Ancient "Green Sahara" Discovery Reveals Lush Past of North Africa

The Sahara has not always been a desert. At one time, it consisted of lakes, river basins and meadows. This is the conclusion reached by these Spanish and Moroccan researchers, after 17 years of excavations in the far northeast of Morocco, on dozens of sites in the Jerada region. The discoveries confirm the theory of the "green Sahara" and the human and animal presence in the area 2.5 million years ago, reports EFE.

The researchers notably discovered in this area, remains of the hipparion, the ancestor of the horse, of dinofelis, a species of saber-toothed tiger, or of an ancient macaque. They also found stone tools and traces of these tools on animal bones, evidence of human presence. Some of these discoveries date back 500,000 years, when human remains were found in Algeria or in sites near the city of Casablanca in Morocco.

Other tools are awaiting analysis and the researchers estimate that they could date back more than 1.5 million years, close to the 3 million years of the human remains found in Kenya and Tanzania, or the 7 million years of those found in Chad, regions considered the cradle of humanity.

This discovery in Morocco shows that "the Sahara has gradually become a desert and humans have spread very quickly, faster than we thought," explains Robert Sala, director of IPHES and this project. "For now, we are still talking about the cradle (of humanity) in the east and in Chad, but little by little, we see that the cradle is very large and perhaps encompasses all of Africa... With a little time and work, we will be able to show that it is as old here (in Morocco) as it is there," he adds. The excavations should resume in the fall.