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The African Humid Period and the ‘Green Sahara’

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Landscapes and Landforms of the Central Sahara

Part of the book series: World Geomorphological Landscapes ((WGLC))

Abstract

The African Humid Period (AHP, ~14.8–5.5 ka BP) is a key time period of the lateglacial and early Holocene when, under a wetter climate regime, areas of the central Sahara that are now dry once experienced flowing rivers and permanent lakes. More extensive vegetation and fauna then developed and this was able to sustain a greater intensity of and likely more sedentary patterns of human activity. For this reason, this period is known informally as the ‘Green Sahara’. Evidence for the AHP comes from a range of geomorphic, sedimentary, biological, and archaeological data from across North Africa in particular. In the central Sahara, this evidence provides insight into AHP climates, environments, and the ways in which prehistoric human activity exploited these environmental conditions. This chapter reviews the AHP as a time period, including its onset and termination, the evidence for climatic and environmental conditions during this period, and the richness and diversity of the archaeological record. The AHP provides a good example of the close interrelationships between climate change, land surface processes and human activity, and as such may usefully inform on the sensitivity of both environmental and human systems to climate forcing.

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Acknowledgements

Stefano Biagetti and Jennifer Fitchett are thanked for their comments on an earlier version of this chapter.

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  1. School of Geography, Archaeology, Environmental Studies, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa

    Jasper Knight

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  1. School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Jasper Knight

  2. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Stefania Merlo

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra “A. Desio”, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Andrea Zerboni

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Knight, J. (2023). The African Humid Period and the ‘Green Sahara’. In: Knight, J., Merlo, S., Zerboni, A. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of the Central Sahara. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47160-5_15

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