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Author Topic: 15,000 year old town in Al Maghrib
typeZeiss
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Stumbled across the following article some time ago:

The ruins were discovered deep in the desert of Western Sahara
The remains of a prehistoric town dating back 15,000 years have been discovered in the Moroccan-administered territory of Western Sahara.
The Moroccan state media on Thursday said a team of scientists stumbled across the sand-covered ruins of the town Arghilas, deep in the desert of Western Sahara.

The remains of a place of worship, houses and a necropolis, as well as columns and rock engravings depicting animals, were found at the site near the northeastern town of Aousserd.

Significant find

The isolated area is known to be rich in prehistoric rock engravings, but experts said the discovery could be significant if proven that the ruins were of Berber origin as this civilisation is believed to date back only about 9000 years.

"It appears that scientists have come up with the 15,000-year estimate judging by the style of engravings and the theme of the drawings," Mustafa Ouachi, a Rabat-based Berber historian said.

Berbers are the original inhabitants of North Africa before Arabs came to spread Islam in the seventh century.

The population of Western Sahara, seized by Morocco in 1975 when former colonial power Spain pulled out, is mostly of Berber and Arab descent.

http://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2004/08/20084914442080115.html

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typeZeiss
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For those wondering what the paintings on the rocks look like, they look just like the ones of black people through out the Sahara.
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Swenet
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quote:
Berbers are the original inhabitants of North Africa before Arabs came to spread Islam in the seventh century.
In their dreams
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dana marniche
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quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
For those wondering what the paintings on the rocks look like, they look just like the ones of black people through out the Sahara.

I wasn't wondering that but thanks for confirming what we already knew. [Wink]

We'd better take some pictures of them before some jealous Eurasian-descended nationalist goes over and repaints them another color. [Big Grin]

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Ish Geber
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quote:
Originally posted by dana marniche:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
For those wondering what the paintings on the rocks look like, they look just like the ones of black people through out the Sahara.

I wasn't wondering that but thanks for confirming what we already knew. [Wink]

We'd better take some pictures of them before some jealous Eurasian-descended nationalist goes over and repaints them another color. [Big Grin]

Do you know of the Berber history in that region? It would be nice to see a gradual overlap.
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typeZeiss
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quote:
Originally posted by dana marniche:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
For those wondering what the paintings on the rocks look like, they look just like the ones of black people through out the Sahara.

I wasn't wondering that but thanks for confirming what we already knew. [Wink]

We'd better take some pictures of them before some jealous Eurasian-descended nationalist goes over and repaints them another color. [Big Grin]

I wouldn't put it past them.
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typeZeiss
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quote:
Originally posted by Troll Patrol:
quote:
Originally posted by dana marniche:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
For those wondering what the paintings on the rocks look like, they look just like the ones of black people through out the Sahara.

I wasn't wondering that but thanks for confirming what we already knew. [Wink]

We'd better take some pictures of them before some jealous Eurasian-descended nationalist goes over and repaints them another color. [Big Grin]

Do you know of the Berber history in that region? It would be nice to see a gradual overlap.
My bigger question is, can it be proven that these guys who built this town were Berbers? Do Berbers go back 15,000 years? Also, is this town part of a larger civilization that may have been in the Sahara before the rise of Nile Valley civ? Also, what was the religion these people were practicing? I would be interested to see if it resembled Nile valley religion.
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Ish Geber
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quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
quote:
Originally posted by Troll Patrol:
quote:
Originally posted by dana marniche:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
For those wondering what the paintings on the rocks look like, they look just like the ones of black people through out the Sahara.

I wasn't wondering that but thanks for confirming what we already knew. [Wink]

We'd better take some pictures of them before some jealous Eurasian-descended nationalist goes over and repaints them another color. [Big Grin]

Do you know of the Berber history in that region? It would be nice to see a gradual overlap.
My bigger question is, can it be proven that these guys who built this town were Berbers? Do Berbers go back 15,000 years? Also, is this town part of a larger civilization that may have been in the Sahara before the rise of Nile Valley civ? Also, what was the religion these people were practicing? I would be interested to see if it resembled Nile valley religion.
Yes, this is what I am thinking aswell.


