A dental anthropological hypothesis relating to the ethnogenesis, origin, and antiquity of the Afro-Asiatic language family: Peopling of the Eurafrican-South Asian triangle IV

Diachronic comparisons of dental morphology in North and East African groups shows a marked difference through time in North Africa after the end of the Pleistocene. Further comparisons with archaeologically-derived Near Eastern dental samples suggest that the temporal changes in the North African teeth were due to population replacement or admixture from the north. On this basis, it is further suggested that Afro-Asiatic was introduced into Africa along with the migrating immigrant farmers and herdsmen from the Near East 10,000 to 7,000 years ago.

Published online: 03 December 2008
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.145.06tur