THE WORLD ATLAS

Archaeological culture · c. 7700–2500 BCE (herding from c. 6000 BCE)

Green Sahara hunter-fishers and herders

During the African Humid Period the Sahara had lakes, grassland and wildlife. Hunter-fishers such as the Kiffian people of Gobero lived by lakes, and from about 6000 BCE herders spread cattle, sheep and goats across the region, as the rock art of Tassili n'Ajjer shows.

As the rains failed between about 4000 and 3000 BCE, the Sahara dried out and people moved away or adapted.

See Green Sahara hunter-fishers and herders on the map in 7700 BCE

On the map
7700–2500 BCE

How we know

No writing existed; known from campsites, burials, animal bones and rock art, dated by radiocarbon; rock art itself is hard to date.

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