It all fits very well chronologically.


http://www.egyptsearch.com/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=007697;p=1#000000

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dana marniche
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quote:

Originally posted by typeZeiss:
For those wondering what the paintings on the rocks look like, they look just like the ones of black people through out the Sahara.

Do you know of the Berber history in that region? It would be nice to see a gradual overlap. [/QUOTE]The people in that region were not necessarily the original Berber-speakers. Berber is a name first used for either Cushitic or Nilo-Saharan peoples in the area of the Red Sea in Africa.

The people in the pre-Sahara and Sahara and along the west and north African coast were likely related to modern Fulani, Haratin and earliest Niger-Congo speakers. Of course we still don't know what the Fulani spoke.

Masmuda are the first Berbers mentioned along the coast but they are traditionally from the Garamantian area. They are mentioned as "black skinned" by several writers. Tuareg of course don't reach the Hoggar area until a very late historical period.

The idea that the early Berbers have always been in the Moroccan coastal area is based on the ideology that says the early Berbers were some Europoid Iberian "race", which of course we know to be impossible from genetics, physical descriptions, archaeology, tradition, and documented history.

Yes- it would be interesting to see if they were related to the civilizations of the Sahara and the Nile, and was it Capsian related, etc. [Smile]

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typeZeiss
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Sister Dana

Can you suggest any primary or secondary source for this informations?

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dana marniche
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Do you know French?


There is by Christian Dupuy "Reflexion sur l'identite des guerriers representes dans les gravures rupestres de l'Adrar des Iforas et de l'Air". Sahara 10:31-54.


Ba, A, H. & Dieterlen, G. (1966). Les fresques d’époque bovidienne du Tassili n’Ajjer et les traditions des Peul: Hypothèse d’interprétation, Journal de la Société des Africanistes, 36, 151–157.

There are some chronological studies done by Angela Close.

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typeZeiss
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un peu, j'ai étudié la langue pendant quatre ans.

I still suck though, need a one on one tutor I think lol

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dana marniche
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quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
un peu, j'ai étudié la langue pendant quatre ans.

I still suck though, need a one on one tutor I think lol

See then the partly in English pdf here
http://www.icomos.org/studies/rockart-sahara-northafrica/08sous-zone3.pdf

Rock art of Sahara and North Africa Sous Zone 3


The Eastern Libyans by Oric Bates was a good overall book on archeology of early North Africa linking ancient peoples to the Nile.

Some of the later peoples like Camps have been rather Euronuttish. So I can't recommend them. [Wink]


I am trying to think of the good specialists and articles connecting lithic industries of the Sahara to the Nile as well.

There are some chronological studies done by Angela Close. One of her general edited works was:

Prehistory of arid North Africa: Essays in Honour of Fred Wendorf in 1987.

Wendorf, Schild and Close are some of the archaeologists/anthropologists I consider reliable and relatively trustworthy considering the other stuff out there by white supremacists like Camps and Strouhal.

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typeZeiss
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Dana,

Thank you!!

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dana marniche
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quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
Dana,

Thank you!!

Welcome. [Smile]
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Explorador
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quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:

My bigger question is, can it be proven that these guys who built this town were Berbers? Do Berbers go back 15,000 years? Also, is this town part of a larger civilization that may have been in the Sahara before the rise of Nile Valley civ? Also, what was the religion these people were practicing? I would be interested to see if it resembled Nile valley religion.

By many indications, "Berber" presence that far west only occurs after the mid early-Holocene period. Remains from the "Maghreb" region, that are anywhere temporally close to your cited time frame, are generally more robust than those from contemporary coastal northern African populations among other things.

quote:
Originally posted by dana marniche:

Of course we still don't know what the Fulani spoke.

It's a no-brainer: They spoke Fula, or an early dialect of it. Fula is original to well, none other than the "Fulani" themselves; otherwise they would not have that namesake.

Fula is not a creole language; it is a true language phylum in its own right. Nor is it a primary language outside of Fula communities.

