Briggs, Ellen

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ESSAIVolume 7 Article 114-1-2010The People of the Green SaharaEllen BriggsCollege of DuPageFollow this and additional works at: http://dc.cod.edu/essaiThis Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@C.O.D.. It has been accepted for inclusion inESSAI by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@C.O.D.. For more information, please contact koteles@cod.edu.Recommended CitationBriggs, Ellen (2009) "The People of the Green Sahara," ESSAI: Vol. 7, Article 11.Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol7/iss1/1117The People of the Green Saharaby Ellen Briggs(Honors Biology 1152)ABSTRACTround 10,000 BC, the region that is presently the Sahara Desert was once a green andflourishing habitation. Two cultures of people, Kiffian and Tenerian, dwelled in this land,separated by a drought that lasted one millenniun. Present day Gobero, Nigeria, locatedwithin the Sahara Desert in Africa, is the site of an ancient cemetery containing at least 200 burials.Recently, a human skeleton in pristine structural condition and two artifacts were discovered in thisregion. The objective of the study was to identify the remains and determine the archeological age,age at death, possible cause of death, and gender of the skeleton. From carbon-14 dating used tomeasure the age of the remains, it was determined that the skeleton and fishing hook are 9,000 yearsold, and the bone needle is 6,500 years old. The human skeleton was identified to be a Kiffian adultmale. The bone fishing hook belongs to the same time of the human remains but the bone needlebelongs to the Tenerian people.INTRODUCTIONThe Southern Sahara Desert was at one time a lush wetland that supported numerous species.A change in climate about 12,000 years ago caused significant rainfall in the region (Gwin 2008). Inthe location of present day Gobero, Nigeria, there is evidence for a culture of people who dwelled inthe fertile lands for a period of time spanning approximately 12,000 to 8,000 years ago. This group ofpeople, known as Kiffian, was a hunting and fishing society that stood as tall as two meters (Gwin2008). Their diet was rich in protein which supported and allowed for their large, muscular stature(Gwin 2008).Approximately 6200 BC, drastic changes in the climate caused an extensive droughtenduring an estimated one thousand years (Sereno et al. 2008). There is evidence that the waterresources dried up during this interval and the region was abandoned by humans (Sereno et al. 2008).About 6,600 years ago, the Sahara once again turned green and a distinctly different people emerged(Sereno et al. 2008). This new group of inhabitants is known as Tenerian and they had a smallerbuild than the Kiffians (Sereno et al. 2008). The availability of food during the time of the Tenerianwas less than that of the Kiffian, which is supported by animal remains which date to this period(Sereno et al. 2008).The culture of these two peoples paralleled in several ways and gives rise to considerationwhether these two groups, separated by one thousand years, have some possible relationship (Serenoet al. 2008). Both the Kiffian and Tenerian had unique funerary practices and buried their dead in thesame cemetery (Gwin 2008). It is thought that the graves of the Kiffian people were marked in thiscemetery because the Tenerians buried their dead without ever disturbing the Kiffian graves (Gwin2008). The differences between a Kiffian and Tenerian grave are subtle but the Tenerians were oftenburied with several artifacts including jewelry and tools (Sereno et al. 2008). It also is not uncommonto find multiple skeletons in one grave (Gwin 2008). In a Kiffian grave, only one skeleton was foundand they were tightly bound by presumably animal skin or some other sort of material that has sincedecomposed.A1Briggs: The People of the Green SaharaProduced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 200918An archeological find was recently uncovered in this region of present day Gobero, Nigeria.A human skeleton and two artifacts, a bone fishing hook and bone needle, were discovered inproximal location. The objective of this study was to date andidentify the skeletal remains, determine the age at death and possible causes of death, and determinethe gender of the individual. In addition to the analysis of the skeletal remains, the possiblerelationship between the artifacts discovered near to the individual was to be investigated.METHODSThe height of the skeleton was measured and structure analyzed for indications of age,gender, and possible cause