One of the hottest health topics in many African countries is the rise in obesity, a major risk factor in people developing diseases like type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and many common cancers. One of the areas of focus in managing this has been to bring down sugar consumption. Three years ago South Africa took the lead on the continent in tackling the problem when it introduced a tax on sugary drinks. Karen Hofman summarises the findings of a new study that shows large reductions in purchases of sweet drinks in terms of both volume and sugar quantities.

The textbook view is that around 40,000 years ago, the Middle Stone Age had largely ceased to exist in Africa, marking the end of a period that set the baseline for all the subsequent innovations and adaptations that define us today.

But is this in fact what happened?

Unfortunately, large parts of Africa remain near-complete blanks on the map when it comes to this deep prehistory, making it difficult to have a definitive answer. Over the last century, a huge sweep of new information has been unearthed and analysed, particularly in eastern and southern Africa. Now it’s the turn of West Africa, one of the least understood regions when it comes to human evolution. Eleanor Scerri unpacks the findings of archaeologists in Senegal. Their recent research validates earlier claims of a rich Middle Stone Age past – and it’s the first time this material culture has been dated to such a recent period in Africa. It’s a reminder of the dangers of ignoring gaps on the evolutionary map.

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