Galileo event

Egypt: Neither White nor Black?

Is this a "Galileo event" for Afro-centrists? I think it´s offically over now. Martin Bernal and Black Athena lost. And that´s that. Speaking as a "recovering (moderate) Afro-centrist" myself. 

Old Kingdom Egyptians had ties to Mesopotamia

Of course, I also had to ask ChatGPT about this problematique...

To what "racial" group did the North African Neolithic population belong?

The North African Neolithic population belonged to a group that is best understood today as part of a "North African" or "Afro-Mediterranean" genetic continuum, rather than a clearly defined "racial" group in the older typological sense. However, if we examine this using modern genetics and anthropology, we can break it down more clearly:

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🧬 Genetic Affinities of North African Neolithic Populations

1. Main Components:

   • Maghrebi Ancestry (IAM Component): This is a deeply rooted North African genetic component seen in Early Neolithic populations in Morocco (e.g., the Ifri n’Amr ou Moussa or IAM samples, ~7,000 years ago). It's thought to be descended from local Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherers.

   • European Neolithic Ancestry: Later North African Neolithic populations (e.g., Kelif el Boroud, ~5,000 years ago) show evidence of admixture from Iberian Early Farmers (carrying Anatolian Neolithic ancestry).

   • Middle Eastern/Levantine Influence: Some gene flow from the Levant, especially during and after the Neolithic, is also present.

2. Y-DNA and mtDNA Markers:

   • Y-DNA: Early Neolithic North Africans carried haplogroups like E-M78, typical of Northeast African and Mediterranean populations.

   • mtDNA: Mitochondrial DNA often included U6 and M1, which are characteristic of North Africa and likely derived from earlier Upper Paleolithic back-migrations from the Near East.

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🏺 Cultural and Archaeological Connections

• Archaeological evidence shows cultural exchanges between North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, and the Near East.

• Neolithic sites in North Africa show a mix of indigenous development and incoming farming technologies, likely from Mediterranean Europe and the Levant.

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🧑🏽‍🤝‍🧑🏼 In Racial Terms (Antiquated and Problematic)

If one were to try to use the now-outdated 19th–20th century racial categories, Neolithic North Africans might have been classified (in that flawed framework) as:

• “Mediterranean” or “Caucasoid”, due to their craniofacial traits and later genetic affinities with Near Eastern and Southern European populations.

However, this concept is now scientifically obsolete. Modern population genetics shows that ancient populations don’t fall into clean, static racial boxes—populations were fluid and mixed over time.

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🧭 Summary

Neolithic North Africans were primarily descended from local North African hunter-gatherers with additional input from Levantine and European Neolithic farmers. They form part of a distinct North African population cluster with some genetic links to both Europe and the Near East, but they were not "black" Sub-Saharan Africans nor simply "white" Europeans. They are best seen as Afro-Mediterranean in ancestry.

Let me know if you'd like a map, specific sample data (like from IAM or KEB), or a comparison to modern North African populations.