1 102 A Sahara and North Africa @ As temperatures rose and rainfall increased after about 9000 BC, lakes and grasslands developed in what is now the Sahara desert. Hunter-gatherers settled beside lakes and rivers, catching fish and hunting game, later also herding cattle and perhaps cultivating cereals. By 2000 BC, the lakes had shrunk and the grasslands were retreating.
# Sahara and North Africa, Cattle herding in art
2 102 B Hunter-gatherers @ We know much about Africa's early inhabitants from their rock art, which depicts men hunting and fishing, women gathering plants and small creatures, and lots of dancing. Modern hunter-gatherers inhabit a few marginal areas, driven there by the development of farming, but in the past they had the whole rich abundance of Africa's diverse environments.
# hunter-gatherers of SubSaharan Africa, rock art scene
3 103 C Old Kingdom Egypt and Nubia @ Around 3000 BC the farming communities of the Nile valley were unified into the Egyptian state. The kings of the early dynasties were buried in substantial royal tombs; later they were entombed in great pyramids. Egypt dominated both Lower Nubia and Sinai, sources of precious materials. Around 2200 BC royal power temporarily collapsed.
# Egypt Old Kingdom and Nubia, pyramid
4 103 D Cattle keepers @ The Sahara was progressively depopulated as it became more arid after 4000 BC, cattle keepers moving into regions further south. Pottery appears in West Africa around 4500 BC, along with ground stone axes which may have been used as hoes, reflecting the local beginnings of cultivation. In East Africa pottery appears later, around 2500 BC.
