Uploaded August 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
14,000 years ago, a seasonal monsoon turned the Sahara Desert into a vast savannah, where both people and animals lived in great numbers. Today we still know very little about the people who once lived here, but a series of recent discoveries might have brought us closer than ever before to uncovering the truth.
Support me on Patreon here: patreon.com/atlaspro
For the full map find me on twitter @theatlaspro
Check out the Fall of Civilizations Podcast here: youtube.com/c/FallofCivilizationsPodcast
Sources / Further Reading:
researchgate.net/figure/Continuity-of-the-Tamanrasett-River-Cap-Timiris-giant-system-Complete-identified_fig4_283714259
researchgate.net/figure/Hydrological-context-of-Africa-Map-of-the-main-rivers-of-the-Mediterranean-West-African_fig3_283714259
researchgate.net/figure/Coastal-section-of-the-Tamanrasett-paleoriver-a-PALSAR-radar-observation-of-the_fig1_283714259
cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-world-history/early-agriculture-in-subsaharan-africa-to-c-500-ce/220E93A073A94470D419C3C56D72E0E9
theguardian.com/science/2015/nov/10/ancient-river-network-discoverd-buried-under-saharan-sand
nature.com/articles/ncomms9751.pdf?origin=ppub
khanacademy.org/humanities/big-history-project/agriculture-civilization/first-cities-appear/a/the-origin-of-agriculture-in-africa
bbc.com/news/world-13522957.amp
khanacademy.org/humanities/big-history-project/agriculture-civilization/first-cities-appear/a/the-origin-of-agriculture-in-africa
researchgate.net/publication/248819320_Cap_Timiris_Canyon_A_Newly_Discovered_Channel_System_offshore_of_Mauritania
https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/nile-river-and-its-influence-settlement
genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-018-1410-8
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264817205000802
asu.cas.cz/~jklokocn/AJG_2017_Sahara.pdf
https://archive.ph/20151111221526/http://gizmodo.com/a-vast-river-network-once-crisscrossed-the-sahara-1741984951
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Mauritania_Topography.png
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_humid_period#/media/File:Journal.pone.0076514.g004.png
cambridge.org/core/journals/quaternary-research/article/abs/megalakes-in-the-sahara-a-review/7515BC9AAFE40606D3FC30C9D0C7D9D7
jstor.org/stable/j.ctvh1dh5w
pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.1012231108
academic.oup.com/mbe/article/28/9/2603/1011779
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264817205000802
historyofyesterday.com/the-mysterious-people-that-lived-in-the-green-sahara-f993fe30a9d9
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264817205000802
core.ac.uk/download/pdf/52774858.pdf
jstor.org/stable/j.ctvh1dh5w
researchgate.net/publication/283714259_African_humid_periods_triggered_the_reactivation_of_a_large_river_system_in_Western_Sahara
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379121005254
"Deliberate Thought" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
"Silver Flame" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
14,000 years ago, a seasonal monsoon turned the Sahara Desert into a vast savannah, where both people and animals lived in great numbers. Today we still know very little about the people who once lived here, but a series of recent discoveries might have brought us closer than ever before to uncovering the truth.
Support me on Patreon here: patreon.com/atlaspro
For the full map find me on twitter @theatlaspro
Check out the Fall of Civilizations Podcast here: youtube.com/c/FallofCivilizationsPodcast
Sources / Further Reading:
researchgate.net/figure/Continuity-of-the-Tamanrasett-River-Cap-Timiris-giant-system-Complete-identified_fig4_283714259
researchgate.net/figure/Hydrological-context-of-Africa-Map-of-the-main-rivers-of-the-Mediterranean-West-African_fig3_283714259
researchgate.net/figure/Coastal-section-of-the-Tamanrasett-paleoriver-a-PALSAR-radar-observation-of-the_fig1_283714259
cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-world-history/early-agriculture-in-subsaharan-africa-to-c-500-ce/220E93A073A94470D419C3C56D72E0E9
theguardian.com/science/2015/nov/10/ancient-river-network-discoverd-buried-under-saharan-sand
nature.com/articles/ncomms9751.pdf?origin=ppub
khanacademy.org/humanities/big-history-project/agriculture-civilization/first-cities-appear/a/the-origin-of-agriculture-in-africa
bbc.com/news/world-13522957.amp
khanacademy.org/humanities/big-history-project/agriculture-civilization/first-cities-appear/a/the-origin-of-agriculture-in-africa
researchgate.net/publication/248819320_Cap_Timiris_Canyon_A_Newly_Discovered_Channel_System_offshore_of_Mauritania
https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/nile-river-and-its-influence-settlement
genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-018-1410-8
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264817205000802
asu.cas.cz/~jklokocn/AJG_2017_Sahara.pdf
https://archive.ph/20151111221526/http://gizmodo.com/a-vast-river-network-once-crisscrossed-the-sahara-1741984951
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Mauritania_Topography.png
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_humid_period#/media/File:Journal.pone.0076514.g004.png
cambridge.org/core/journals/quaternary-research/article/abs/megalakes-in-the-sahara-a-review/7515BC9AAFE40606D3FC30C9D0C7D9D7
jstor.org/stable/j.ctvh1dh5w
pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.1012231108
academic.oup.com/mbe/article/28/9/2603/1011779
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264817205000802
historyofyesterday.com/the-mysterious-people-that-lived-in-the-green-sahara-f993fe30a9d9
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264817205000802
core.ac.uk/download/pdf/52774858.pdf
jstor.org/stable/j.ctvh1dh5w
researchgate.net/publication/283714259_African_humid_periods_triggered_the_reactivation_of_a_large_river_system_in_Western_Sahara
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379121005254
"Deliberate Thought" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
"Silver Flame" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
