60th century BCE – 20th century BCE
Southern Sahara and the Lake Chad basin
Mega-Chad was a prehistoric lake occupying much of the southern Sahara during the humid millennia before approximately 2000 BC. It covered about 330,000 square kilometres up to the 325-metre contour, vastly exceeding the area of the modern Lake Chad. Its deposits, fauna, and shoreline settlements provide evidence for a wetter Saharan environment and prehistoric human occupation.
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The Story
During the six to eight millennia before approximately 2000 BC, the southern Sahara had a humid climate in which a vast lake known as Mega-Chad occupied much of the Lake Chad basin. The lake extended to the 325-metre contour and covered approximately 330,000 square kilometres. Its scale was more than ten times that of the modern lake, whose area is given as about 25,000 square kilometres.
Mega-Chad has left several forms of evidence. Diatom deposits can provide radiocarbon dates, while the skeletons of reptiles, mammals, and fish record the former aquatic environment. Waterside human habitation sites also preserve rich Stone Age industries, indicating that people lived around the lake and exploited its resources.
The lake formed part of a broader Saharan ecosystem that supported fauna now associated with wetter regions. Elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, antelopes, and hippopotamuses lived in areas that are now desert, while human communities practiced hunting, gathering, and sometimes fishing. Desiccation began from about 5000 BC, and the lake was described as fully dessicated only at the end of the Neolithic.
60th century BCE – 20th century BCE
Southern Sahara and the Lake Chad basin
Mega-Chad was a prehistoric lake occupying much of the southern Sahara during the humid millennia before approximately 2000 BC. It covered about 330,000 square kilometres up to the 325-metre contour, vastly exceeding the area of the modern Lake Chad. Its deposits, fauna, and shoreline settlements provide evidence for a wetter Saharan environment and prehistoric human occupation.
Continue exploring
The Story
During the six to eight millennia before approximately 2000 BC, the southern Sahara had a humid climate in which a vast lake known as Mega-Chad occupied much of the Lake Chad basin. The lake extended to the 325-metre contour and covered approximately 330,000 square kilometres. Its scale was more than ten times that of the modern lake, whose area is given as about 25,000 square kilometres.
Mega-Chad has left several forms of evidence. Diatom deposits can provide radiocarbon dates, while the skeletons of reptiles, mammals, and fish record the former aquatic environment. Waterside human habitation sites also preserve rich Stone Age industries, indicating that people lived around the lake and exploited its resources.
The lake formed part of a broader Saharan ecosystem that supported fauna now associated with wetter regions. Elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, antelopes, and hippopotamuses lived in areas that are now desert, while human communities practiced hunting, gathering, and sometimes fishing. Desiccation began from about 5000 BC, and the lake was described as fully dessicated only at the end of the Neolithic.