User:Samalid

The prehistory of Somalia traces the earliest known human habitation in the region. This period is characterized by evidence of early hominid activity, including tools and settlements that provide insight into the lives of ancient populations. The prehistory is divided into two main phases. The first, the Old Stone Age (Paleolithic period), began around 3.3 million years ago and ended approximately 11,700 years ago. During this time, early hominid species thrived in Somalia, and hunter-gatherer communities evolved. The earliest known distinct Old Stone Age cultures in the Horn of Africa, such as the Doian and Hargeysian, emerged in Somalia. renown for their sophisticated stone tool-making traditions, with their tool production beginning during the Lower Paleolithic period.The second phase, known as the Holocene, began with the Neolithic era (also called the New Stone Age). This period marked the rise of pastoralist societies (animal husbandry), the domestication of animals, and the development of rock art in Somalia's prehistoric New Stone Age. Various forms of rock art such as cave paintings, petroglyphs (engravings or carvings) have been uncovered by archaeologists throughout Somalia. A prominent example is Laas Geel cave complex, which contains some of the oldest evidence of pastoralist societies in the world and the oldest known rock art in the Horn of Africa, dating from the 10th to 12th millennium BCE.The period continued into the Chalcolithic period, which saw the emergence of early proto-writing systems found in the rock art at Dhambalin in northern Somalia, organized proto-religious practices depicted in the rock art at Dhaymole, and the appearance of the Taalo Tiiriyad also known as Xabaal Tiiriyad, an ancient burial monument culture unique to the Somali Peninsula. These burial structures have been primarily uncovered at sites such as El Ayo, Qa’ableh, Qombo'ul, Haylan, Maydh, and Gelweita which contains anciet Cairns.