Neolithic Subpluvial
Encyclopedia
The Neolithic Subpluvial — sometimes called the Holocene
Wet Phase — was an extended period (from about 7500-7000 BC to about 3500-3000 BC) of wet and rainy conditions in the climate
history of northern Africa. It was both preceded and followed by much drier periods.
The Neolithic Subpluvial was the most recent of a number of periods of "Wet Sahara" or "Green Sahara", during which the region was much more moist and supported a richer biota
and human population than the present-day desert.
Subpluvial began during the 7th millennium BC
and was strong for about 2000 years; it waned over time and ended after the 5.9 kiloyear event
(3,900 BCE). Then the drier conditions that prevailed prior to the Neolithic Subpluvial returned; desertification
advanced, and the Sahara desert formed (or re-formed). Arid conditions have continued through to the present day.
, Central
, and East Africa
had hydrographic
profiles significantly different from later norms. Existing lakes had surfaces tens of meters higher than today, sometimes with alternative drainages: Lake Turkana
, in present-day Kenya
, drained into the Nile River basin. Lake Chad
reached a maximum extent of some 400,000 square kilometers in surface area, larger than the modern Caspian Sea
, with a surface level about 30 meters (100 feet) higher than its twentieth-century average. Some shallower lakes and river systems existed in the subpluvial era that later disappeared entirely, and are detectable today only via radar
and satellite imagery
.
type of ecosystem, with elephant
, giraffe
, and other grassland and woodland animals now typical of the Sahel
region south of the desert, along with some now extinct megafauna
such as Sivatherium
and Pelorovis
. Historian and Africanist Roland Oliver
has described the scene as follows:
Clement and fertile conditions during the Neolithic Subpluvial supported increased human settlement of the Nile Valley in Egypt
, as well as neolithic
societies in Sudan
and throughout the present-day Sahara. Cultures producing rock art
(notably that at Tassili n'Ajjer
in southeastern Algeria
) flourished during this period.
The practical consequences of these changes took the form of increased abundance of fish, waterfowl, freshwater mollusks, rodents, hippos and crocodiles. The riches of this increased aquatic biomass were exploited by humans with rafts, boats, weirs, traps, harpoons, nets, hooks, lines and sinkers. This "riparian" (river) way of life supported much larger communities than could that of typical hunting bands. These changes, along with the local development of pottery (whereby liquids could be both stored and heated) resulted in a "culinary revolution" consisting of soup, fish stew and porridge
. The last mentioned implies the cooking of gathered cereals.
The classic account of the riparian lifestyle of this period comes from investigations in Sudan during World War II by British archeologist Anthony Arkell. Arkell's report described a Late Stone Age settlement on a sandbank of the Blue Nile
which was then about 12 feet higher than its present flood stage. The countryside was clearly savanna, not the present-day desert, as evidenced by the bones of the most common species found in the middens — antelope, which require large expanses of seed-bearing grasses. These people probably lived mainly on fish, however, and Arkell concluded, based on the totality of the evidence, that rainfall at the time was at least three times that of today. The physical characteristics derived from skeletal remains suggested that these people were related to modern Nilotic
peoples, such as the Nuer and Dinka
. Subsequent radiocarbon dating firmly established Arkell's site to between 7000 and 5000 BC. Based on common patterns at his site and at French-excavated sites already reported from Chad
, Mali
and Niger
(e.g., bone harpoons and a characteristic "wavy line" pottery), Arkell inferred "a common fishing and hunting culture spread by negroid people right across Africa at about the latitude of Khartoum
at a time when the climate was so different that it was not desert. So far, the originators of the wavy line pottery are as yet unidentified.
In the 1960s, the archeologist Gabriel Camps
investigated the remains of a hunting and fishing community dating from about 6700 BC in southern Algeria
. These pottery-making people (the "wavy line" motif again) were definitely black African rather than Mediterranean in origin and (according to Camps) evidenced definite signs of deliberate cultivation of grain crops as opposed to simply the gathering of wild grains. Later studies at the site have shown the culture to be hunter gatherers and not agriculturalists, as all the grains were morphologically wild, and the society was not sedentary.
Human remains were found by archaeologists in 2000 at a site known as Gobero
in the Ténéré Desert
of northeastern Niger
. The Gobero finds represent a uniquely preserved record of human habitation and burials from what is now called the Kiffian (7,700 to 6,200 B.C.) and the Tenerian (5,200 to 2,500 B.C.) cultures.
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"...
Wet Phase — was an extended period (from about 7500-7000 BC to about 3500-3000 BC) of wet and rainy conditions in the climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
history of northern Africa. It was both preceded and followed by much drier periods.
