Gobero
Encyclopedia
The Gobero archaeological site was discovered in 2000 and is the oldest known graveyard
in the Sahara Desert, dating back to 8000 BCE.
Located in the Ténéré
desert of Niger
, it is named after the Tuareg name for the region.
paleontologist and geologist Paul Sereno
, whose previous expeditions to the region had uncovered numerous fossils, including those of formerly unknown dinosaurs Nigersaurus
and Sarcosuchus
.
Discovered by team photographer Mike Hettwer on October 13, 2000, the sheer size and scope of the find, including traces of pottery, human remains and quantities of aquatic-environment animal bones, suggested the site dated to the early- to mid-Holocene
, or “Green Sahara” period.
In 2005 Sereno organized an international team of archaeologists to explore the site, which discovered that Gobero had been almost continually inhabited for 5000 years, beginning roughly from 8000 BCE onwards, when the area fronted a large lake.
At least one hundred eighty two burial sites were found at the Gobero site. Of these, sixty seven have been excavated, and some were found to have pottery and other artifacts located around them. Some of the remains uncovered at the area were decorated with jewelry, including a young girl wearing a bracelet made from the tusk of a hippo
, and a man buried with the carapace of a turtle
. A likely family grave was also found, with a woman and two children buried on their sides, facing each other and with hands entwined. Pollen evidence found at the probable family burial suggests that flowers decorated the grave, with a significant likelihood that they were put there as part of a ceremonial burial ritual.
The earlier settlers at Gobero appear to have been of the Kiffian culture: tall (as much as 6-foot 8-inches), heavily muscled hunter-fishers, they left a distinctive pottery with wavey lines and probably remained in the region until around 6000 BCE.
The Ténérians, who settled the area 1000 or more years later, belonged to a nomadic herding culture that occupied the site roughly from 6,500 to 4,500 years ago, and left bones of a smaller body size and equally distinctive pottery style.
Though the 2007 and 2008 expeditions had to be canceled due to hostilities between Nigerian government forces and Tuareg tribesmen, the first comprehensive report on Gobero was published by Sereno in August, 2008.
Graveyard
A graveyard is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones...
in the Sahara Desert, dating back to 8000 BCE.
Located in the Ténéré
Ténéré
The Ténéré is a desert region in the south central Sahara. It comprises a vast plain of sand stretching from northeastern Niger into western Chad, occupying an area of over...
desert of Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
, it is named after the Tuareg name for the region.
Archaeology
The site was discovered in 2000 by a team led by University of ChicagoUniversity of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
paleontologist and geologist Paul Sereno
Paul Sereno
Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger...
, whose previous expeditions to the region had uncovered numerous fossils, including those of formerly unknown dinosaurs Nigersaurus
Nigersaurus
Nigersaurus is a genus of diplodocoid sauropod dinosaur from the middle Cretaceous period, about 119 to 99 million years ago during the Aptian or Albian age. This dinosaur was described by Paul Sereno and colleagues in 1999...
and Sarcosuchus
Sarcosuchus
Sarcosuchus is an extinct genus of crocodyliform and distant relative of the crocodile that lived 112 million years ago. It dates from the early Cretaceous Period of what is now Africa and is one of the largest giant crocodile-like reptiles that ever lived...
.
Discovered by team photographer Mike Hettwer on October 13, 2000, the sheer size and scope of the find, including traces of pottery, human remains and quantities of aquatic-environment animal bones, suggested the site dated to the early- to mid-Holocene
Holocene
The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...
, or “Green Sahara” period.
In 2005 Sereno organized an international team of archaeologists to explore the site, which discovered that Gobero had been almost continually inhabited for 5000 years, beginning roughly from 8000 BCE onwards, when the area fronted a large lake.
At least one hundred eighty two burial sites were found at the Gobero site. Of these, sixty seven have been excavated, and some were found to have pottery and other artifacts located around them. Some of the remains uncovered at the area were decorated with jewelry, including a young girl wearing a bracelet made from the tusk of a hippo
Hippo
A hippo or hippopotamus is either of two species of large African mammal which live mainly in and near water:* Hippopotamus* Pygmy HippopotamusHippo may also refer to:-Given names:...
, and a man buried with the carapace of a turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
. A likely family grave was also found, with a woman and two children buried on their sides, facing each other and with hands entwined. Pollen evidence found at the probable family burial suggests that flowers decorated the grave, with a significant likelihood that they were put there as part of a ceremonial burial ritual.
The earlier settlers at Gobero appear to have been of the Kiffian culture: tall (as much as 6-foot 8-inches), heavily muscled hunter-fishers, they left a distinctive pottery with wavey lines and probably remained in the region until around 6000 BCE.
The Ténérians, who settled the area 1000 or more years later, belonged to a nomadic herding culture that occupied the site roughly from 6,500 to 4,500 years ago, and left bones of a smaller body size and equally distinctive pottery style.
Though the 2007 and 2008 expeditions had to be canceled due to hostilities between Nigerian government forces and Tuareg tribesmen, the first comprehensive report on Gobero was published by Sereno in August, 2008.
Further reading
- Sereno P.C., Garcea E.A.A., Jousse H., Stojanowski C.M., Saliège J-F., et al. 2008. Lakeside Cemeteries in the Sahara: 5000 Years of Holocene Population and Environmental Change. PLoS ONEPLoS ONEPLoS ONE is an open access peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science since 2006. It covers primary research from any discipline within science and medicine. All submissions go through an internal and external pre-publication peer review but are not excluded on the...
3(8): e2995. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002995