The Sahara, which covers nearly a third of Africa, was once a lush savanna, teeming with wildlife, fish-filled lakes, and ancient humans. "Between 10,500 and around 5,550 years ago, it was a good place to live," says Stefan Kröpelin, a geoarchaeologist at the University of Cologne in Germany, who has spent the last 30 years leading excavations in the eastern Sahara, a region that until recently has been largely unexplored.
Kröpelin and his colleague Rudolph Kuper have unearthed hundreds of geologic samples and more than 500 archaeological artifacts—everything from animal bones to cave art—at over 100 sites. From these findings, the researchers are piecing together a grand story linking climate change and cultural evolution. For five millennia, says Kröpelin, humans thrived in the Sahara, fishing, herding cattle, and making pottery and art—hallmarks of the Neolithic lifestyle that supplanted hunting and gathering. When rain started to become scarce around 5,500 years ...
