WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2008
Ancient Cemetery Found In Sahara
Graves Yield Clues To Two Civilizations; Some Date Back 5,000 Years When Area Was Lush
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This undated handout photo provided by the National Geographic Society shows a triple burial containing a woman and two children, their limbs entwined. (AP Photo/Mike Hettwer)
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This undated handout photo provided by the National Geographic Society shows zooarchaeologist Helene Jousse holding up a belly plate from a soft-shelled turtle found in a Tenerian garbage dump. (AP Photo/Mike Hettwer)
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Photo Essay Land Of The Found Images of some recent fossil finds, from man's ancestors to extinct dinosaurs.
The slender arms of the youngsters were still extended to the woman in perpetual embrace when researchers discovered their skeletons in a remarkable cemetery that is providing clues to two civilizations who lived there, a thousand years apart, when the region was moist and green.
Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago and colleagues were searching for the remains of dinosaurs in the African country of Niger when they came across the startling find, detailed at a news conference Thursday at the National Geographic Society.
"Part of discovery is finding things that you least expect," he said. "When you come across something like that in the middle of the desert it sends a tingle down your spine."
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 graveyard, uncovered by hot desert winds, is near what would have been a lake at the time people lived there. It's in a region called Gobero, hidden away in Niger's forbidding Tenere Desert, known to Tuareg nomads as a "desert within a desert."
The human remains dated from two distinct populations that lived there during wet times, with a dry period in between.
The researchers used radiocarbon dating to determine when these ancient people lived there. Even the most recent were some 1,000 years before the building of the pyramids in Egypt.
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.
The second group lived in the region between 7,000 and 4,500 years ago. The Tenerians were smaller and had a mixed economy of hunting, fishing and cattle herding.
Their burials often included jewelry or ritual poses. For example, one girl had an upper-arm bracelet carved from a hippo tusk. An adult Tenerian male was buried with his skull resting on part of a clay vessel; another adult male was interred seated on the shell of a mud turtle.
And pollen remains show the woman and two children were buried on a bed of flowers. The researchers preserved the group just as they had been for thousands of years.
"At first glance, it's hard to imagine two more biologically distinct groups of people burying their dead in the same place," said team member Chris Stojanowski, a bioarchaeologist from Arizona State University.
Stojanowski said ridges on the thigh bone of one Kiffian man show he had huge leg muscles, "which suggests he was eating a lot of protein and had an active, strenuous lifestyle. The Kiffian appear to have been fairly healthy - it would be difficult to grow a body that tall and muscular without sufficient nutrition."
On the other hand, ridges on a Tenerian male were barely visible. "This man's life was less rigorous, perhaps taking smaller fish and game with more advanced hunting technologies," Stojanowski said.
Helene Jousse, a zooarchaeologist from the Museum of Natural History in Vienna, Austria, reported that animal bones found in the area were from types common today in the Serengeti in Kenya, such as elephants, giraffes, hartebeests and warthogs.
The finds are detailed in reports in Thursday's edition of the journal PLoS One and in the September issue of National Geographic Magazine.
While the Sahara is desert today, a small difference in Earth's orbit once brought seasonal monsoons farther north, wetting the landscape with lakes with lush margins and drawing animals and people.
The research was funded by National Geographic, the Island Fund of the New York Community Trust, the National Science Foundation and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 28 CommentsPosted by rf35
Al Gore did not "invent" the Internet. The forerunner of the Internet was invented/created in 1967 by the Defense Department of the United States of America.
Al Gore did have a role in the current Internet because he wrote legislation which was passed in Congress to fund the infrastructure of the Internet. Don''t give him more credit than he deserves.
Posted by ralan40
When I read these posts, I wonder if the write is planning to commit suicide soon and alleviate the earth of one less person.
Posted by mitch6544
Mitch, So what are you doing to alleviate the problem? What kind of house do you live in? How big is it? How is it heated? How is it air conditioned? Is electricity in your area created by a coal fired plant? Or is it generated by hydro energy? What kind of vehicles do you use for transportation? Do any of them require gasoline? How far is your daily commute?
Please respond. I find that guys like you who come in here declaring that our problems are caused by carbon energy, don''t answer these questions when I ask them. Especially Al Gore, I''ve never heard from him regarding his lifestyle. I hope we hear from you.
The only curse on this planet is people like you.
Posted by ralan40
If you think having children is such a horrible thing in life, then move to communist China, and they will welcome you in with open arms.
What a selfish individual you are. Who are you to tell someone how many kids they can have or not have?
Life is a blessing, not a detriment.
How incredibly evil of you.
I call it, "Faith Based Climate Correction".
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Most of Gore''''s money was made investing in Google.
Posted by ubrew12 at 02:23 PM : Aug 15, 2008
I thought it was because he invented the Internet.
On another note, some of these postings are pretty stupid. I''m talking to you pat4016.
Most of Gore''s money was made investing in Google.
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Posted by ralan40
In 1950 the USA had 150 million, now it''s over 305 million and THAT is the root of EVERY problem we have, from shortage and pollution to crime, housing and job problems.
Posted by ralan40 at 09:35 AM : Aug 15, 2008
Exactly!
I suppose the tree huggers will have something to say about that. Some scientists will tell you thats exactly whats happening now. Owl Gore is making millions selling his book to the gullible liberals. LMAO!
The Serengeti actually does extend to Southwestern Kenya..I suppose you should consult a map before spouting off misinformed opinions...
This makes me doubt whether there is authenticity of the information given if the same people cannot distinguish a simple geographic note that the SERENGETI is actually in TANZANIA and not Kenya!! Hello!
Posted by ralan40 at 09:37 AM : Aug 15, 2008
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Posted by ralan40 at 09:37 AM : Aug 15, 2008
Well...you seem either ill informed, or so charged about the issue that you make poorly thought out statements. The natural process hasn''t stopped...it never will. We are simply accelerating a warming trend at a pace that is catastrophic to organisms designed to adapt over longer periods of time. What you people need to stop asking yourself is, "how can man influenced climate changes be real?", and start asking yourself, "given all of the chemistry we''ve pumping into our atmosphere since the start of the industrial revolution, how can we not be having an effect?"
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