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Published Online July 20, 2006
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1130989

Research Articles

Submitted on June 7, 2006
Accepted on July 12, 2006

Climate-Controlled Holocene Occupation in the Sahara: Motor of Africa's Evolution

Rudolph Kuper 1 and Stefan Kröpelin 1*

1 Collaborative Research Center 389 (ACACIA), University of Cologne, Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, Africa Research Unit, Jennerstr. 8, 50823 Köln, Germany.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Stefan Kröpelin , E-mail: s.kroe{at}uni-koeln.de

Radiocarbon data from 150 archaeological excavations in the now hyper-arid Eastern Sahara of Egypt, Sudan, Libya and Chad reveal close links between climatic variations and prehistoric occupation during the past 12,000 years. Synoptic multiple-indicator views for major time-slices demonstrate the transition from initial settlement after the sudden onset of humid conditions at 8,500 B.C.E. to the exodus resulting from gradual desiccation since 5,300 B.C.E. Southward shifting of the desert margin helped trigger the emergence of pharaonic civilization along the Nile, influenced the spread of pastoralism throughout the continent, and affects sub-Saharan Africa to the present day.


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)