Archaeologists reveal mysteries of ‘lost’ 3,000-year-old civ

[anansi]

Archaeologists reveal mysteries of
‘lost’ 3,000-year-old civilization
The work of a University of Leicester archaeologist investigating a
lost civilization in southern Libya will reshape the history of early Africa.

Professor David Mattingly, of the University's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, has been researching an ancient Saharan people called the Garamantes, whose settlements can be as old as 3,000 years. The £1.8 million project, funded by the European Research Council (ERC), began in 2011 and has uncovered a wealth of knowledge about pre-Islamic and early Islamic Africa, including demonstrating the formation of early states, tracing population migrations and finding some of the earliest evidence of Saharan trade. Using aerial photography and satellite imagery Professor Mattingly and his team have pieced together the area’s archaeological heritage and discovered hundreds of fortified oasis settlements and advanced water and irrigation systems that sustained advanced oasis agriculture. These discoveries reveal that the sun-beaten and arid lands of the Sahara to have been a much more populous place than first thought.

Professor Mattingly said: "The Sahara is often depicted as a totally hostile landscape in which only a few scattered nomads could eke out an existence prior to the expansion of Trans-Saharan trade routes in the Islamic era. "The new evidence suggests that the early medieval expansion of trade and settlement built on earlier initiatives, in which the Garamantes had played a significant role.” The five-year project looks at the period dating from 500BC to AD 1500. The team started with a focus on southern Libya where the heartlands of the Garamantes were located – once thought to be a nomadic tribe living in scattered camps dotted among the dunes of the central Sahara, the Garamantes are now known to have built sophisticated permanent villages and urban settlements.

They also practised oasis agriculture – exploiting fossil water sources to irrigate crops – and were skilled craftsmen and manufacturers which has been shown by examples of metalworking and textile production found at the archaeological sites. Trade was also an important part of life for this ancient society and demonstrable links with both the Mediterranean and Sub-Saharan zones has shown that they were among the first people to create a Trans-Saharan network of commerce. But this is not all. As Professor Mattingly’s Research Associate, Dr Martin Sterry, explains, the implications of the discoveries relating to the Garamantes extend into other areas of the Sahara. He added: “Our mapping work from satellite images has revealed similar patterns of permanent settlements and oasis farming innovation in other regions and it looks like some of this also originated in the pre-Islamic era. Professor Mattingly concludes: "This changes the whole basis of our understanding of human occupation with and contacts across the Sahara. The desert was a much more intensely settled and inter-connected region than we have previously realised.”

Read more at: archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.jp/2015/02/archaeologists-reveal-mysteries-of-lost.html#.VPptRnyUcy_
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Off-course we here at ESR knew about the Garamantians long ago but it's just refreshing to know that mapping and digs is ongoing in one of Africa's formative civilizations.

[kaskata]

Hopefully this wont be turned into the Ancient Egypt debacle, by claiming a non African group started this civ. They are just scratching the surface when it comes to Africa as a whole.

[truthteacher2007]

Mar 7, 2015 23:13:59 GMT -5 kaskata said:

Hopefully this wont be turned into the Ancient Egypt debacle, by claiming a non African group started this civ. They are just scratching the surface when it comes to Africa as a whole.

Never fails to amaze me how some people are shocked at "discoveries" that we knew about years ago. Regardless of the fact, like you said, it is reassuring to see that the work is being done. It's really hard to find any information about ancient North Africa west of Egypt before the Phoenician colonies such as Carthage. There is so much information about ancient African civilizations in general waiting to be found.

[kaskata]

What really amazes me is the fact that African Oral history is so easily dismissed, but yet when research is done, it is proven valid, an example would be the Lemba people. What equally amazes me, is the fact they found a black baby mummy in North Africa west of Egypt, which predates dynastic Egypt, and a lot of mainstream scientist still want to argue a non black African presents. There is an article at www.phys.org/news/2015-03-early-herders-grassy-route-africa.html about a possible route of domesticated African farm animal, from North African to Southern African via Kenya.

[anansi]

Mar 10, 2015 16:39:43 GMT -5 kaskata said:

What really amazes me is the fact that African Oral history is so easily dismissed, but yet when research is done, it is proven valid, an example would be the Lemba people. What equally amazes me, is the fact they found a black baby mummy in North Africa west of Egypt, which predates dynastic Egypt, and a lot of mainstream scientist still want to argue a non black African presents. There is an article at www.phys.org/news/2015-03-early-herders-grassy-route-africa.html about a possible route of domesticated African farm animal, from North African to Southern African via Kenya.

Good find on the link Kaskata. deserved it's own thread.