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Djehuti
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^ Ditto. Fula is a branch of Niger-Congo and more to topic, all the early Maghrebian remains are indeed robust and not "Mediterranean" as some would 'wish' to believe.
quote:
Originally posted by Swenet:

quote:
Berbers are the original inhabitants of North Africa before Arabs came to spread Islam in the seventh century.
In their dreams
LOL I was thinking the same as well. 'Berber' is a linguistic branch of Afrasian that diverged around 5,000-6,000 B.C i.e. much later than the dating of this town. It is erroneous to use 'Berber' for aboriginal inhabitant especially if these inhabitants predate the Berber language.
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Djehuti
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quote:
Originally posted by Troll Patrol:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:

My bigger question is, can it be proven that these guys who built this town were Berbers? Do Berbers go back 15,000 years? Also, is this town part of a larger civilization that may have been in the Sahara before the rise of Nile Valley civ? Also, what was the religion these people were practicing? I would be interested to see if it resembled Nile valley religion.

Yes, this is what I am thinking as well.

It all fits very well chronologically.

http://www.egyptsearch.com/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=007697;p=1#000000

The problem though is that the dating of this culture at 15,000 BP predates the spread and divergence of Proto-Afroasiatic let alone its branches like Berber or Egyptian. What we are dealing with is an entirely older culture, particularly one contemporary to the Halfan culture of the Nile Valley and central Sahara. The Halfans are already known for establishing settlements for long periods at a time. If this town is proven to be one of theirs it would be quite revelatory indeed.

quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
quote:
Originally posted by dana marniche:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
For those wondering what the paintings on the rocks look like, they look just like the ones of black people through out the Sahara.

I wasn't wondering that but thanks for confirming what we already knew. [Wink]

We'd better take some pictures of them before some jealous Eurasian-descended nationalist goes over and repaints them another color. [Big Grin]

I wouldn't put it past them.
LOL I could almost imagine the white Amazighs doing that-- whitewashing the artifacts to 'prove' their posterity in the region. [Big Grin]
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typeZeiss
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quote:
Originally posted by Djehuti:
quote:
Originally posted by Troll Patrol:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:

My bigger question is, can it be proven that these guys who built this town were Berbers? Do Berbers go back 15,000 years? Also, is this town part of a larger civilization that may have been in the Sahara before the rise of Nile Valley civ? Also, what was the religion these people were practicing? I would be interested to see if it resembled Nile valley religion.

Yes, this is what I am thinking as well.

It all fits very well chronologically.

http://www.egyptsearch.com/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=007697;p=1#000000

The problem though is that the dating of this culture at 15,000 BP predates the spread and divergence of Proto-Afroasiatic let alone its branches like Berber or Egyptian. What we are dealing with is an entirely older culture, particularly one contemporary to the Halfan culture of the Nile Valley and central Sahara. The Halfans are already known for establishing settlements for long periods at a time. If this town is proven to be one of theirs it would be quite revelatory indeed.

quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
quote:
Originally posted by dana marniche:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
For those wondering what the paintings on the rocks look like, they look just like the ones of black people through out the Sahara.

I wasn't wondering that but thanks for confirming what we already knew. [Wink]

We'd better take some pictures of them before some jealous Eurasian-descended nationalist goes over and repaints them another color. [Big Grin]

I wouldn't put it past them.
LOL I could almost imagine the white Amazighs doing that-- whitewashing the artifacts to 'prove' their posterity in the region. [Big Grin]
Thx for the halfan info, never heard of that culture. If that site in Morocco does prove to be theres then it would tie in with my theory that there most be some large kingdom under all that sand. One which I would imagine gave rise to Kush/Egypt etc.
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typeZeiss
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quote:
Originally posted by The Explorer:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:

My bigger question is, can it be proven that these guys who built this town were Berbers? Do Berbers go back 15,000 years? Also, is this town part of a larger civilization that may have been in the Sahara before the rise of Nile Valley civ? Also, what was the religion these people were practicing? I would be interested to see if it resembled Nile valley religion.

By many indications, "Berber" presence that far west only occurs after the mid early-Holocene period. Remains from the "Maghreb" region, that are anywhere temporally close to your cited time frame, are generally more robust than those from contemporary coastal northern African populations among other things.

quote:
Originally posted by dana marniche:

Of course we still don't know what the Fulani spoke.

It's a no-brainer: They spoke Fula, or an early dialect of it. Fula is original to well, none other than the "Fulani" themselves; otherwise they would not have that namesake.

Fula is not a creole language; it is a true language phylum in its own right. Nor is it a primary language outside of Fula communities.

