The new DNA data is in fact the oldest human DNA evidence ever fully analysed from Africa, and suggests humans from North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East interacted much earlier than we thought. There was also no genetic link to ancient Europeans from Sicily or southern Spain, something else historians had wondered about. It's actually the oldest known cemetery in the world, so rich pickings for researchers interested in the genetic characteristics of ancient peoples. This was before the agricultural revolution in North Africa, which happened about 10,000 years ago. And it's not an isolated incident either – earlier this year, tests on ancient DNA revealed a population of Native Americans that historians had previously known nothing about.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 31, 2018 00:56 UTC