5000 years ago, the Sahara was an oasis. The skeletons of a woman and her two children, who died about 5,000 years ago, were found in the barren Sahara Desert
The remarkable find provides a clue to the life of civilizations that lived on the territory of what is now Sahara thousands of years ago, when the region was wet and green.
Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago and colleagues were searching for dinosaur remains in the African country of Nigeria when they stumbled upon stunning search results.
Nearly 200 human graves were discovered during fieldwork at the site in 2005 and 2006, as well as remains of animals, large fish and crocodiles.
“There were bones everywhere that belonged to animals that couldn't live in the desert,” says Sereno. "I realized that we were in the 'green' Sahara."
The remains found belonged to two separate populations that lived there during the "wet" period as well as the "dry" one.
The first group, known as the Kiffian, hunted wild animals and caught huge bass with harpoons. They colonized the region when the Sahara was still full of water, about 10,000 and 8,000 years ago.
The second group lived in the region between 7000-4500 years ago. The Tenerites were small and engaged in hunting, fishing and grazing.
Jewelry or ritual items were often found in their graves. For example, one of the girls had a bracelet made of carved mammoth ivory on her arm.