Niger
Prehistory

Stone tools, some dating as far back as 280,000 BC, have been found in Adrar Bous, Bilma and Djado in the northern Agadez Region. Some of these finds have been linked with the Aterian and Mousterian tool cultures of the Middle Paleolithic period, which flourished in northern Africa circa 90,000 BC–20,000 BC. It is thought that these humans lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. During the prehistoric African humid period, the climate of the Sahara was wetter and more fertile, a phenomenon archaeologists refer to as the "Green Sahara", which provided "favourable" conditions for hunting and later agriculture and livestock herding.

The Neolithic era, beginning circa 10,000 BC, saw a number of changes such as the introduction of pottery (as evidenced at Tagalagal, Temet and Tin Ouffadene), the spread of cattle husbandry, and the burying of the dead in stone tumuli. As the climate changed in the period 4000–2800 BC the Sahara gradually began drying out, forcing a change in settlement patterns to the south and east. Agriculture spread, including the planting of millet and sorghum, and pottery production. Iron and copper items appear in this era, with finds including those at Azawagh, Takedda, Marendet and the Termit Massif. The Kiffian (circa 8000–6000 BC) and later Tenerian (circa 5000–2500 BC) cultures, centred on Adrar Bous and Gobero where skeletons have been uncovered, flourished during this period.

Societies continued to grow with regional differentiation in agricultural and funerary practices. A culture of this period is the Bura culture (circa 200–1300 AD) named for the Bura archaeological site where a burial replete with iron and ceramic statuettes were discovered. The Neolithic era saw the flourishing of Saharan rock art, including in the Aïr Mountains, Termit Massif, Djado Plateau, Iwelene, Arakao, Tamakon, Tzerzait, Iferouane, Mammanet and Dabous; the art spans the period from 10,000 BC to 100 AD and depicts a range of subjects, from the varied fauna of the landscape to depictions of spear-carrying figures dubbed 'Libyan warriors'.
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