BOOKS FOR KIDS

The Sahara and Deserts

  • "I Wonder Why the Sahara Is Cold at Night: And Other Questions about Deserts” by Jackie Gaff. (Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 2002). Ages 4-8
  • “Deserts” by Philip Steele. (1996). Ages 8-12
  • “Deserts” by Darlene Stille. (2000). Ages 8-12
  • “Deserts” by Angela Wilkes. (2003). Ages 8-12
  • “Why Is the Sahara so Dry?: A Book about Deserts” by Janeen R. Adil and Lynn F. Fenstermaker. Ages 8-12.
  • “The Sahara: World’s Largest Desert” by Jil Fine and Joanne Mattern. Ages 8-12

Archaeology

  • “Archaeologists Dig for Clues” by Kate Duke. Ages 6-10.
  • “Archaeology for Kids” by Richard Panchyk (2001. Ages 10-18.
  • “Fired Up! Making Pottery in Ancient Times” by Rivka Gonen (1993). Ages 8-12.
  • “Bury the Dead: Corpses, Skeletons, Mummies, Tombs” by Christopher Sloan, Bruno Frohlich, National Geographic Society (U.S.) Ages 10-18.

Geology

  • “Geology Rocks! 50 Hands-On Activities to Explore the Earth” by Cindy Blobaum. (2003). Ages 8-12.
  • “EARTHSEARCH: A Kid’s Geography Museum in a Book” by John Cassidy. (1993). Ages 8-12.

Niger and Its Peoples

  • “Niger” by Ann Heinrichs. (2001). Ages 8-12.
  • “Sahara: Vanishing Cultures” by Jan Reynolds. (1991) Ages 8-12.
  • “Peoples of Africa: Peoples of West Africa” by the Diagram Group. (1997). Ages 12-18.

BOOKS FOR ADULTS, REFERENCE BOOKS AND ARTICLES

Niger

  • Mette, Bovin. Nomads Who Cultivate Beauty: Wodaabe Dances and Visual Arts in Niger (Nordic Africa Institute, Sweden, 2001)
  • Van Offelen, Marion, and Carol Beckwith. Nomads of Niger (Abradale Press, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1993)

Sahara Expeditions

  • Langewiesche, William. Sahara Unveiled: A Journey Across the Desert (Pantheon Books, New York, 1996)
  • Palin, Michael. Sahara (Thomas Dune Books, New York, 2003)
  • Raskin, Lawrie and Debora Pearson. My Sahara Adventure: 52 Days by Camel (Annick Press, 1998)

Bioarcheology

  • “Skeletons in Our Closet” by Clark Spencer Larsen. Book on bioarchaeology, the study of ancient human remains. This book explains how scientists can study skeletons to learn about the way people lived thousands of years ago.
  • “Written in Bones: How Human Remains Unlock the Secrets of the Dead” edited by Paul Bahn. A collection of diverse case studies about human remains found all over the world and how different techniques were used to investigate the lives of the dead

Life in the Ancient Sahara

  • “People, Water, and Grain: The Beginnings of Domestication in the Sahara” by Barbara E. Barich, 1998. This in-depth book discusses the climate, plants, animals, and general history of cultures in the Sahara, and examines how these cultures changed during the Holocene. It includes information on the Tenerian and Kiffian cultures, whose burials were found at Gobero.

Archeology in Niger

  • “One Hundred Years of Archaeology in Niger.” . Haour A.C. Journal of World Prehistory. Volume 17, Number 2, June 2003 , pp. 181-234(54)

Climate of the Ancient Sahara

  • “Climate-Controlled Holocene Occupation in the Sahara: Motor of Africa’s Evolution.” Kuper and Kröpelin. Science. 11 August 2006. pp. 803-807
  • “Ecology: How the Sahara Became Dry.” Jonathan Holmes. Science. 9 May 2008. pp. 752-753
  • “Holocene climatic change and human settlement between the central Sahara and the Nile Valley: Archaeological and geomorphological Results.” Olaf Bubenzer and Heiko Riemer. Geoarchaeology. Vol. 22, Issue 6 (27 Jun 2007), pp. 607 – 620
  • “The Greening of the Sahara during the Mid-Holocene: Results of an Interactive Atmosphere-Biome Model.” Martin Claussen and Veronika Gayler. Global Ecology and Biogeography. Vol. 6, No. 5 (Sep., 1997), pp. 369-377
  • Droughts, Food and Culture: Ecological Change and Food Security in Africa’s Later Prehistory. Edited by Fekri Hassan. Kluwer Academic Press: New York, 2002. A collection of articles about the effects of climate on people and culture, including “Climate During the Late Holocene in the Sahara and the Sahel: Evolution and Consequences on Human Settlement” (pp. 47-63), and “Cultural Responses to Climatic Changes in North Africa: Beginning and Spread of Pastoralism in the Sahara” (pp. 209-223).