The vast and barren Sahara Desert was once a thriving green savannah, home to an ancient and isolated human lineage, according to new genetic research.
Between 14,500 and 5,000 years ago, what is now an arid expanse stretching across 11 countries was a fertile landscape dotted with lakes and rivers. DNA recovered from two individuals buried at the Takarkori rock shelter in southwestern Libya—naturally mummified around 7,000 years ago—reveals they belonged to a distinct human lineage, genetically separate from both sub-Saharan Africans and Eurasian populations.
The study, published this week in Nature, marks the first genetic analysis of people from the “Green Sahara” era. “Takarkori was once a lush savannah with a nearby lake, completely different from today’s desert,” said Johannes Krause, an archaeogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and one of the study’s authors.
Despite practicing animal husbandry—a cultural innovation that originated outside Africa—the Takarkori people remained genetically isolated. Their ancestors are believed to have separated from sub-Saharan populations around 50,000 years ago, coinciding with the migration of humans out of Africa. While later waves of migration brought new genetic influences to North Africa from the Eastern Mediterranean, Iberia, and Sicily, the Takarkori lineage persisted in isolation for much longer than expected.
Archaeological finds at the site include tools made from stone, wood, and bone, as well as pottery, woven baskets, and figurines, indicating a developed pastoralist society. Yet their genetic heritage remained largely untouched by outside populations.
By around 5,000 years ago, as the African Humid Period ended, the Sahara reverted to a desert, forcing its inhabitants to move or perish. While the Takarkori people themselves disappeared, traces of their lineage remain in modern North African populations, offering a glimpse into a long-lost chapter of human history.
