Holocene climate period during which northern Africa was wetter than today
The Sahara was not a desert during the African humid period. Instead, most of northern Africa was covered by grass, trees, and lakes.
The African humid period (AHP; also known by other names) is a climate period in Africa during the late Pleistocene and Holocene geologic epochs, when northern Africa was wetter than today. The covering of much of the Sahara desert by grasses, trees and lakes was caused by changes in the Earth's axial tilt; changes in vegetation and dust in the Sahara which strengthened the African monsoon; and increased greenhouse gases.
During the preceding Last Glacial Maximum, the Sahara contained extensive dune fields and was mostly uninhabited. It was much larger than today, and its lakes and rivers such as Lake Victoria and the White Nile were either dry or at low levels. The humid period began about 14,600–14,500 years ago at the end of Heinrich event 1, simultaneously to the Bølling–Allerød warming. Rivers and lakes such as Lake Chad formed or expanded, glaciers grew on Mount Kilimanjaro and the Sahara retreated. Two major dry fluctuations occurred; during the Younger Dryas and the short 8.2 kiloyear event. The African humid period ended 6,000–5,000 years ago during the Piora Oscillation cold period. While some evidence points to an end 5,500 years ago, in the Sahel, Arabia and East Africa, the end of the period appears to have taken place in several steps, such as the 4.2-kiloyear event.
The AHP led to a widespread settlement of the Sahara and the Arabian Deserts, and had a profound effect on African cultures, such as the birth of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. People in the Sahara lived as hunter-gatherers and domesticated cattle, goats and sheep. They left archaeological sites and artifacts such as one of the oldest ships in the world, and rock paintings such as those in the Cave of Swimmers and in the Acacus Mountains. Earlier humid periods in Africa were postulated after the discovery of these rock paintings in now-inhospitable parts of the Sahara. When the period ended, humans gradually abandoned the desert in favour of regions with more secure water supplies, such as the Nile Valley and Mesopotamia, where they gave rise to early complex societies.
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The Africanhumidperiod (AHP; also known by other names) is a climate period in Africa during the late Pleistocene and Holocene geologic epochs, when...
the beginning and end of the AfricanHumidPeriod suggests that both the onset and termination of the AfricanHumidPeriod were abrupt. In fact both events...
Limondin-Lozouet, Nicole (1 March 2021). "Alluvial records of the AfricanHumidPeriod from the NW African highlands (Moulouya basin, NE Morocco)". Quaternary Science...
Wright, David (2017). "Humans as Agents in the Termination of the AfricanHumidPeriod". Frontiers in Earth Science. 5: https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017...
palaeoriver believed to have flowed through West Africa as recently as 5000 years ago during the Africanhumidperiod. The Tamanrasset River basin is thought to...
forests at higher altitudes; where the initial phase overlaps with the Africanhumidperiod. The Capsian diet included a wide variety of animals, ranging from...
and the area of the lake also changes dramatically. During the Africanhumidperiod, the area of Lake Chad reached 400,000 km2 (150,000 sq mi). Due to...
dropped. West African sediments additionally record the Africanhumidperiod, an interval between 16,000 and 6,000 years ago during which Africa was much wetter...
these sediments accumulated between 15,000 and 8,000 BP during the Africanhumidperiod. These deposits lie directly upon deeply eroded and weathered bedrock...
has been challenged by other scholars. This occurred during the Africanhumidperiod, when the Sahara was much wetter than it is today. This is the traditional...
000 years ago when the climate in this region was more humid than during the Africanhumidperiod. Two aurochs bones found in the Romito Cave in Italy were...
the Nile that no longer exists. This branch was highest during the AfricanHumidPeriod. The existing Nile has five earlier phases: i) the Upper Miocenian...
approximately 8,000 BC and 6,000 BC in the Sahara Desert, during the Africanhumidperiod referred to as the Neolithic Subpluvial. Human remains from this...
indigenous cultural identities in the region. Africanhumidperiod – Holocene climate period during which northern Africa was wetter than today Arid Lands Information...
described it as a strong AfricanHumidperiod. During earlier strong AfricanHumid periods, the now-desiccated regions of northern Africa were well-watered,...
failure of harvests, perhaps caused by volcanic dust 900–1300 Medieval Warm Period, wet in Europe, arid in North America, may have depopulated the Great Plains...
eastern Sahara was the home of several Neolithic cultures. During the Africanhumidperiod, this was the area with rich vegetation, and the human population...
to the end of the Africanhumidperiod (c. 3500 BC) and the desiccation of the Green Sahara. During this time, sub-Saharan Africa remained in the Palaeolithic...
pulses. The monsoon in North Africa saw abrupt changes on decadal timescales during the Africanhumidperiod. This period, spanning from 15,000 to 5,000...
about 9500 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene as part of the Africanhumidperiod. It is generally theorised that Turkana was part of the upper Nile...
thousand years ago (during the late Pleistocene to mid-Holocene in the Africanhumidperiod), the Magadi basin held a freshwater lake with many fish, whose remains...
Time period with a return to glacial conditions c. 12,900–11,700 years ago Africanhumidperiod – Holocene climate period during which northern Africa was...
Millennialism New world order (Baháʼí) Paradise Precession of the Equinoxes/Africanhumidperiod Satya Yuga Utopia Hesiod, "109", Works and Days. Robin Hard - The...
of the Tamanrasset River, an ancient river that flowed during the Africanhumidperiod, and named after the main city near the Hoggar Mountains, Tamanrasset...
the subsequent expansion of the West African forest. West African hunter-gatherers occupied western Central Africa (e.g., Shum Laka) earlier than 32,000...
to 2023): The main tributaries from the mouth: At the end of the Africanhumidperiod around 5,500 years before present, the modern Sahara Desert, once...
been created as early as 10,000 years ago with the beginning of the AfricanHumidPeriod, when the Sahara was significantly greener and wetter than it is...
of Africa and the Nile Valley.: 31 The hitherto most thoroughly investigated archaeological site in the wadi is Gala Abu Ahmed. Africanhumidperiod Lake...
humans lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. During the prehistoric Africanhumidperiod, the climate of the Sahara was wetter and more fertile, a phenomenon...
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