It is interesting you mention creole languages. Mende language in Sierra Leone is a creole, but as Mendes moved from North to South they absorbed the people they came in contact with until they settled in Sierra Leone
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Djehuti
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quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:

Thx for the halfan info, never heard of that culture. If that site in Morocco does prove to be theres then it would tie in with my theory that there most be some large kingdom under all that sand. One which I would imagine gave rise to Kush/Egypt etc.

I take you mean empire, if such a polity stretched from Morocco to Egypt! Now that would be some exciting news. I don't know if such was the case, but a mesolithic empire sounds more plausible than the Euronut theory of neolithic slave trade to explain the black presence in southern Europe at that time. LOL
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Doug M
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Well it has been 8 years since this story has been posted and what has happened?

Where are the scholarly reports and findings?

Sounds like if they did find something there isn't a mad scramble to investigate it by the academy.

And of course any discussion of "Berbers" 15,000 years ago is purely fantasy land nonsense as well because the language didn't exist then and there is no proof uninterrupted continuity between the people 15,000 years ago and the people in the region today. Heck most of Western Sahara today is a desert wasteland that is sparsely populated, which is the main reason why Arabs and European derived folks have been able to dominate.

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Explorador
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quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:

It is interesting you mention creole languages. Mende language in Sierra Leone is a creole, but as Mendes moved from North to South they absorbed the people they came in contact with until they settled in Sierra Leone.

I don't quite get what you mean by the "Mende language" in Sierra Leon is a creole, since Mende is a language phylum. Did you mean to say that they mixed different preexisting Mende languages into one?

Ps: I wouldn't consider the borrowing or assimilating of words here and there as a characteristic of creole. Almost any language has that characteristic by trade or what else historic contact have you.

I have seen no evidence that Fula is a mixture of two or more different preexisting primary languages.

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Ru2religious
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quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
un peu, j'ai étudié la langue pendant quatre ans.

I still suck though, need a one on one tutor I think lol

Download this software - its free and you can read a .pdf in any language .... here's the link to the free download.

http://languagetranslator.codeplex.com/releases/view/55992

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typeZeiss
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quote:
Originally posted by The Explorer:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:

It is interesting you mention creole languages. Mende language in Sierra Leone is a creole, but as Mendes moved from North to South they absorbed the people they came in contact with until they settled in Sierra Leone.

I don't quite get what you mean by the "Mende language" in Sierra Leon is a creole, since Mende is a language phylum. Did you mean to say that they mixed different preexisting Mende languages into one?

Ps: I wouldn't consider the borrowing or assimilating of words here and there as a characteristic of creole. Almost any language has that characteristic by trade or what else historic contact have you.

I have seen no evidence that Fula is a mixture of two or more different preexisting primary languages.

you are confusing Mende with Mande. Mende is not a language Phylum. When our forefathers traveled down they mixed the original language with groups they conquered.

I am no linguist though, but if I can find the study on our language I read, not to long ago I will forward it to you.

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Explorador
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quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:

you are confusing Mende with Mande. Mende is not a language Phylum.

Not really; it is positioned as a language phylum under Mande--that is to say, it is a language sub-phylum, if you want to get technical. See, for instance:

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=men

quote:
When our forefathers traveled down they mixed the original language with groups they conquered.
When you note "the original" language, you are in effect saying that there is such a thing as an original language as "Mende". If not, then explain what you mean by "the original language"!

quote:
I am no linguist though, but if I can find the study on our language I read, not to long ago I will forward it to you.
Will do.
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typeZeiss
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quote:
Originally posted by The Explorer:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:

you are confusing Mende with Mande. Mende is not a language Phylum.

Not really; it is positioned as a language phylum under Mande--that is to say, it is a language sub-phylum, if you want to get technical. See, for instance:

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=men

quote:
When our forefathers traveled down they mixed the original language with groups they conquered.
When you note "the original" language, you are in effect saying that there is such a thing as an original language as "Mende". If not, then explain what you mean by "the original language"!

quote:
I am no linguist though, but if I can find the study on our language I read, not to long ago I will forward it to you.
Will do.

