ Atheist Leftist @Skepticallefty & I (Damien Marie AtHope) @AthopeMarie (my YouTube & related blog) are working jointly in atheist, antitheist, antireligionist, antifascist, anarchist, socialist, and humanist endeavors in our videos together, generally, every other Saturday.
Why Does Power Bring Responsibility?
Think, how often is it the powerless that start wars, oppress others, or commit genocide? So, I guess the question is to us all, to ask, how can power not carry responsibility in a humanity concept? I know I see the deep ethical responsibility that if there is power their must be a humanistic responsibility of ethical and empathic stewardship of that power. Will I be brave enough to be kind? Will I possess enough courage to be compassionate? Will my valor reach its height of empathy? I as everyone, earns our justified respect by our actions, that are good, ethical, just, protecting, and kind. Do I have enough self-respect to put my love for humanity’s flushing, over being brought down by some of its bad actors? May we all be the ones doing good actions in the world, to help human flourishing.
I create the world I want to live in, striving for flourishing. Which is not a place but a positive potential involvement and promotion; a life of humanist goal precision. To master oneself, also means mastering positive prosocial behaviors needed for human flourishing. I may have lost a god myth as an atheist, but I am happy to tell you, my friend, it is exactly because of that, leaving the mental terrorizer, god belief, that I truly regained my connected ethical as well as kind humanity.
Cory and I will talk about prehistory and theism, addressing the relevance to atheism, anarchism, and socialism.
At the same time as the rise of the male god, 7,000 years ago, there was also the very time there was the rise of violence, war, and clans to kingdoms, then empires, then states. It is all connected back to 7,000 years ago, and it moved across the world.
Cory Johnston: https://damienmarieathope.com/2021/04/cory-johnston-mind-of-a-skeptical-leftist/?v=32aec8db952d
The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist (YouTube)
Cory Johnston: Mind of a Skeptical Leftist @Skepticallefty
The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist By Cory Johnston: “Promoting critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics by covering current events and talking to a variety of people. Cory Johnston has been thoughtfully talking to people and attempting to promote critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics.” http://anchor.fm/skepticalleft
Cory needs our support. We rise by helping each other.
Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ @Skepticallefty Evidence-based atheist leftist (he/him) Producer, host, and co-host of 4 podcasts @skeptarchy @skpoliticspod and @AthopeMarie
Damien Marie AtHope (“At Hope”) Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist. Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Poet, Philosopher, Advocate, Activist, Psychology, and Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Historian.
Damien is interested in: Freedom, Liberty, Justice, Equality, Ethics, Humanism, Science, Atheism, Antiteism, Antireligionism, Ignosticism, Left-Libertarianism, Anarchism, Socialism, Mutualism, Axiology, Metaphysics, LGBTQI, Philosophy, Advocacy, Activism, Mental Health, Psychology, Archaeology, Social Work, Sexual Rights, Marriage Rights, Woman’s Rights, Gender Rights, Child Rights, Secular Rights, Race Equality, Ageism/Disability Equality, Etc. And a far-leftist, “Anarcho-Humanist.”
I am not a good fit in the atheist movement that is mostly pro-capitalist, I am anti-capitalist. Mostly pro-skeptic, I am a rationalist not valuing skepticism. Mostly pro-agnostic, I am anti-agnostic. Mostly limited to anti-Abrahamic religions, I am an anti-religionist.
To me, the “male god” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 7,000 years ago, whereas the now favored monotheism “male god” is more like 4,000 years ago or so. To me, the “female goddess” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 11,000-10,000 years ago or so, losing the majority of its once prominence around 2,000 years ago due largely to the now favored monotheism “male god” that grow in prominence after 4,000 years ago or so.
My Thought on the Evolution of Gods?
Animal protector deities from old totems/spirit animal beliefs come first to me, 13,000/12,000 years ago, then women as deities 11,000/10,000 years ago, then male gods around 7,000/8,000 years ago. Moralistic gods around 5,000/4,000 years ago, and monotheistic gods around 4,000/3,000 years ago.
To me, animal gods were likely first related to totemism animals around 13,000 to 12,000 years ago or older. Female as goddesses was next to me, 11,000 to 10,000 years ago or so with the emergence of agriculture. Then male gods come about 8,000 to 7,000 years ago with clan wars. Many monotheism-themed religions started in henotheism, emerging out of polytheism/paganism.
Damien Marie AtHope (Said as “At” “Hope”)/(Autodidact Polymath but not good at math):
Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist, Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Jeweler, Poet, “autodidact” Philosopher, schooled in Psychology, and “autodidact” Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Pre-Historian (Knowledgeable in the range of: 1 million to 5,000/4,000 years ago). I am an anarchist socialist politically. Reasons for or Types of Atheism
My Website, My Blog, & Short-writing or Quotes, My YouTube, Twitter: @AthopeMarie, and My Email: damien.marie.athope@gmail.com