The argument that Africa was a cultural wasteland prior to the European colonization was not offered by myself if you recall and remains a subjective one based on opinion.

Carthaginians however were NOT black, by any means. The history of Carthage lies to the eastern Mediterranean as I am sure you are aware that Carthaginians were essentially Phoenicians from Tyre and Biblos who colonized the region as a response to growing Greek competition.

There are ample descritions of Carthaginians as a Semitic people" related in every manner to the Amorites whom they are descended from (Amorites being a people who gave rise to both the Phoenicians and ancient Babylonians). AMong the tribal levies that fought for the Carthaginians against the Romans were berbers, who again, are not a black people-as well as Celts in europe who constituted 40% of Hannibal's army.

As far as the Maures being black however, I don't recall any specific description of this tribe of people by Roman sources, describing them as black. As you probably are aware of, the Maures gave their name to the current Morrocco. THese were a Berber people. This remains confirmed in my mind since during my travel to Morrocco many years ago I have observed that the actual Morroccons are Berber (wtih some Arab mix), with the exception of the southern region which borders on the former Spanish Sahara (essentially a black country acquired by Morrocco after the departure fo the Spaniards in the 1970's).

To resolve this issue, I propose that around 8000 years ago, people bringing agriculture and swine herds from the Middle East travelled along the coastal section of North Africa, or by sea all the way to Iberia. These later became the brown skinned north Africans. The interior remained predominantly black, more so as one travelled further south.