Today the Saharan mountains of Tadrart Acacus, in Libya, are windy, hot and hyper-arid, however the fossil record shows that during much of the early and middle Holocene (between 8,000 and 3,000 years before Christ) this region was wet and had water, and fishing was practiced there.

This is the main conclusion of a study published by the magazine Plos One, in which its authors, from the Museum of Natural History of Belgium and the University of Sapienza in Rome, also confirm that in this area of ​​Tadrart Acacus there was multiple human settlements and multiple evidences of diverse fauna.

In fact, remains of catfish or catfish and tilapia constitute many of the animals discovered in this Saharan environment.

In a press release, the magazine reports that the rock shelters inside the Tadrart Acacus conserve not only important remains of flora and fauna, but also important cultural artifacts and rock art due to the early holocene occupation.

The researchers worked with the Department of Antiquities of Libya, specifically in the excavation in some parts of the archaeological rock shelter of Takarkori, with the aim of identifying and dating the remains of animals found and investigating changes in their abundance throughout the weather.

Thus, the scientists quantified that the remains of fish found constituted almost 80% of the total of the findings, which amounted to 17,551 wildlife remains.

The team of scientists determined that all the remains of fish and most of the remains of the other animals were wastes of human food, which they could conclude thanks to the study of the cut marks on them and remains of burns.

In addition, the researchers found that the amount of fish was decreasing over time: it went from that 80-90% of the total about 8,000 years ago AC to only 40% about 3,000 years ago BC

Change in the weather ... and customs

As the fish decreased, the number of mammalian remains increased, suggesting that the inhabitants of Takarkori gradually focused more on hunting and livestock.

Likewise, the authors also found that the proportion of tilapia decreased more significantly than the catfish, which could be due to the latter having respiratory organs that allow them to catch air and survive in shallow and high temperature waters.

This study provides crucial information about the dramatic climatic changes that led to the formation of the largest hot desert in the world, say the authors, who add: the rocky refuge of Takarkori has once again proved to be a true treasure for African archeology and beyond that continent

It is a fundamental place to reconstruct the complex dynamics between ancient human groups and their environment in a changing climate.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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