A Cover Story for a Nature cover: milking in the prehistoric 'Green Sahara'

Central Sahara is one of the African hotspots for the study of the emergence and development of pastoralism during the Early Holocene. Recent research carried out in the Tadrart Acacus (SW Libya) added significant information on the first appearance of domestic livestock in the area, the building of a pastoral identity and the development of a full pastoral economy, based on the exploitation of secondary products, including dairying. The chemical analyses of pottery residues excavated at Takarkori rock shelter together with rock art evidence of the region led us to date the earliest evidence of milking in Africa at the beginning of the Middle Pastoral, around 6100 uncalibrated years BP, shedding new light to the lifeways of these early Saharan herders.