<P> The Bouar Megaliths in the western region of the country indicate an advanced level of habitation dating back to the very late Neolithic Era (c. 3500 - 2700 BC). Ironworking arrived in the region around 1000 BC from both Bantu cultures in what is today Nigeria and from the Nile city of Meroë, the capital of the Kingdom of Kush . </P> <P> During the Bantu Migrations from about 1000 BC to AD 1000, Ubangian - speaking people spread eastward from Cameroon to Sudan, Bantu - speaking people settled in the southwestern regions of the CAR, and Central Sudanic - speaking people settled along the Ubangi River in what is today Central and East CAR . </P> <P> Production of copper, salt, dried fish, and textiles dominated the economic trade in the Central African region . </P> <P> The territory of modern Central African Republic is known to have been settled from at least the 7th century on by overlapping empires, including the Kanem - Bornu, Ouaddai, Baguirmi, and Dafour groups based on the Lake Chad region and along the Upper Nile . </P>

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