Snippet: The oldest cemetery in Africa is yielding yet more insights into the lives of ancient humans.
Around 15,000 years ago, people were living and burying their dead in a cave in northern Morocco. On the cusp of the transition between a semi-nomadic and settled life, the remains of these people and their grave goods offer a fascinating insight into the lives and cultures of this community.
Part of this seems to have involved a bird known as the great bustard. These large, impressive animals were once found across much of Eurasia and part of north Africa until hunting, habitat disturbance and destruction significantly fragmented their population.
Africa’s only population clings on in Morocco, where the species is considered critically endangered. Closely related but genetically distinct to the Spanish population, there has been some debate about how long great bustards had lived in north Africa. This new finding confirms that the birds have a long history on the African continent, and were much more abundant and widespread than they are today.