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_lang_family.asp?code=men

From the same site you gave

Phylum:

quote:
a major group of animals or in some classifications plants sharing one or more fundamental characteristics that set them apart from all other animals and plants and forming a primary category of the animal or plant kingdom
Source


According to the dictionary definition and your link the Phylum would be Niger-Congo

link

link

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dana marniche
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quote:
Originally posted by The Explorer:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:


[QUOTE]Originally posted by dana marniche:

Of course we still don't know what the Fulani spoke.

It's a no-brainer: They spoke Fula, or an early dialect of it. Fula is original to well, none other than the "Fulani" themselves; otherwise they would not have that namesake.

Fula is not a creole language; it is a true language phylum in its own right. Nor is it a primary language outside of Fula communities.

We don't any one group in Africa spoke 6,000 years ago, Explorer. Many Mande (Niger-Congo speakers) were speaking Nilo-Saharan dialects just 1000 years ago. Many Haitians were speaking Fon and other African dialects even more recently.
Even Native Americans have exchanged and adopted dialects over the last 2,000 years. [Wink]

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dana marniche
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quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
quote:
Originally posted by Djehuti:
quote:
Originally posted by Troll Patrol:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:

My bigger question is, can it be proven that these guys who built this town were Berbers? Do Berbers go back 15,000 years? Also, is this town part of a larger civilization that may have been in the Sahara before the rise of Nile Valley civ? Also, what was the religion these people were practicing? I would be interested to see if it resembled Nile valley religion.

Yes, this is what I am thinking as well.

It all fits very well chronologically.

http://www.egyptsearch.com/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=007697;p=1#000000

The problem though is that the dating of this culture at 15,000 BP predates the spread and divergence of Proto-Afroasiatic let alone its branches like Berber or Egyptian. What we are dealing with is an entirely older culture, particularly one contemporary to the Halfan culture of the Nile Valley and central Sahara. The Halfans are already known for establishing settlements for long periods at a time. If this town is proven to be one of theirs it would be quite revelatory indeed.

quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
quote:
Originally posted by dana marniche:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
For those wondering what the paintings on the rocks look like, they look just like the ones of black people through out the Sahara.

I wasn't wondering that but thanks for confirming what we already knew. [Wink]

We'd better take some pictures of them before some jealous Eurasian-descended nationalist goes over and repaints them another color. [Big Grin]

I wouldn't put it past them.
LOL I could almost imagine the white Amazighs doing that-- whitewashing the artifacts to 'prove' their posterity in the region. [Big Grin]
Thx for the halfan info, never heard of that culture. If that site in Morocco does prove to be theres then it would tie in with my theory that there most be some large kingdom under all that sand. One which I would imagine gave rise to Kush/Egypt etc.
Wadi Halfa and other early cultures are mentioned by the authors I mentioned. I would definitely look into them if you are interested in early North African cultures of the Holocene.
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dana marniche
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quote:
Originally posted by Doug M:
Well it has been 8 years since this story has been posted and what has happened?

Where are the scholarly reports and findings?

Sounds like if they did find something there isn't a mad scramble to investigate it by the academy.

And of course any discussion of "Berbers" 15,000 years ago is purely fantasy land nonsense as well because the language didn't exist then and there is no proof uninterrupted continuity between the people 15,000 years ago and the people in the region today. Heck most of Western Sahara today is a desert wasteland that is sparsely populated, which is the main reason why Arabs and European derived folks have been able to dominate.

Oh I'm glad I just saw this.
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quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
Stumbled across the following article some time ago:

The ruins were discovered deep in the desert of Western Sahara
The remains of a prehistoric town dating back 15,000 years have been discovered in the Moroccan-administered territory of Western Sahara.
The Moroccan state media on Thursday said a team of scientists stumbled across the sand-covered ruins of the town Arghilas, deep in the desert of Western Sahara.

The remains of a place of worship, houses and a necropolis, as well as columns and rock engravings depicting animals, were found at the site near the northeastern town of Aousserd.

Significant find

The isolated area is known to be rich in prehistoric rock engravings, but experts said the discovery could be significant if proven that the ruins were of Berber origin as this civilisation is believed to date back only about 9000 years.

"It appears that scientists have come up with the 15,000-year estimate judging by the style of engravings and the theme of the drawings," Mustafa Ouachi, a Rabat-based Berber historian said.

Berbers are the original inhabitants of North Africa before Arabs came to spread Islam in the seventh century.

