- Researchers found bones and stone tools in land that once formed a giant lake
- The area was once wet and green and well suited to humans and animals
- The findings suggest that Homo sapiens populated this area at least 72,000 years ago, using the lakes as staging posts in their dispersal across Africa.
Lying at the ‘crossroads’ for north-south movements between the Sahara and the Mediterranean, Tunisia is one of the world’s key regions for under early human travels, the Daily Mail reports.
Researchers have now discovered animal bones and stone tools in the land that once formed a giant lake in Tunisia.
They say their findings suggest that there may have been human activity in the area as early as 72,000 years ago.
Researchers from Oxford University and Kings College London discovered the bones and tools on the margins of the dried up Chotts megalake, the same source said.
They believe the shores of the lake may have formed an early corridor across the Sahara for the dispersal of Homo sapiens and other animals from Sub-Saharan Africa between 200,000 to 10,000 years ago, according to the report.
The researchers say the bones are particularly interesting, revealing a mixture of large animals including rhinoceros, zebra, bovids, carnivores and ostrich.
Nabiha Aouadi, co-director of the project, said: ‘The faunal assemblage represents a sub-Saharan and savanna biotope very different from the one that exists there today’.
TunisianMonitorOnline
