Editing History of Mali (section)

===Paleolithic===

The [[Sahara]] has experienced [[African humid period|significant climatic fluctuations]] throughout its history, with periods both drier and wetter than today. It was inhospitable to human life during certain intervals, such as between 325,000–290,000 years ago and again between 280,000–225,000 years ago, except for a few favorable refuges like [[Lake Tihodaïne]] in the water-retaining [[Tassili n'Ajjer]] region.<ref name=":3">Ouardia Oussedik: Les bifaces acheuléens de l’Erg Tihodaine (Sahara Central Algérien): analyse typométrique, in: Libyca 20 (1972) 153-161.</ref> During these arid phases, the desert expanded far beyond its present-day boundaries, leaving behind sand dunes that stretch well beyond the modern Sahara. Human occupation is primarily linked to the wetter "green" phases, when ecological conditions were more suitable for settlement and migration.

It is possible that anatomically modern humans, who may have emerged in isolation south of the Sahara between 300,000 and 200,000 years ago, already inhabited the humid, water-rich regions during a prolonged green phase over 200,000 years ago. Around 125,000 to 110,000 years ago, an extensive network of rivers and lakes enabled the northward spread of fauna, followed by human hunter-gatherer groups. Among these water systems was [[Lake Chad|Mega Lake Chad]], which at its largest extent covered over 360,000 km².<ref name=":4">S. J. Armitage, N. A. Drake, S. Stokes, A. El-Hawat, M. J. Salem, K. White, P. Turner, S. J. McLaren: ''Multiple phases of North African humidity recorded in lacustrine sediments from the Fazzan Basin, Libyan Sahara'', in: Quaternary Geochronology 2,1-4 (2007) 181–186.</ref> However, during a subsequent arid phase between 70,000 and 58,000 years ago, the Sahara once again became a formidable barrier to migration. Another green period followed between 50,000 and 45,000 years ago.<ref name=":5">Isla S. Castañeda et al.: ''Wet phases in the Sahara/Sahel region and human migration patterns in North Africa.'' In: ''[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] '' 106,48 (2009) 20159–20163, [[doi:10.1073/pnas.0905771106]].</ref>

In present-day Mali, archaeological evidence is less abundant than in northern neighboring regions. However, excavations at the [[Ounjougou]] complex<ref>Das Projekt ''Peuplement humain et paléoenvironnement en Afrique'' began in 1997 in Ounjougou ([http://www.ounjougou.org/fr/projets/mali/ ''Pays dogon – Mali'']).</ref> on the [[Dogon people|Dogon]] Plateau, near [[Bandiagara]], have revealed signs of human presence dating back over 150,000 years. Evidence of continuous habitation is firmly established for the period between 70,000 and 25,000 years ago. The [[Paleolithic]] period in Mali ended relatively early, likely due to the onset of another extremely arid phase — the Ogolia — around 25,000 to 20,000 years ago, which transformed the region back into a dry savannah landscape.<ref name=":6">Stefan Kröpelin et al.: ''Climate-Driven Ecosystem Succession in the Sahara: The Past 6000 Years.'' In: '' Science'', 320,5877 (2008) 765–768, [[doi:10.1126/science.1154913]].</ref>