7,000-Year-Old Sahara Mummies Belong to an Unknown Human Lineage, according to a groundbreaking new genetic study that is reshaping our understanding of ancient Africa. Researchers have discovered that two naturally mummified individuals found deep in the Sahara Desert do not belong to any known branch of the human family tree.
Today, the Sahara is one of the harshest and driest regions on Earth. However, thousands of years ago, it was a very different place.
When the Sahara Was Green and Full of Life
Between approximately 14,800 and 5,500 years ago, the Sahara experienced what scientists call the African Humid Period. During this time, the region was home to lakes, wetlands, grasslands, and savannas. Human communities lived, farmed, herded animals, and thrived in what is often referred to as the “Green Sahara.”
It was during this fertile period that a mysterious population lived in what is now southwestern Libya. New genetic evidence suggests this group may represent a previously unknown branch of humanity.
The Takarkori Rock Shelter Discovery
The study focused on two 7,000-year-old naturally mummified women discovered at the Takarkori rock shelter in the central Sahara. The mummies were remarkably preserved thanks to the region’s extreme dryness.
A research team led by archaeogeneticist Nada Salem from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology analyzed fragments of ancient DNA recovered from the remains. Despite the Sahara’s poor conditions for DNA preservation, the researchers were able to extract enough genetic material to draw major conclusions.
A “Ghost Population” From Human Prehistory
The analysis revealed that the two women belonged to what scientists call a “ghost population.” This term refers to ancient human groups that left genetic traces in modern populations but were previously known only through indirect evidence, with no physical remains ever identified.
According to the study, the Takarkori people descended from a North African lineage that split from sub-Saharan African populations around 50,000 years ago—roughly the same time modern humans began migrating out of Africa.
This makes them genetically distinct from both sub-Saharan Africans and later North African groups.
Links to Other Ancient North Africans
The findings, published in the prestigious journal Nature, show that the Takarkori individuals were closely related to 15,000-year-old hunter-gatherers from Taforalt Cave in Morocco.
Both groups display a similar genetic distance from sub-Saharan African populations, suggesting that genetic interaction between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa was limited during that time.
Unexpected Neanderthal DNA
Another surprising discovery involved Neanderthal ancestry. While Taforalt individuals carried about half the Neanderthal DNA found in non-African modern humans, the Takarkori mummies had ten times less Neanderthal DNA.
Even so, they still carried more Neanderthal genetic material than sub-Saharan African populations living at the same time. Researchers believe this points to limited indirect contact rather than direct interaction with Neanderthals.
Minimal Mixing With Farmers From the Levant
The genetic data also shows small traces of mixing with early farmers from the Levant. Beyond this, the Takarkori population appears to have remained largely genetically isolated for thousands of years.
This isolation may be explained by the Green Sahara’s diverse landscapes—lakes, forests, wetlands, mountains, and savannas—which could naturally limit contact between different human groups.
Rethinking the Spread of Farming and Herding
For many years, scholars believed that farming and animal herding spread across North Africa mainly through large-scale migrations. However, this study suggests a different story.
The researchers propose that agriculture and pastoralism spread through cultural exchange, not mass population movement. The ancestors of the Takarkori people were hunter-gatherers who later adopted herding practices without major genetic input from outside groups.