Taforalt genomes - TAF009,010,011,012,013,014

The Iberomaurusians were a prehistoric culture that thrived in North Africa, particularly along the Mediterranean coast, from around 22,000 BCE to 9,000 BCE. Their name derives from their geographic proximity to both the Iberian Peninsula and Mauritania, though they were indigenous to the Maghreb region. One of the most significant archaeological sites linked to the Iberomaurusians is the Taforalt Cave in modern-day Morocco. Excavations at Taforalt have uncovered both skeletal remains and evidence of complex burial practices, including the use of red ochre in burials, a practice associated with symbolic or ritualistic beliefs. The genomes recovered from Taforalt are some of the oldest human DNA samples from Africa, dating to around 15,000 years ago.

Genetically, the Taforalt individuals are unique. Geneticists hypothesize that they descend from ancestral north africans, a hypothetical homo sapien group indigenous to north africa. However, they also carried significant genetic admixture from Near Eastern populations, suggesting ancient links between North Africa and Eurasia.. The Iberomaurusian genetic component has also been detected in modern Berber populations, as well as in certain groups in Southern Europe, reflecting the deep historical connections between North Africa and southern Europe across the Mediterranean.

For this video I gathered the raw genomes of 6 iberomaurusians from the taforalt cave, dating to 12 millenia before the common era. I ran the 6 genomes through my trait predictor tool for DNA analysis, link to purchase which will be in the description - as will be the links to purchase the raw data for the 6 files analyzed for this video. 5 of the 6 genomes were male, and all of them carried E1b Y lineage.