The central Sahara preserves several blade and bladelet industries, some possibly dating to at least 8000 BC. At Aïr and Adrar Bous in Niger, archaeological evidence indicates periodic occupation by hunters, gatherers, and sometimes fishermen before the arrival of Neolithic herders. The origins of these industries are obscure, although movement from the Maghrib or northern Sahara is considered possible.

One early Holocene tradition was based on macroblades, while the Ounanian was non-microlithic and characterized by a stemmed point or perforator. Around the sixth millennium BC, these industries appear to have been replaced by communities using true microlithic tools. The changing toolkits indicate technological shifts, but the excerpt does not establish a direct evolution from the local Aterian.

The later communities occupied areas around temporarily replenished lakes and swamps. They exploited fish, hippopotamus, and land mammals, and used bone harpoons, leisters, stone arrowheads, and coarse impressed pottery. Some may have been contemporaneous with groups at Early Khartoum in Sudan, while the Tenerean emerged around 4000 BC as a Neolithic culture probably based on herding and seasonal nomadism.