Prehistoric people used to live in the Sahara desert

Prehistoric people once wandered through the world's largest desert - the Sahara desert - for about 5,000 years, archaeologists discovered.

The eastern part of Sahara has the same area as Western Europe (Photo: BBC)

The eastern Sahara part of Egypt, Sudan, Libya and Chad were once inhabited by nomads - who followed the rain from this desert to the pasture. After this place became arid 7,000 years ago, there was a massive migration to the Nile and other parts of Africa.

In Science , scientists say the relationship between climate and settlement of old people is a lesson for today.

'Current conflicts like at Dafur due to environmental degradation have been in the past,' said Dr. Stefan Kropelin at the University of Cologne, Germany. 'The struggle for food, water and grassland is still a big problem in the Sahara region today. This process began thousands of years ago and has a long tradition. '

East of the Sahara - with an area of ​​more than 2 million square kilometers, equivalent to Western Europe and now an area with almost no people or animals - has provided archaeologists with a view of the past.

Dr. Kropelin and his colleague Dr. Rudolph Kuper collected 10,000-year-old specimens of the ancients, studying more than 100 archaeological sites for more than 30 years (this is considered the largest study on question This issue) and has discovered the Sahara used to be a humid, inhabited area .

About 13,000-14,000 years ago, the Sahara was very dry. But the dramatic change of the environment 10,500 years ago brought rain and climate similar to the monsoon. Prehistoric people from the south began to migrate down and live near rivers and lakes. They hunt, play and play together.

When the Sahara suddenly dried up, prehistoric people gradually migrated to the Nile valley and elsewhere. According to Kuper, the later subgroup and language division originated in the arid state of the Sahara.'The change of environment is the engine of evolution in Africa , ' he said.

T.VY