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Nada Salem @nadasalem.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

A shoutout to the amazing team behind this work, from field archaeology in Libya to genome work in Leipzig & Florence. So grateful to @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social, my supervisor @hringbauer.bsky.social and my talented colleague @arevsumer.bsky.social — and to @roccoro.bsky.social for crucial input!

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Nada Salem @nadasalem.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

We also found that this ancient North African ancestry no longer exists in pure form, but it persists as an admixed component in present-day North Africans and some Sahel populations, especially among the Fulani. (8/n)

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Nada Salem @nadasalem.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

These results support a cultural spread of pastoralism into the Central Sahara rather than one involving large-scale migration. Herders adopted livestock and techniques without significant movement of people. (7/n)

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Nada Salem @nadasalem.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

One of the key findings: Takarkori individuals had 10x less Neanderthal ancestry than Levantine farmers, but still more than present-day sub-Saharan Africans. This implies limited gene flow from out-of-Africa sources, possibly via the Levant. (6/n)

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Nada Salem @nadasalem.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Contrary to earlier ideas, we found no genetic evidence of major gene flow between sub-Saharan and North African groups during the Green Sahara. The desert didn’t act as a genetic bridge, but more of a barrier, even during its greenest phase. (5/n)

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Nada Salem @nadasalem.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

We found these women represented a deeply isolated North African lineage, which is closely related to 15,000-year-old foragers from Taforalt Cave (Morocco), suggesting population continuity in North Africa across climate shifts. (4/n)

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Nada Salem @nadasalem.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

We analyzed DNA from two naturally mummified women buried in a rock shelter in southwestern Libya called Takarkori. The DNA preservation in the Sahara is extremely rare, but we made it work with targeted SNP capture of modern archaeogenetics methods, including variant enrichment. (3/n)

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Nada Salem @nadasalem.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

During the African Humid Period (~14,500–5,000 years ago), the Sahara was green and full of lakes, rivers, and life. It supported foragers and early herders and until now, we had no ancient autosomal DNA from this region. (2/n)

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Nada Salem @nadasalem.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

I'm beyond excited to share our new paper in Nature! We sequenced the first ancient human autosomal genomes from the Central Sahara, two ~7,000-year-old individuals from Takarkori in Libya, revealing a long-isolated North African lineage: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Here's a short thread: (1/n)

nature.com

Ancient DNA from the Green Sahara reveals ancestral North African lineage - Nature

Pastoralism spread through cultural diffusion into the Green Sahara, where an isolated, distinct North African ancestry persisted.

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Reposted by Nada Salem

MPI-EVA Leipzig @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Ancient genomes from the Green #Sahara. Study led by @nadasalem.bsky.social, @hringbauer.bsky.social & Johannes Krause reveals a long-isolated North African human lineage in the Central Sahara during the African Humid Period over 7,000 years ago. tinyurl.com/43maxc7k & www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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