The Sahel/Savannah belt of Africa is a contact zone between two subsistence systems (nomadic pastoralism and sedentary farming) and of two groups of populations, namely Eurasians penetrating from northern Africa southwards and sub-Saharan Africans migrating northwards. Because pastoralism is characterized by a high degree of mobility, it leaves few significant archaeological traces. Demographic history seen through the lens of population genetic studies complements our historical and archaeological knowledge in this African region. In this review, we highlight recent advances in our understanding of demographic history in the Sahel/Savannah belt as revealed by genetic studies. We show the impact of food-producing subsistence strategies on population structure and the somewhat different migration patterns in the western and eastern part of the region. Genomic studies show that the gene pool of various groups of Sahelians consists in a complex mosaic of several ancestries. We also touch upon various signals of genetic adaptations such as lactase persistence, taste sensitivity and malaria resistance, all of which have different distribution patterns among Sahelian populations. Overall, genetic studies contribute to gain a deeper understanding about the demographic and adaptive history of human populations in this specific African region and beyond.

Archaeogenetics Laboratory Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences Prague Czech Republic

Department of Anthropology Faculty of Natural Sciences Comenius University Bratislava Slovakia

Subdepartment of Human Evolution Department of Organismal Biology Evolutionary Biology Centre Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden

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A Population Genetic Perspective on Subsistence Systems in the Sahel/Savannah Belt of Africa and the Historical Role of Pastoralism

Demographic and Selection Histories of Populations Across the Sahel/Savannah Belt

Circum-Saharan Prehistory through the Lens of mtDNA Diversity