One of the key findings: Takarkori individuals had 10x less Neanderthal ancestry than Levantine farmers, but still more than present-day sub-Saharan Africans. This implies limited gene flow from out-of-Africa sources, possibly via the Levant. (6/n)

We found these women represented a deeply isolated North African lineage, which is closely related to 15,000-year-old foragers from Taforalt Cave (Morocco), suggesting population continuity in North Africa across climate shifts. (4/n)

We analyzed DNA from two naturally mummified women buried in a rock shelter in southwestern Libya called Takarkori. The DNA preservation in the Sahara is extremely rare, but we made it work with targeted SNP capture of modern archaeogenetics methods, including variant enrichment. (3/n)

During the African Humid Period (~14,500–5,000 years ago), the Sahara was green and full of lakes, rivers, and life. It supported foragers and early herders and until now, we had no ancient autosomal DNA from this region. (2/n)