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Ancient rains made Sahara livable Bruce Bower. Science News. Washington: Aug 5, 2006. Vol.170, Iss. 6; pg. 93, 1 pgs
Abstract (Document Summary)
A new investigation suggests that between 10,500 and 7,300 years ago, monsoon rains transformed the Sahara desert into a lush magnet for people. A gradual decline in rainfall and water sources from 7,300 to 5,500 years ago pushed Sahara residents into a few still-verdant outposts, say Rudolph Kuper and Stefan Kropelin, both of the University of Cologne in Germany. This population shift contributed to the rise of Egyptian civilization by around 5,000 years ago, the researchers propose in an upcoming Science.
Full Text (243 words) Copyright Science Service, Incorporated Aug 5, 2006[Headnote] ARCHAEOLOGY
Today, no one lives in the parched eastern Sahara desert of Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and Chad. But between 10,500 and 7,300 years ago, monsoon rains transformed this region into a lush magnet for people, a new investigation suggests.
A gradual decline in rainfall and water sources from 7,300 to 5,500 years ago pushed Sahara residents into a few still-verdant outposts, say Rudolph Kuper and Stefan Kröpelin, both of the University of Cologne in Germany. This population shift contributed to the rise of Egyptian civilization by around 5,000 years ago, the researchers propose in an upcoming Science.
To study climate and population changes in the region, Kuper and Kröpelin combined their own radiocarbon dates for 150 ancient Sahara settlements with independently obtained age estimates for other prehistoric sites in the region.
Data from ancient lakebeds and streams indicate that monsoon rains began abruptly around 10,500 years ago, the researchers say. Foraging groups then streamed into the savannalike eastern Sahara. At that time, Egypt's Nile valley consisted of uninhabitable marshes.
By around 7,000 years ago, however, declining Sahara rainfall and water sources sparked an exodus of mobile foragers to the Nile valley, where dried-up marshes gave way to farming villages along the Nile River, the scientists say. -BB.
[Sidebar] GREEN NO MORE New evidence indicates that regular rain in the eastern Sahara, which now includes Egypt's Great Sand Sea shown here, made the landscape more welcoming to people 7,000 years ago than it is today.
Posts: 2595 | From: Vicksburg | Registered: Feb 2006
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No Sahara desert, no Egyptian dynasty Emma Young. New Scientist. London: Jul 29-Aug 4, 2006. Vol.191, Iss. 2562; pg. 16, 1 pgs
Abstract (Document Summary)
Monsoon rain, or rather the lack of it, precipitated the rise of great civilizations in what is now the Sahara desert. Since prehistoric times people have been following the shifting monsoon rains around the Sahara, a practice that triggered the herding of livestock and even the development of the great pharaonic dynasties, say researchers who have re-examined archaeological sites across the region.
Full Text (498 words) Copyright Reed Business Information UK Jul 29-Aug 4, 2006 MONSOON rain, or rather the lack of it, precipitated the rise of great civilisations in what is now the Sahara desert.
Since prehistoric times people have been following the shifting monsoon rains around the Sahara, a practice that triggered the herding of livestock and even the development of the great pharaonic dynasties, say researchers who have re-examined archaeological sites across the region.
Rudolph Kuperand Stefan Kröpelin of the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Cologne, Germany, studied geological and ecological data for clues to patterns of past rainfall. They also examined radiocarbon dates of dwellings and artefacts from 150 archaeological sites stretching from the far north of the eastern Sahara to the south, which allowed them to identify four main phases of human occupation of the desert (Science, DOl: 10.1126/science.1130989).
Starting around 8500 BC, and continuing over the next few centuries, the lower boundary of the desert shifted about 800 kilometres north, bringing monsoon rains to barren lands. People living in the south followed the rains north, rapidly occupying the entire eastern Sahara. For about the next 3000 years, the climate was relatively stable. During this time, human settlements became well established, and people began to keep livestock.
Then, around 5300 BC, monsoons failed to reach the Egyptian Sahara. People began to retreat, along with their cattle, into places such as the banks of the Nile where there was still enough rainfall and surface water to meet their needs. "We are convinced that the emergence of the pharaonic civilisation in the Nile Valley in about 3500 BC was not coincidental - but triggered by the onset of full desert conditions in most of Egypt outside the Nile valley and a few oases," Kropelin says.
Finally, between 3500 and 1500 BC, lack of rain drove people to maintain permanent settlements in the south of the region only. This exodus introduced the Neolithic way of life into sub-Saharan Africa, including pastoralism - and even today keeping livestock is one of the most important African economies. Emma Young
Posts: 2595 | From: Vicksburg | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:People living in the south followed the rains north, rapidly occupying the entire eastern Sahara.
Of relevance to several current threads on Nile Valley Civilisation, Berber, Afrisan language phylum, etc..
Posts: 15202 | Registered: Jun 2004
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X-Ras, that theory by Emma Young of how the dessication of the Sahara compelled the people to move into the Nile Valley and formulate a more complex culture is the same theory espoused by a number of scholars including Marq de Villiers in his books about African history and the Sahara.
Posts: 26258 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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