Ancient DNA from the Green Sahara Reveals Ancestral North African Lineage
Salem et al. · doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08793-7
What the study found
This landmark study recovered ancient DNA from human remains in the Takarkori rock shelter in southwestern Libya, dating to approximately 7,000 years ago during the "Green Sahara" period (African Humid Period). The Sahara was then a lush, habitable landscape supporting pastoralist communities.
The researchers successfully sequenced the genome of these ancient Saharan inhabitants and discovered they carried a previously unknown basal lineage of mitochondrial haplogroup N. This lineage diverged early from other Eurasian branches and had not been detected in any modern or ancient population previously studied.
The findings indicate that the Green Sahara harbored genetically distinct populations that contributed to the ancestry of later North African groups, but in complex ways that cannot be explained by simple models of north-south migration. The genetic isolation of these Saharan groups during the humid period suggests regional population structuring across North Africa during the Holocene.
Key points
First successful ancient DNA recovery from the Sahara, dating to ~7,000 years before present during the African Humid Period
Identified a novel basal branch of mitochondrial haplogroup N not found in any living population
Green Sahara populations were genetically distinct from both sub-Saharan African and Mediterranean groups of the same era
Population dynamics during the Green Sahara were more complex than previously modeled, with significant regional structuring
The aridification of the Sahara (~5,500 years ago) likely displaced these populations, contributing to the genetic makeup of later North African groups
Relevance to this lineage
While this study focuses on populations from a different time and place than the Chtouka lineage, it provides critical context for understanding the deep ancestry of all North African groups, including the Amazigh (Berber) populations of the Souss-Massa.
The discovery of a basal haplogroup N lineage in the Sahara demonstrates that North Africa's genetic landscape was shaped by multiple distinct population layers over millennia. This complexity supports the dual-origin model discussed on our Lineage History page, where indigenous North African paternal lineages (E-PF2546) coexist with maternal lineages (H1-T16189C!) that arrived via different migration routes.
The Green Sahara period represents one of several major demographic events that shaped the genetic diversity observed in modern Amazigh populations, preceding the later expansions that gave rise to the E-M81/E-PF2546 lineage.
This is a summary, not the paper
Written here as an aid to reading. Where this page and the study disagree, the study is right — read it. Full citation: Salem, T. et al. (2025). Nature , 641, 144–150. All fifteen summaries are listed on the research page.
Last updated: 16 September 2026