Kiffian culture
Kiffian is the name given by archaeologists to a prehistoric culture thriving between about 10,000 and 8,000 years ago in the Sahara Desert. This was during a wet period of Saharan history known as the Neolithic Subpluvial. Human remains from this culture were found in 2000 at a site known as Gobero, located in Niger in the Ténéré Desert.[1]
[edit] Characteristics
They were skilled hunters, and the discovery of bones of many large savannah animals in the same area suggest that they lived on the shores of a lake that was present during a period when the Sahara was verdant and wet.[2] The Kiffian people were tall, often over six feet tall.[1]
[edit] Decline
Traces of the Kiffian culture do not exist after 8,000 years ago, as the Sahara went through a dry period for the next thousand years.[3] After this time, another culture, the Tenerians, colonized the area.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Stone Age Graveyard Reveals Lifestyles Of A 'Green Sahara'". Science Daily. 2008-08-15. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080815101317.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
- ^ Wilford, John Noble (2008-08-14). "Graves Found From Sahara's Green Period". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/15/science/15sahara.html. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
- ^ Schultz, Nora (2008-08-14). "Stone Age mass graves reveal green Sahara". NewScientist. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14536-stone-age-mass-graves-reveal-green-sahara.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news3_head_dn14536. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
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