The population of Western Sahara, seized by Morocco in 1975 when former colonial power Spain pulled out, is mostly of Berber and Arab descent.

http://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2004/08/20084914442080115.html

 -
I found this on a site saying it was as a representation from Arghilas, Assouard region of Morocco. Don't know if its true or not.

This art could not possibly date back to the neolithic period, and its easy to see why they said it was similar to rock art of other parts of the Sahara.

I found on one site something that says tombs in Morocco only date back to only 4,000 years ago. That dating of 15,000 years is apparently no longer accepted. According to some sites the earliest ruins were from the Bronze Age in the area which means they can be of true Berber origination - of course- predating the "white" Iberians and later Eurasiatic settlements in the area.

Art of the Western Sahara is also similar to that of Tassili and the Acacus.


This "flying gallop" style is of course found much further East in the Sahara in Libya and elsewhere.

Some Neolithic art of Iberia or Spain is also similar to that found in the Sahara.

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quote:
Originally posted by dana marniche:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
quote:
Originally posted by Djehuti:
quote:
Originally posted by Troll Patrol:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:

My bigger question is, can it be proven that these guys who built this town were Berbers? Do Berbers go back 15,000 years? Also, is this town part of a larger civilization that may have been in the Sahara before the rise of Nile Valley civ? Also, what was the religion these people were practicing? I would be interested to see if it resembled Nile valley religion.

Yes, this is what I am thinking as well.

It all fits very well chronologically.

http://www.egyptsearch.com/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=007697;p=1#000000

The problem though is that the dating of this culture at 15,000 BP predates the spread and divergence of Proto-Afroasiatic let alone its branches like Berber or Egyptian. What we are dealing with is an entirely older culture, particularly one contemporary to the Halfan culture of the Nile Valley and central Sahara. The Halfans are already known for establishing settlements for long periods at a time. If this town is proven to be one of theirs it would be quite revelatory indeed.

quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
quote:
Originally posted by dana marniche:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
For those wondering what the paintings on the rocks look like, they look just like the ones of black people through out the Sahara.

I wasn't wondering that but thanks for confirming what we already knew. [Wink]

We'd better take some pictures of them before some jealous Eurasian-descended nationalist goes over and repaints them another color. [Big Grin]

I wouldn't put it past them.
LOL I could almost imagine the white Amazighs doing that-- whitewashing the artifacts to 'prove' their posterity in the region. [Big Grin]
Thx for the halfan info, never heard of that culture. If that site in Morocco does prove to be theres then it would tie in with my theory that there most be some large kingdom under all that sand. One which I would imagine gave rise to Kush/Egypt etc.
Wadi Halfa and other early cultures are mentioned by the authors I mentioned. I would definitely look into them if you are interested in early North African cultures of the Holocene.
As we all know before the desertification, large parts were indeed fertile and populated.


My link shows this proto history. And is meant for collecting this data. So we can chronologically start giving a clear picture between all these cultures and cultural similarities.


This is why I created that thread in the first place. To look into the history of these proto cultures. At what is now considered the Sahara / Sahel- desert.


Second to this we have Tuaregs descending from or relating to ancient Bejas. And Berbers descending from Tuaregs.

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quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_lang_family.asp?code=men

From the same site you gave

Phylum:

quote:
a major group of animals or in some classifications plants sharing one or more fundamental characteristics that set them apart from all other animals and plants and forming a primary category of the animal or plant kingdom
Source


According to the dictionary definition and your link the Phylum would be Niger-Congo

link

link

I'm talking about language phylum. Saying that the term can be used to describe families of organisms does not invalidate its application towards languages. A language phylum can be a "sub-phylum" under a larger phylum; this is not rocket science. [Smile]
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Explorador
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quote:
Originally posted by dana marniche:

We don't any one group in Africa spoke 6,000 years ago, Explorer.

Fula is a primary language family; not a creole. Saying that they spoke something other than what is supposed to be the *signature* language of the Fula, is pure speculation. You'll need to provide evidence to validate this speculation.

quote:

Many Mande (Niger-Congo speakers) were speaking Nilo-Saharan dialects just 1000 years ago.

Specifics and evidence!
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quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
For those wondering what the paintings on the rocks look like, they look just like the ones of black people through out the Sahara.