The Neolithic Subpluvial was the most recent of a number of periods of "Wet Sahara" or "Green Sahara", during which the region was much more moist and supported a richer biota
Biota (ecology)
Biota are the total collection of organisms of a geographic region or a time period, from local geographic scales and instantaneous temporal scales all the way up to whole-planet and whole-timescale spatiotemporal scales. The biota of the Earth lives in the biosphere.-See...
and human population than the present-day desert.
Date ranges
The NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
Subpluvial began during the 7th millennium BC
7th millennium BC
During the 7th millennium BC, agriculture spreads from Anatolia to the Balkans.World population was essentially stable at around 5 million people, living mostly scattered across the globe in small hunting-gathering tribes...
and was strong for about 2000 years; it waned over time and ended after the 5.9 kiloyear event
5.9 kiloyear event
The 5.9 kiloyear event was one of the most intense aridification events during the Holocene. It occurred around 3900 BC, ending the Neolithic Subpluvial and probably initiated the most recent desiccation of the Sahara desert. Thus, it also triggered worldwide migration to river valleys, e.g...
(3,900 BCE). Then the drier conditions that prevailed prior to the Neolithic Subpluvial returned; desertification
Desertification
Desertification is the degradation of land in drylands. Caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities, desertification is one of the most significant global environmental problems.-Definitions:...
advanced, and the Sahara desert formed (or re-formed). Arid conditions have continued through to the present day.
Geography and hydrography
During the Neolithic Subpluvial, large areas of NorthNorth Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, Central
Central Africa
Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
, and East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
had hydrographic
Hydrography
Hydrography is the measurement of the depths, the tides and currents of a body of water and establishment of the sea, river or lake bed topography and morphology. Normally and historically for the purpose of charting a body of water for the safe navigation of shipping...
profiles significantly different from later norms. Existing lakes had surfaces tens of meters higher than today, sometimes with alternative drainages: Lake Turkana
Lake Turkana
Lake Turkana , formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake...
, in present-day Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, drained into the Nile River basin. Lake Chad
Lake Chad
Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Africa, whose size has varied over the centuries. According to the Global Resource Information Database of the United Nations Environment Programme, it shrank as much as 95% from about 1963 to 1998; yet it also states that "the 2007 ...
reached a maximum extent of some 400,000 square kilometers in surface area, larger than the modern Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
, with a surface level about 30 meters (100 feet) higher than its twentieth-century average. Some shallower lakes and river systems existed in the subpluvial era that later disappeared entirely, and are detectable today only via radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
and satellite imagery
Satellite imagery
Satellite imagery consists of photographs of Earth or other planets made by means of artificial satellites.- History :The first images from space were taken on sub-orbital flights. The U.S-launched V-2 flight on October 24, 1946 took one image every 1.5 seconds...
.
Ecology
North Africa enjoyed a fertile climate during the subpluvial era; what is now the Sahara supported a savannaSavanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
type of ecosystem, with elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
, giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
, and other grassland and woodland animals now typical of the Sahel
Sahel
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea....
region south of the desert, along with some now extinct megafauna
Megafauna
In terrestrial zoology, megafauna are "giant", "very large" or "large" animals. The most common thresholds used are or...
such as Sivatherium
Sivatherium
Sivatherium ' is an extinct genus of giraffid that ranged throughout Africa to Southern Asia . The African species, S...
and Pelorovis
Pelorovis
Pelorovis is an extinct genus of African wild cattle, which first appeared in the Pliocene, 2.5 million years ago., and became extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene about 12.000 years ago or even during the Holocene, some 4,000 years ago...
. Historian and Africanist Roland Oliver
Roland Oliver
Roland Oliver is Emeritus Professor of African history at the University of London. Throughout a long career he was an eminent researcher, writer, teacher, administrator and organiser, who had a profound effect on the development of African Studies in the United Kingdom and who has made an...
has described the scene as follows:
[In] the highlands of the central Sahara beyond the Libyan desertLibyan DesertThe Libyan Desert covers an area of approximately 1,100,000 km2, it extends approximately 1100 km from east to west, and 1,000 km from north to south, in about the shape of a rectangle...
,... in the great massifMassifIn geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole...
s of the Tibesti and the Hoggar, the mountaintops, today bare rock, were covered at this period with forests of oakOakAn oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
and walnutWalnutJuglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
, limeLime (fruit)Lime is a term referring to a number of different citrus fruits, both species and hybrids, which are typically round, green to yellow in color, 3–6 cm in diameter, and containing sour and acidic pulp. Limes are a good source of vitamin C. Limes are often used to accent the flavors of foods and...
