7,000-Year-Old Mummies Are the Oldest Discovered Yet, but Belong to A Previously Unknown Human Species

The Takarkori people remained genetically isolated for thousands of years, but were culturally connected to other humans

Hiya!

We split genetic paths from our closest living primate relatives, the Chimpanzees and Bonobos, around 7 million years ago, but it took a while before we evolved more human-like features than ape-like. First came the various Australopithecine relatives, who transitioned from spending most of their time in trees to being on the ground, which led them to stand more upright and walk on two legs.

Then, around 1.89 million years ago, Homo erectus evolved from the australopithecine lines to become the first known Human species in the Homo genus. They walked the Earth for nearly 2 million years, earning them the title of the longest-lived human species. Since then, at least seven other distinct Homo species have emerged, including us Homo spaien and our better-known cousins, the Neanderthals and the Denisovans.

The Denisovans were the first human species to be identified through DNA and proteins, but they aren’t the last. Recent research has announced the discovery of another, previously unknown, human species through DNA analysis, and evidence suggests that, despite remaining genetically isolated for thousands of years, they weren’t culturally isolated.

Takarkori Rock Shelter

Before I tell you about our newly discovered human cousin, I want to share a bit about the location where they were found because it’ll help us understand them a bit more.

We know the Sahara Desert as the largest dry desert in the world, spanning over 3,000 miles (4,800 km) across Northern Africa, encompassing 31 percent of the continent, and characterized by high temperatures, prolonged drought, and lots and lots of sand.

Yet, between around 5,000 and 14,000 years ago, the Sahara was lush and green, with rivers and lakes, where many animals, including humans, thrived. Now referred to as the Green Sahara, the area has proven to be a key site for scientists to study human occupation over the past 10,000 years.

One project, known as the Wadi Takarkori Project (WTP), is reported to be a long-term territorial study focused on the Wadi Takarkori area of southwest Libya, between the Tassili and Acacus Mountains, near the Algerian border. That said, I couldn’t find any direct website, institution, or country behind the project, but it was mentioned in several studies.

From those sources, I learned that the WTP launched during the 1990s, has involved multiple archaeological teams, and that,

Wadi Takarkori Project “focuses on the excavation of a rock shelter, systematic mapping, and selected excavations of stone structures, mainly tumuli, in the wadi area.

Tumuli are one of the oldest and most widely distributed forms of monumental architecture, which are essentially burial mounds.

The rock shelter mentioned refers to the Takarori rock shelter, one of two locations containing the earliest known evidence of plant processing in pottery. Plant processing in pottery refers to the use of pottery vessels, like ceramic pots, for cooking plants, such as, say, boiling wild grasses as opposed to eating them raw.

This practice became widespread during the early Holocene period, around 15,000 years ago, and expanded our nutritional intake and dietary options. Finding pottery with evidence of plant processing also offers us a glimpse into what life was like when the Green Sahara existed.

However, excavations of the Takarori rock shelter have uncovered far more than pottery. Other findings include carved figurines, woven baskets, and tools crafted from wood, stone, and animal bones.

The items unearthed at the rock shelter provide scientists with a timeline of human occupation, ranging from hunter-gatherer-fishers around 10,200 years ago, during the Late Acacus, to a long Pastoral Neolithic occupation, lasting from about 8,300 to 4,200 years ago.

The Pastoral period occurred after we transitioned from hunter-gatherers, but before agriculture became widespread, when our ancestors relied on herding livestock, such as sheep, goats, camels, and more, depending on the region.

Evidence from the rock shelter reveals the sociocultural trajectories of Neolithic herding societies in the Central Green Sahara as they evolved from early livestock adoption to the development of a fully functional pastoral economy.

And it’s there that our story begins.

The Discovery