of death. The shape and certain attributes of the pelvis can give insight tothe gender, and it is the most useful source for sex determination of a skeleton (Shipman 1985). Thepelvic ratio was calculated by measuring the distance between the tips of the ischial spines dividedby the distance between the inner surface of the pubic symphysis and the upper, inner surface of thesacrum.The age of the skeleton was estimated based on its dentition and the appearance of fusedsutures of the skull as explained by Ortner (1985). The degree of fusion of skull sutures hascommonly been used to determine the age of a skull that is older than 18, however, there is onlyweak correlation between age and suture closure (Ortner 1985). The skeleton was examined for signsof trauma or deformities to determine the cause of death.Carbon-14 dating was used to measure the age of the skeleton and artifacts. Thearcheological age measurements of the human skeleton and associated artifacts were log10transformed to meet conditions of normality.  Differences in age to the skeletal remains were thendone using t-tests.  Significance was determined at P ≤ 0.05.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe age of the human skeleton was determined to be 9000 ± 12.5 years old (Table 1). Thebone fishing hook and bone needle were determined to be 9000 ± 9.6 and 6500 ± 5.2 years oldrespectively (Table 1). It was concluded that the fishing hook was the same age as the humanskeleton. There is significant difference in the age of the bone needle and the age of skeleton. Thepelvic ratio was determined to be 0.84 (Table 2) and the skeleton was identified as a Kiffian maleadult. The cause of death was inconclusive based on the skeletal remains.The identity of the human skeleton discovered in Gobero, Nigeria was determined to beKiffian based on the age of the remains. The skeleton was dated to be 9,000 years old which was theheart of the Kiffian era (Gwin 2008). Based on the positioning of the buried skeleton, it had beenbundled tightly with a material that had long since decomposed. The tight wrapping of the dead inanimal skins or some other material was a common funerary practice of the Kiffian (Sereno et al.2008). Because the Kiffian relied on fishing as a staple source of food, it is logical that the bonefishing hook is the same age as the Kiffian skeleton (Sereno et al. 2008). The date of the bone needlesuggests it belonged to the Tenerian. The numerous artifacts found in the graves of Tenerian peoplegive evidence that they were skilled craftsman and would have had great use for the bone needle(Sereno et al. 2008). The Tenerian raised cattle and relied on agriculture for their food source whichis supported by remains of domesticated cattle and grains dated back to this period (Sereno et al.2008). Their lifestyle allowed for the development of new skills such as making jewelry and otherartifacts that adorned their graves (Sereno et al. 2008).The gender of the skeleton is not definite because it can occasionally be difficult to determinethe sex of a human based on skeletal form (Pearson 1999). It is important to note that there is ageneral bias towards classifying remains as male so possible analysis of the DNA would confirm2ESSAI, Vol. 7 [2009], Art. 11http://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol7/iss1/1119gender. Height can be used as a guideline for determination of gender because females are generallyshorter and of smaller stature than males. However, there is evidence that some of the Kiffianfemales also measured up to 1.8 meters tall (Sereno et al. 2008). The skeleton in question has a pubicarch with an angle of less than 90 degrees which is more typical of a male (Tortora 1987). The pubicarch of a female’s pelvis generally will have a more obvious obtuse angle in order to provide an arealarge enough for a baby’s skull to pass through during child birth (Tortora 1987). The ratio of thepelvis was measured to be 0.84. A typical female pelvis has a ratio greater than 1.0 and a maletypically has a ratio of less than 0.80 (Gunstream 2008). The pelvic inlet of the skeleton is heart-shaped which is characteristic of a male (Tortora 1987). Because there is greater evidence, theskeleton was determined to be male even though it is relatively short compared to the average heightof a Kiffian adult male.The skeleton had 31 teeth suggesting that the last wisdom tooth had not yet come in at timeof death or some natural cause due to the age of the remains (Shipman 1985). An adult has 32 teethincluding the wisdom teeth, or third molars, that usually grow in at age 18-21 or older (Shipman1985). The skeleton showed no sign of aging such as osteoporosis and the teeth did not showexcessive wear so this individual’s age can be estimated as early twenties at time of death (Shipman1985).No markings or visible evidence were found on the skeleton that would indicate injury as thecause of death. A small portion of the ischial tuberosity was chipped away but damage due to thearcheological age of the remains is the most likely cause for this one flaw. Because the skeleton waspreserved in such immaculate condition, it can be speculated that the death was quick and caused noharm to the skeletal structure. Drowning, bleeding to death, or some diseases are feasible causes ofdeath because it is possible for no evidence to be maintained in the skeleton. Some diseases known toexist in ancient times such as syphilis would cause scarring especially on the skull of an infectedindividual (Ortner 1985). The individual was quite short so malnutrition is a valid explanation forlack of growth. Malnutrition so severe to cause death however, can usually be detected by thecurving, spongy appearance, or thinning of the boney structures. There were no lesions or othercharacteristics of identifiable diseases apparent on the skeletal remains (Ortner 1985).A discovery of skeletal remains in such impeccable condition is exciting because there isgreat potential to learn about human ancestral past. This specimen would be an excellent candidatefor DNA extraction to determine with confidence the gender of the skeleton and infectious agentsthat could have caused its death (Dancourt et al. 1998). Evidence of septicemic diseases such as thebubonic plague could be recovered from the extraction of DNA from dental pulp and demonstrate theetiology of such diseases (Dancourt et al. 1998). Analysis would also be useful to trace migratorypatterns in Africa including if the Kiffian are ancestors of the Tenerian (Pearson 1999).Literatures CitedDrancourt, M., G. Aboudharam, M. Signoli, O. Dutour, and D. Raoult. 1998. Detection of 400-year-old Yersinia pestis DNA in human dental pulp: An approach to the diagnosis of ancientsepticemia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States ofAmerica 13:95-115.Gunstream, S. E. 2008. The Skeletal System. Pages 177-178 in K. Thompson, editor. Symbiosis: thebenjamin cummings custom laboratory program for the biological sciences. Ed. K.Thompson: Pearson Custom Publishing, Boston, MA, USA. Pages 177-178.Gwin, P. 2008. Lost tribes of the green Sahara. National Geographic 214:126-143.3Briggs: The People of the Green SaharaProduced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 200920Ortner, D. J. and W.G.J., Putschar. 1985. Identification of Pathological Conditions in HumanSkeletal Remains. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C., USA.Pearson, Mike P. 1999. The Archaeology of Death and Burial. Texas A&M University Press, Bryan,TX, USA.Sereno, P., E.A.A. Garcea, H. Jousse, C.M. Stojanowski, J.F. Saliège, A. Maga, O.A. Ide, K.Knudson, A.M. Mercuri, T.W. Stafford Jr., T.G. Kaye, C. Giraudi, I.M. N’saila, E. Cocca,H.M. Moots, D.B. Dutheil, J.P. Stivers. 2008. Lakeside cemetery in the Sahara: 5000 years ofHolocene population and environmental change. PLoS ONE 2995:3-6.Shipman, P., A. Walker, and D. Bichell. 1985. The Human Skeleton. Harvard University Press,Cambridge, MA, USA.Tortora, G. J. and P. Anagnostakos. 1987. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. fifth edition.Harper & Row Publishers, New York, NY, USA.4ESSAI, Vol. 7 [2009], Art. 11http://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol7/iss1/1121Table 1:  Summary (mean ± standard deviation, all n = 10) of the archeological age of the discoveredspecimens. Student t comparisons test for differences in mean ages between the human skeleton andthe bone artifact.Specimen Archeological age t P________________________________________________________________Skeleton 9000 ± 12.5Bone fishing hook 9000 ± 9.6 0.758 0.458Bone needle 6500 ± 5.2 642.3 <0.001________________________________________________________________Table 2:  Measurements of the pelvic ratio of the skeleton were used to determine gender. Distance 1is the distance between the ischial spines while distance 2 is the distance between the pubicsymphysis and upper-inner sacrum.Measurement_____________________________________________Distance 1 8.0 cmDistance 2 9.5 cmPelvic Ratio 0.84_____________________________________________5Briggs: The People of the Green SaharaProduced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2009

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