Around seven thousand years ago, two women were buried in a rocky shelter in what is now southwest Libya. Their remains have helped scientists recover the first ancient human genomes from the central Sahara, opening a window into a time when this desert was lush, green, and filled with lakes. The international research team found that these women belonged to a long isolated North African lineage that no longer exists in pure form today. Their DNA is now helping redraw the history of human movement across a much wetter Sahara.
The study focuses on Takarkori, a rock shelter in the Tadrart Acacus Mountains. During the African Humid Period, roughly fourteen thousand five hundred to five thousand years ago, northern Africa had fertile grasslands, wetlands, and small lakes instead of endless dunes. Excavations show that early foragers lived there more than ten thousand years ago, followed by pastoral communities who herded cattle, goats, and sheep. Natural mummification in the hyper-arid climate preserved enough genetic material for scientists to extract DNA from teeth and bones, even though extreme heat usually destroys it.
Analysis shows that most of the ancestry in these women came from a previously unknown North African group that split from sub-Saharan populations about fifty thousand years ago. Later migrations diluted this ancestry, but traces survive in many modern North African communities. Surprisingly, the genetic signal matches earlier findings from skeletons at Taforalt Cave in Morocco, linking Libyan pastoralists to ancient foragers far to the west. Even during wet periods when rivers and lakes connected regions, the Sahara remained a barrier strong enough to keep long-standing genetic differences in place.
The research also shows how pastoralism spread. Archaeological evidence at Takarkori suggests livestock arrived from the northeast about eight thousand three hundred years ago. The genomes contain only a small amount of Levant-related ancestry, meaning herding likely spread through cultural sharing rather than large-scale migration. Local communities adopted animals while largely staying where they were. One Takarkori woman carried 0.15 percent Neanderthal ancestry, higher than typical sub-Saharan levels, hinting at ancient gene flow from Eurasian populations without overwhelming North African identity.
The discovery highlights how fragile desert DNA can still reveal crucial chapters of human history. It shows that the Sahara once supported extensive human societies, and that ancient genetic diversity continues shaping populations today. Scientists say more genomes from buried individuals in the “Green Sahara” will deepen our understanding of how climate shifts influenced human survival and movement. The study is published in the journal Nature.