, alderAlderAlder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
and elmElmElms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
. The lower slopes, together with those of the supporting bastions — the Tassili and the AcacusTadrart AcacusThe Acacus Mountains or Tadrart Acacus form a mountain range in the desert of the of the Ghat District in western Libya, part of the Sahara. They are situated east of the Libyan city of Ghat and stretch north from the Algerian border about 100 km. Tadrart means 'mountain' in the native...
to the north, Ennedi and AirAïr MountainsThe Aïr Mountains is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara desert...
to the south — carried oliveOliveThe olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
, juniperJuniperJunipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
and Aleppo pineAleppo PinePinus halepensis, commonly known as the Aleppo Pine, is a pine native to the Mediterranean region. Their range extends from Morocco and Spain north to southern France, Italy and Croatia, and east to Greece and northern Tunisia, and Libya, with an outlying population in Syria, Lebanon, southern...
. In the valleys, perennially flowing rivers teemed with fish and were bordered by seed-bearing grasslands.
Cultures
- Main article: Prehistoric Central North AfricaPrehistoric Central North Africa- Early and middle Paleolithic :Earlier inhabitants of central North Africa have left behind equally significant remains. Early remnants of hominid occupation in North Africa, for example, were found in Ain el Hanech, near Saïda ; in fact, more recent investigations have found signs of Oldowan...
Clement and fertile conditions during the Neolithic Subpluvial supported increased human settlement of the Nile Valley in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, as well as neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
societies in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
and throughout the present-day Sahara. Cultures producing rock art
Saharan rock art
Saharan rock art is a significant area of archaeological study focusing on the precious treasures carved or painted on the natural rocks found in the central Sahara desert. There are over three thousand sites discovered that have information about Saharan rock art...
(notably that at Tassili n'Ajjer
Tassili n'Ajjer
Tassili n'Ajjer is a mountain range in the Algerian section of the Sahara Desert. It is a vast plateau in south-east Algeria at the borders of Libya, Niger and Mali, covering an area of 72,000 sq...
in southeastern Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
) flourished during this period.
The practical consequences of these changes took the form of increased abundance of fish, waterfowl, freshwater mollusks, rodents, hippos and crocodiles. The riches of this increased aquatic biomass were exploited by humans with rafts, boats, weirs, traps, harpoons, nets, hooks, lines and sinkers. This "riparian" (river) way of life supported much larger communities than could that of typical hunting bands. These changes, along with the local development of pottery (whereby liquids could be both stored and heated) resulted in a "culinary revolution" consisting of soup, fish stew and porridge
Porridge
Porridge is a dish made by boiling oats or other cereal meals in water, milk, or both. It is usually served hot in a bowl or dish...
. The last mentioned implies the cooking of gathered cereals.
The classic account of the riparian lifestyle of this period comes from investigations in Sudan during World War II by British archeologist Anthony Arkell. Arkell's report described a Late Stone Age settlement on a sandbank of the Blue Nile
Blue Nile
The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. With the White Nile, the river is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile...
which was then about 12 feet higher than its present flood stage. The countryside was clearly savanna, not the present-day desert, as evidenced by the bones of the most common species found in the middens — antelope, which require large expanses of seed-bearing grasses. These people probably lived mainly on fish, however, and Arkell concluded, based on the totality of the evidence, that rainfall at the time was at least three times that of today. The physical characteristics derived from skeletal remains suggested that these people were related to modern Nilotic
Nilotic
Nilotic people or Nilotes, in its contemporary usage, refers to some ethnic groups mainly in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and northern Tanzania, who speak Nilotic languages, a large sub-group of the Nilo-Saharan languages...
peoples, such as the Nuer and Dinka
Dinka
The Dinka is an ethnic group inhabiting the Bahr el Ghazal region of the Nile basin, Jonglei and parts of southern Kordufan and Upper Nile regions. They are mainly agro-pastoral people, relying on cattle herding at riverside camps in the dry season and growing millet and other varieties of grains ...
. Subsequent radiocarbon dating firmly established Arkell's site to between 7000 and 5000 BC. Based on common patterns at his site and at French-excavated sites already reported from Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
, Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
and 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...
(e.g., bone harpoons and a characteristic "wavy line" pottery), Arkell inferred "a common fishing and hunting culture spread by negroid people right across Africa at about the latitude of Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
at a time when the climate was so different that it was not desert. So far, the originators of the wavy line pottery are as yet unidentified.
