History Main article: History of Africa Further information: History of North Africa, History of West Africa, History of Central

Africa, History of East Africa, and History of Southern Africa Prehistory Main article: Recent African origin of modern humans ucy, an Australo!ithecus afarensis s"eleton disco#ered on No#em$er %&, '()&, in the A*ash +alley of Ethio!ia,s Afar -e!ression Africa is considered $y most !aleoanthro!ologists to $e the oldest inha$ited territory on Earth, *ith the human s!ecies originating from the continent./'01/'21 -uring the middle of the %3th century, anthro!ologists disco#ered many fossils and e#idence of human occu!ation !erha!s as early as ) million years ago. Fossil remains of se#eral s!ecies of early a!eli"e humans thought to ha#e e#ol#ed into modern man, such as Australo!ithecus afarensis 4radiometrically dated to a!!ro5imately 6.(76.3 million years 8C9,/')1 Paranthro!us $oisei 4c. %.67'.& million years 8C9 /':1 and Homo ergaster 4c. '.( million7233,333 years 8C9 ha#e $een disco#ered./%1 After the e#olution of homo sa!iens sa!iens a!!ro5imately '03,333 to '33,333 years ago in Africa, the continent *as mainly !o!ulated $y grou!s of hunter;gatherers./'(1/%31/%'1 <hese first modern humans left Africa and !o!ulated the rest of the glo$e during the =ut of Africa migration dated to a!!ro5imately 03,333 years ago, e5iting the continent either across 8a$;el;Mande$ o#er the Red Sea,./%%1/%61 the Strait of >i$raltar in Morocco,/%&1 or the ?sthmus of Sue@ in Egy!t./%01 =ther migrations of these modern humans *ithin the African continent ha#e $een dated to that time, *ith e#idence of early human settlement found in Southern Africa, Southeast Africa, North Africa and the Sahara./%21 <he si@e of the Sahara has historically $een e5tremely #aria$le, *ith its area ra!idly fluctuating and at times disa!!earing de!ending on glo$al climactic conditions./%)1 At the end of the ?ce ages, estimated to ha#e $een around '3,033 8C, the Sahara had again $ecome a green fertile #alley, and its African !o!ulations returned from the interior and coastal highlands in Su$;Saharan Africa, *ith roc" art !aintings de!icting a fertile Sahara and large !o!ulations disco#ered in <assili n,AAAer dating $ac" !erha!s '3 millennia./%:1 Ho*e#er, the *arming and drying climate meant that $y 0333 8C, the Sahara region *as $ecoming increasingly dry and hostile. Around 6033 8.C., due to a tilt in the earth,s or$it, the Sahara e5!erienced a !eriod of ra!id desertification./%(1 <he !o!ulation tre""ed out of the Sahara region to*ards the Nile +alley $elo* the Second Cataract *here they made !ermanent or semi;!ermanent settlements. A maAor climatic recession occurred, lessening the hea#y and !ersistent rains in Central and Eastern Africa. Since this time, dry conditions ha#e !re#ailed in Eastern Africa and, increasingly during the last %33 years, in Ethio!ia. <he domestication of cattle in Africa !receded agriculture and seems to ha#e e5isted alongside hunter;gatherer cultures. ?t is s!eculated that $y 2333 8C, cattle *ere already domesticated in North Africa./631 ?n the Sahara;Nile com!le5, !eo!le domesticated many animals, including the don"ey and a small scre*;horned goat *hich *as common from Algeria to Nu$ia. ?n the year &333 8C, the climate of the Sahara started to $ecome drier at an e5ceedingly fast !ace./6'1 <his climate change caused la"es and ri#ers to shrin" significantly and caused increasing desertification. <his, in turn, decreased the amount of land conduci#e to settlements and hel!ed to cause migrations of farming communities to the more tro!ical climate of West Africa./6'1 8y the first millennium 8C, iron*or"ing had $een introduced in Northern Africa and Buic"ly s!read across the Sahara into the northern !arts of su$;Saharan Africa,/6%1 and $y 033 8C, metal*or"ing $egan to $ecome common!lace in West Africa. ?ron*or"ing *as fully esta$lished $y roughly 033 8C in many areas of East and West Africa, although other regions didn,t $egin iron*or"ing until the early centuries A-. Co!!er o$Aects from Egy!t, North Africa, Nu$ia and

Ethio!ia dating from around 033 8C ha#e $een e5ca#ated in West Africa, suggesting that <rans; Saharan trade net*or"s had $een esta$lished $y this date./6'1