West Africa’s 500 Stone Settlements—Why Did People Leave?

West Africa’s 500 Stone Settlements—Why Did People Leave? Hundreds of stone settlements. A landscape transformed by drying conditions. And one question: why did people leave? In this video, we count down ten discoveries exploring West Africa’s ancient stone settlements and the wider African past—from the sprawling compounds of Dhar Tichitt to lakeside burials in today’s Sahara, extraordinary Nok terracotta faces, and clues preserved in ancient DNA. With roots reaching back roughly four thousand years, the Tichitt settlement tradition reveals communities that farmed, herded, and built in stone long before the region’s medieval caravan towns. How did they sustain life here? What can their walls reveal about differences between households? And when settlements emptied, how much of their world traveled with the people who left? Follow the archaeological evidence through changing climates, enduring monuments, and human stories still being reconstructed. Don't forget to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and turn on notifications for more deep dives into ancient history, archaeology, and lost worlds! #AncientHistory #AfricanHistory #Archaeology #LostCivilizations #Sahara