In the 1960s, the archeologist Gabriel Camps
Gabriel Camps
Gabriel Camps was a French historian, founder of the Encyclopédie berbère and considered a prestigious scholar in Berber historical studies.-Biography:Gabriel Camps was born in Misserghine...
investigated the remains of a hunting and fishing community dating from about 6700 BC in southern Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. These pottery-making people (the "wavy line" motif again) were definitely black African rather than Mediterranean in origin and (according to Camps) evidenced definite signs of deliberate cultivation of grain crops as opposed to simply the gathering of wild grains. Later studies at the site have shown the culture to be hunter gatherers and not agriculturalists, as all the grains were morphologically wild, and the society was not sedentary.
Human remains were found by archaeologists in 2000 at a site known as Gobero
Gobero
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.-Archaeology:...
in the Ténéré Desert
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...
of northeastern 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...
. The Gobero finds represent a uniquely preserved record of human habitation and burials from what is now called the Kiffian (7,700 to 6,200 B.C.) and the Tenerian (5,200 to 2,500 B.C.) cultures.
See also
- Abbassia PluvialAbbassia PluvialThe Abbassia Pluvial was an extended wet and rainy period in the climate history of North Africa. It began c. 120,000 years before the present , lasted approximately 30,000 years, and ended c. 90,000 ybp...
- Ancient LibyaAncient LibyaThe Latin name Libya referred to the region west of the Nile Valley, generally corresponding to modern Northwest Africa. Climate changes affected the locations of the settlements....
- GermaGermaGerma, known in ancient times as Garama, is an archaeological site in Libya and was the capital of the Garamantes.The Garamantes were a Berber people living in the Fezzan in the northeastern Sahara, originating from the Sahara's Tibesti region. Garamantian power climaxed during the 2nd and the 3rd...
- Mechta-AfalouMechta-AfalouMechta-Afalou or Mechtoid are an extinct people of North Africa. Mechtoids inhabited Northern Africa during late Paleolithic and Mesolithic ....
- Mousterian PluvialMousterian PluvialThe Mousterian Pluvial was an extended wet and rainy period in the climate history of North Africa. It occurred during the Upper Paleolithic era, beginning around 50,000 years before the present , lasting 20,000 years, and ending around 30,000 ybp .During the Mousterian Pluvial, the now-desiccated...
- North African climate cyclesNorth African climate cyclesNorth African Climate Cycles have a unique history that can be traced back millions of years. The cyclic climate pattern of the Sahara is characterized by significant shifts in the strength of the North African Monsoon...
- Older PeronOlder PeronThe Older Peron transgression was a period of unusually warm climate during the Holocene Epoch. It began in the 5000 BCE to 4900 BCE era, and lasted to about 4100 BCE...
- Piora OscillationPiora OscillationThe Piora Oscillation was an abrupt cold and wet period in the climate history of the Holocene Epoch; it is generally dated to the period of c. 3200 to 2900 BCE...
- PluvialPluvialIn geology and climatology, a pluvial was an extended period of abundant rainfall lasting many thousands of years. Pluvial is also applied to the sediments of these periods . The term is especially applied to such periods during the Pleistocene Epoch...
- Rock art of the Djelfa regionRock art of the Djelfa regionThe rock art of the Djelfa region consists of prehistoric engravings of Neolithic age which have been recognized since 1914. Following the Saharan Atlas Mountains they follow on from those, to the west, of south Oran , to which they are related...
- Sahara pump theorySahara pump theoryThe Sahara pump theory is a hypothesis that explains how flora and fauna migrated between Eurasia and Africa via a Levantine land bridge. The theory observes that extended periods of abundant rainfall lasting many thousands of years in Africa are associated with a "wet Sahara" phase, during which...
- SahelSahelThe Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea....
- Sahel droughtSahel drought[[File:Greening Sahel 1982-1999.jpg|thumb|300px|Recent "Greening" of the Sahel: The results of trend analyses of time series over the Sahel region of seasonally integrated NDVI using NOAA AVHRR NDVI-data from 1982 to 1999...
Further reading
- Burroughs, William J., ed. Climate: Into the 21st Century. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003
- Howell, Francis Clark, and François Bourlière. African Ecology and Human Evolution. London, Routledge, 2004 (reprint of the 1964 edition)
- Eamonn GearonEamonn GearonEamonn Gearon is an author, Arabist and analyst. An English-born Irishman, Gearon's career has been the development of understanding and insight between the Greater Middle East and the West. Gearon is best known for his book The Sahara: A Cultural History Gearon is also an accomplished desert...
. "The Sahara: A Cultural History." Signal Books, UK, 2011. Oxford University Press, USA. 2011.