Revealed: first DNA profiles of ancient people who roamed a lush Sahara

The genomes of two women who lived 7,000 years ago in the Sahara when it was a green savannah reveal a remarkably isolated population. These represent the first full Saharan genomes from the African Humid Period — a time between 14,500 and 5,000 years ago when an unusually wet interval transformed the desert into a grassy woodland. The genetic material was taken from the Takarkori rock shelter in southwestern Libya, where it was protected from the high temperatures and strong ultraviolet light that make ancient DNA so rare in the region.