Editing Niger (section)

=== Prehistory ===
[[File:1997 278-10 Sahara glyph.jpg|thumb|Rock engraving showing herds of giraffe, [[ibex]], and other animals in the southern Sahara near [[Tiguidit]], Niger]]
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]].<ref name="Bradt">Geels, Jolijn, (2006) ''Bradt Travel Guide – Niger'', pgs. 15–22</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = On the industrial attributions of the Aterian and Mousterian of the Maghreb|journal = Journal of Human Evolution|date = 1 March 2013|pages = 194–210|volume = 64|issue = 3|doi = 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.10.010|first1 = Harold L.|last1 = Dibble|first2 = Vera|last2 = Aldeias|first3 = Zenobia|last3 = Jacobs|first4 = Deborah I.|last4 = Olszewski|first5 = Zeljko|last5 = Rezek|first6 = Sam C.|last6 = Lin|first7 = Esteban|last7 = Alvarez-Fernández|first8 = Carolyn C.|last8 = Barshay-Szmidt|first9 = Emily|last9 = Hallett-Desguez|pmid=23399349| bibcode=2013JHumE..64..194D }}</ref><ref name="Bradt"/> It is thought that these humans lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.<ref name="Bradt"/> 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.<ref>Gwin, Peter. [http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/09/green-sahara/gwin-text/1 "Lost Tribes of the Green Sahara"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903071614/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/09/green-sahara/gwin-text/1 |date=3 September 2010 }}, ''National Geographic'', September 2008.</ref><ref>[[Roland Oliver|Oliver, Roland]] (1999), ''The African Experience: From Olduvai Gorge to the 21st Century'' (Series: History of Civilization), London: [[Weidenfeld & Nicolson|Phoenix Press]], revised edition, pg 39.</ref>

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]].<ref name="Bradt"/> As the climate changed in the period 4000–2800 BC the Sahara gradually began [[desertification|drying out]], forcing a change in settlement patterns to the south and east.<ref name="larousse-history">{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/pays/Niger/135284 Niger] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702234937/http://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/pays/Niger/135284 |date=2 July 2014 }}. ''Encyclopédie Larousse''</ref> Agriculture spread, including the planting of [[millet]] and [[sorghum]], and pottery production.<ref name="Bradt"/> Iron and copper items appear in this era, with finds including those at [[Azawagh]], [[Takedda]], [[Marendet]] and the [[Termit Massif]].<ref>Duncan E. Miller and N.J. Van Der Merwe, 'Early Metal Working in Sub Saharan Africa' Journal of African History 35 (1994) 1–36; Minze Stuiver and N.J. Van Der Merwe, 'Radiocarbon Chronology of the Iron Age in Sub-Saharan Africa' Current Anthropology 1968.</ref><ref>{{citation | last=Grébénart | first=Danilo | year=1993 | url=http://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!752653!0#focus | title=Azelik Takedda et le cuivre médiéval dans la région d'Agadez | journal=Le Saharien (Paris) | volume=125 | issue=2 | pages=28–33 | access-date=12 November 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724093526/https://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!752653!0#focus | archive-date=24 July 2018 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=3432&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html Iron in Africa: Revisiting the History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025192915/http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID%3D3432%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html |date=25 October 2008 }} – Unesco (2002)</ref> The [[Kiffian culture|Kiffian]] (circa 8000–6000 BC) and later [[Tenerian culture|Tenerian]] (circa 5000–2500 BC) cultures, centred on [[Adrar Bous]] and [[Gobero]] where skeletons have been uncovered, flourished during this period.<ref name="auto">[https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=5593387 Ancient cemetery found in 'green' Sahara Desert] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811115708/https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=5593387 |date=11 August 2014 }}. By Randolph E. Schmid. Associated Press /ABC News.</ref><ref name="Clark & DGG">{{cite book|last1=Clark|first1=J. Desmond|last2=Gifford-Gonzalez|first2=Diane|title=Adrar Bous: archaeology of a central Saharan granitic ring complex in Niger|date=2008|publisher=Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren}}</ref><ref name="scidaily">{{cite web|url = https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080815101317.htm|title = Stone Age Graveyard Reveals Lifestyles Of A 'Green Sahara'|publisher = Science Daily|date = 15 August 2008|access-date = 15 August 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080816060031/http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080815101317.htm|archive-date = 16 August 2008|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/15/science/15sahara.html|title = Graves Found From Sahara's Green Period|first = John Noble|last = Wilford |work = [[The New York Times]]|date = 14 August 2008|access-date = 15 August 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120123154828/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/15/science/15sahara.html|archive-date = 23 January 2012|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Sereno PC, ((Garcea EAA)), Jousse H, Stojanowski CM, ((Saliège J-F)), Maga A|title=Lakeside Cemeteries in the Sahara: 5000 Years of Holocene Population and Environmental Change|journal=PLOS ONE|date=2008|volume=3|issue=8|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0002995|display-authors=etal|pmid=18701936|pmc=2515196|pages=e2995|bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.2995S|doi-access=free}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5045/|title=Site archéologique de Bura|first=UNESCO World Heritage|last=Centre|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|access-date=7 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210180203/http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5045/|archive-date=10 December 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 Giraffes|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'.<ref>{{citation|url=https://africanrockart.britishmuseum.org/country/niger/|publisher=British Museum|title=African Rock Art – Niger|access-date=11 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702080140/https://africanrockart.britishmuseum.org/country/niger/|archive-date=2 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=https://www.icomos.org/studies/rockart-sahara-northafrica/07sous-zone3.pdf|publisher=ICOMOS|author=Caulson, David|title=Sub-Zone 3: Niger|access-date=11 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212111121/https://www.icomos.org/studies/rockart-sahara-northafrica/07sous-zone3.pdf|archive-date=12 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Shillington">Shillington, Kevin (1989, 1995). ''History of Africa, Second Edition''. St. Martin's Press, New York. Page 32.</ref>