If so. This is not weird considering they have always looked like this in the South of Morocco.


 -


 -


 -

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typeZeiss
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quote:
Originally posted by The Explorer:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_lang_family.asp?code=men

From the same site you gave

Phylum:

quote:
a major group of animals or in some classifications plants sharing one or more fundamental characteristics that set them apart from all other animals and plants and forming a primary category of the animal or plant kingdom
Source


According to the dictionary definition and your link the Phylum would be Niger-Congo

link

link

I'm talking about language phylum. Saying that the term can be used to describe families of organisms does not invalidate its application towards languages. A language phylum can be a "sub-phylum" under a larger phylum; this is not rocket science. [Smile]
One thing is for sure, it isn't rocket science. Neither is the idea of only speaking on topics when one knows what they are talking about and remaining silent when one doesnt.


quote:
A phylum is a term in linguistics used for language classification which denotes the highest recognized level of hierarchy. Unlike a language family, the genetic relationship between members of a phylum does not have to be fully proven.
link
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Djehuti
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quote:
Originally posted by Troll Patrol:

 -

What do these human remains represent? Those of the archaeological site in discussion or something else?
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typeZeiss
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quote:
Originally posted by dana marniche:
quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:
Stumbled across the following article some time ago:

The ruins were discovered deep in the desert of Western Sahara
The remains of a prehistoric town dating back 15,000 years have been discovered in the Moroccan-administered territory of Western Sahara.
The Moroccan state media on Thursday said a team of scientists stumbled across the sand-covered ruins of the town Arghilas, deep in the desert of Western Sahara.

The remains of a place of worship, houses and a necropolis, as well as columns and rock engravings depicting animals, were found at the site near the northeastern town of Aousserd.

Significant find

The isolated area is known to be rich in prehistoric rock engravings, but experts said the discovery could be significant if proven that the ruins were of Berber origin as this civilisation is believed to date back only about 9000 years.

"It appears that scientists have come up with the 15,000-year estimate judging by the style of engravings and the theme of the drawings," Mustafa Ouachi, a Rabat-based Berber historian said.

Berbers are the original inhabitants of North Africa before Arabs came to spread Islam in the seventh century.

The population of Western Sahara, seized by Morocco in 1975 when former colonial power Spain pulled out, is mostly of Berber and Arab descent.

http://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2004/08/20084914442080115.html

 -
I found this on a site saying it was as a representation from Arghilas, Assouard region of Morocco. Don't know if its true or not.

This art could not possibly date back to the neolithic period, and its easy to see why they said it was similar to rock art of other parts of the Sahara.

I found on one site something that says tombs in Morocco only date back to only 4,000 years ago. That dating of 15,000 years is apparently no longer accepted. According to some sites the earliest ruins were from the Bronze Age in the area which means they can be of true Berber origination - of course- predating the "white" Iberians and later Eurasiatic settlements in the area.

Art of the Western Sahara is also similar to that of Tassili and the Acacus.


This "flying gallop" style is of course found much further East in the Sahara in Libya and elsewhere.

Some Neolithic art of Iberia or Spain is also similar to that found in the Sahara.

what sites are you referring too? Are they scholarly sites, referring to scholarly work, that specifically addresses the al jazeera article or no? I am not arguing for or against. I will believe anything IF the science is there to validate it.
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Explorador
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quote:
Originally posted by typeZeiss:

One thing is for sure, it isn't rocket science.

I'm glad you agree, because it sure sounds like rocket science when one starts to fuss over a perfectly normal and well-understood usage of a term.

quote:

Neither is the idea of only speaking on topics when one knows what they are talking about and remaining silent when one doesnt.

How does that apply to this discussion; examples?
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Swenet
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I find it remarkable that some people will go to any lengths to strip away Central/West Africans from their homelands, simply because of their facial features.

Even though Fulani people speak a language that is clearly peculiar to them, Dana, you'd prefer speculating on the remote possibility that their language is not endemic to them?

What is your evidence that proto Fulani's spoke anything different than an ancestral form of what they speak today? Yes, there is a possibility that they spoke something different, but that goes for the entire continent. What sets Fulani's apart that you'd give them special treatment?

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Carlos Coke
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Can anyone here id the human remains in terms of the individual's geographic origins?
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