Sunday, August 17, 2008

Ancient Sahara Graveyard Hints at Once-Green Desert

The part that struck me was the size of the first group. Kind of reminds me when in the Old Testament it speaks of giants in the land. Interesting.

Ancient Sahara Graveyard Hints at Once-Green Desert
A tiny woman and two children were laid to rest on a bed of flowers 5,000 years ago in what is now the barren Sahara Desert.Some 200 graves of humans were found during fieldwork at the site in 2005 and 2006, as well as remains of animals, large fish and crocodiles...

Some 200 graves of humans
were found during fieldwork at the site in 2005 and 2006, as well as
remains of animals, large fish and crocodiles.





"Everywhere
you turned, there were bones belonging to animals that don't live in
the desert," said Sereno. "I realized we were in the green Sahara."...

The first group, known as the Kiffian, hunted wild animals and speared huge perch with harpoons. They colonized the region when the Sahara was at its wettest, between 10,000 and 8,000 years ago.

The researchers said the Kiffians were tall, sometimes reaching well over 6 feet.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonder if they also found ancient Egyptian writing moaning about the Sahara someday becoming a vast desert?

Ron Ballew said...

Heh.