The entomologist confirmed the first Saharan farm 10,000 years ago

By analyzing a prehistoric region in the Libyan desert, a group of researchers from the universities of Huddersfield, Rome and Modena & Reggio Emilia were able to determine that people in Saharan Africa once planted grain storage. Wild cup from 10,000 years ago.

The importance of this search is incorporated through the formal cooperation between Huddersfield University and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

The team investigated findings from an ancient stone house in a location called Takarkori in western Libya. It is desert now, but in the Holocene period, about 10,000 years ago, it was part of the "green desert" and the wild grain was planted there. More than 2,000 small-sized seeds were discovered at Takarkori, showing ancient people harvesting and storing crop grains. And it does not exclude the possibility that this seed is harvested by insects.

Dr. Stefano Vanin, Huddersfield University Forensic Biologist and leading entomologist in the fields of forensics and archeology, analyzed a large number of samples, now stored at the University Study Modena and Reggio Emilia. His observations allowed him to prove that insects are not responsible for seed harvesting and this supports the hypothesis of human activity in collecting and storing grain grains that have grown tens of thousands. years ago.

The investigation at Takarkori provided the first evidence of storage and cultivation of cereals in Africa. The ruins discovered in the area consist of a basket, the roots of woven fabrics that could be used to collect seeds. In addition, chemical analysis of ceramics from this location showed that cereal soup and cheese were produced.

One of the conclusions of the paper shows that wild grains harvested by the Sahoc Holocene.

Dr. Vanin and a doctoral candidate at Huddersfield University were funded by a £ 1 million prize from Leverhulme Trust - and she is analyzing insect evidence to learn more about the evolution of livestock at this area.