Philolithia@bsky.social (@philolithia.bsky.social)

Where Camels Fear To Go: 200 Skeletons Were Discovered At A Prehistoric Cemetery In The Sahara Desert Located in Niger’s Ténéré Desert, often described as a “desert within a desert”, the surrounding landscape is brutal. Nomadic legends call this region “the place where camels fear to go,” a reputation that remains well-earned. Beyond the blinding sandstorms and scorching 49°C (120°F) heat, the area is expansive, barren, and largely roadless. The threat of desert bandits and rebel insurgents also means that modern visitors must be escorted by soldiers toting machine guns on the backs of technicals. Despite the perils, scientists have been drawn to the Ténéré since the 1950s, knowing it sits atop one of the richest dinosaur beds in Africa. In 2000, a team led by University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno journeyed into the dunes in search of prehistoric beasts. Sereno was already famous for discovering a string of new dinosaur species in the region throughout the 1990s. But this time, it wasn’t Cretaceous giants that stole the show. Instead, the team had stumbled across the remains of humans, as well as pottery shards, beads, arrowheads, and other stone artifacts. “It was all there just lying on the sand,” Serano told National Geographic in 2024, “everywhere you looked.” The site became known as Gobero after the... https://www.iflscience.com/where-camels-fear-to-go-200-skeletons-were-discovered-at-a-prehistoric-cemetery-in-the-sahara-desert-82893