Conrad Beach Human Origins 4-18-14

Dynamics of Green Sahara Periods and Their Role in Hominin Evolution

I chose to do my assignment on the article titled Dynamics of Green Sahara Periods and Their Role in Hominin Evolution. Basically what the article which I did my assignment on was saying was that during the course of about 8 million years, there was around 230 periods of times where the sahara desert went through a Green period of having plenty of water and it being a very inhabitable environment. The article states that for a Green Sahara Period (GSP for short) to begin, it takes 2-3 thousand years of developmental time, and at 4-8 thousand years from the start, the GSP was reaching its peak, ending 2-3 thousand years after the peak. By this occurring, their was very rapid and extremely drastic habitat fragmentation. That is an obvious occurance seeing as how the place went from a dry, arid, and desolate desert, to at some places a complete lake! This drastic change effected the Hominins that were in the area a lot. It completely changed the type and amount of vegetation that the early people had around them to use for food and for all of their other uses. Before the course of Green Sahara Periods, the hominins had to learn how to live in synch with the changing and often times new environment. Going from a group of people who once thrived in the wet and water filled area of the Sahara, to soon after just a few

thousand years, having to completely learn how to live in a desert environment took a complete toll on the inhabitants. One of the biggest effects that the GSPs had on the ancient people who lived there was that they had to essentially pack up and move out into a new area once the place that they currently were living at was too wet and such to live there. That means whether they moved 5 miles, or 500 miles, they slowly started spreading their way of life, use of the environment, and their thought processes to other places. That can play a huge role in the formation of different groups within the same exact species. If one group chose to stay close to the edge of the lake, then their way of life would differ dramatically from that of a group who decides to make a homestead of sorts more in the desert or up on a mountain somewhere. When people move to a new and different place than they were at before, then that is when they have to adjust to the new surroundings and often times learn exactly the best and most efficient way of survival for living in that land. I thought this article was a very interesting one to read and go over. I didnt know that these Wet seasons that they had in Africa would go on for so long. I always just assumed that they were short lived. The scientists had to look over records in the rock sediments, core samples of the ground, and often times fossils to be able to date when these GSPs were occurring. They had to use the scientific method to steer them in the right direction while looking at the rock formations and the sedimentation that was occurring in the layers of

sand, so that they could determine where exactly the early hominins who were living in that certain area at the time went off to and established themselves again up until there was a another wet spell or dry spell in their environment. This article really made me think and absolutely opened my eyes about how Africa has not always been the more dry and desolate environment that the media portrays and that most people in their minds. The whole time I was reading the article and typing this paper up I was just wondering what the Sahara would look like all green and booming with life and energy. Now it is a very dry place and I wonder when the next GSP will occur and what changes and stuff that it occurring will have on the people who live their currently. I really wish the authors of this article would have discussed their thought processes a little bit more and about how exactly they were all thinking when it came down to doing the research needed to publish this article.

ARTICLE: Dynamics of Green Sahara Periods and Their Role in Hominin Evolution Juan C. Larrasoaa mail, Andrew P. Roberts, Eelco J. Rohling

Published: October 16, 2013 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0076514