Description
Saharan type combining ancient elements including Berberid with sub-Saharan elements that often
entered the region during the Middle Ages. Common in Fezzanesi of South Libya, the Iravellan
caste of Tuaregs, and even Haratins. Today also found in some Arma and Songhai of Mali, a result
of Berber invasions. Across the Maghreb the result of Tuareg migrations and historic slave trade.
Physical Traits
Height: Medium
Build: Brachyskelic, ectomorph
Skull: Dolichocephalic, orthocranic
Face: Flat and wide, very weak or absent prognathy
Nose: Mildly platyrrhine, relatively high
Skin: Light to dark brown
Hair texture: Curly to kinky
Light to dark brown skin, curly to kinky hair. Medium height, brachyskelic, ectomorph.
Dolichocephalic, orthocranic. Mildly platyrrhine, relatively high nose. Faces tend to be flat
and wide, prognathy very weak or absent. Occasional epicanthic folds may give a pseudo-Mongoloid
impression. Mouth large with medium-thick lips.
Literature References
Biasutti (1935, 1967) defined and named the type. Fleischhacker (1976) notes Fezzanese as a
unique contact group. Similar types were reported in the Tuareg by Alcobé y Noguer (1952) and
by Eickstedt (1934) in the Arma and the Maghreb (Lundman, 1967).