At the end of the last Ice Age, the Sahara Desert was very dry, and it is the same today. But between those two periods of extreme dryness were a few millennia of rainfall and vegetation.
During these few thousand years, humans abandoned the Nile Valley and put establishments around rain pools, green valleys, and rivers.
About 12,000 years ago, the only place to live was the Nile River. Being so crowded, real estate in the Nile Valley was difficult to come across. Disputes over land were resolved with a fight, as proven by the cemetery of Jebel Sahaba where many of the buried individuals had died a tragic death.
But around 10,500 years ago, a pour of monsoon rains over the desert altered the region into livable land.
This opened up for humans to move into the area, as proven by the researcher's 500 new radiocarbon dates of human and animal remains from more than 150 excavation sites.
"The climate change at [10,500 years ago] which turned most of the [3.8 million square mile] large Sahara into a savannah-type environment happened within a few hundred years only, within less than 500 years," said study team member Stefan Kroepelin of the University of Cologne in Germany.
In the Egyptian Sahara, semi-arid conditions permitted for grasses and shrubs to grow, with some trees growing in valleys and near groundwater sources. The vegetation and small, rain pools lured animals well adapted to dry conditions, such as giraffes, to enter the area as well.
Humans also pranced in the rain pools, as predicted in rock art from Southwest Egypt.
In the more southern Sudanese Sahara, lush vegetation, trees, and freshwater lakes persisted over millennia. There were even large rivers, such as the Wadi Howar, once the largest tributary to the Nile from the Sahara.
22,000 to 10,500 years ago: The Sahara was devoid of any human occupation outside the Nile Valley and extended 250 miles further south than it does today.
During these few thousand years, humans abandoned the Nile Valley and put establishments around rain pools, green valleys, and rivers.
About 12,000 years ago, the only place to live was the Nile River. Being so crowded, real estate in the Nile Valley was difficult to come across. Disputes over land were resolved with a fight, as proven by the cemetery of Jebel Sahaba where many of the buried individuals had died a tragic death.
But around 10,500 years ago, a pour of monsoon rains over the desert altered the region into livable land.
This opened up for humans to move into the area, as proven by the researcher's 500 new radiocarbon dates of human and animal remains from more than 150 excavation sites.
"The climate change at [10,500 years ago] which turned most of the [3.8 million square mile] large Sahara into a savannah-type environment happened within a few hundred years only, within less than 500 years," said study team member Stefan Kroepelin of the University of Cologne in Germany.
In the Egyptian Sahara, semi-arid conditions permitted for grasses and shrubs to grow, with some trees growing in valleys and near groundwater sources. The vegetation and small, rain pools lured animals well adapted to dry conditions, such as giraffes, to enter the area as well.
Humans also pranced in the rain pools, as predicted in rock art from Southwest Egypt.
In the more southern Sudanese Sahara, lush vegetation, trees, and freshwater lakes persisted over millennia. There were even large rivers, such as the Wadi Howar, once the largest tributary to the Nile from the Sahara.
22,000 to 10,500 years ago: The Sahara was devoid of any human occupation outside the Nile Valley and extended 250 miles further south than it does today.
- 10,500 to 9,000 years ago: Monsoon rains begin crawling into the Sahara, changing the region into a habitable area settled by Nile Valley dwellers.
- 9,000 to 7,300 years ago: Continued rains, vegetation growth, and animal migrations lead to well established human settlements, including the establishment of domesticated livestock such as sheep and goats.
- 7,300 to 5,500 years ago: Retreating monsoonal rains initiate taking the moisture out in the Egyptian Sahara, prompting humans to move to remaining habitable niches in Sudanese Sahara. The end of the rains and return of desert conditions throughout the Sahara after 5,500 agrees with population return to the Nile Valley and the beginning of pharaonic society.
http://www.livescience.com/4180-sahara-desert-lush-populated.html
PHOTO: from weebly website
PHOTO: from weebly website