Tassili n'Ajjer
Encyclopedia
Tassili n'Ajjer is a mountain range
in the Algerian section of the Sahara Desert. It is a vast plateau in south-east Algeria
at the borders of Libya, Niger and Mali, covering an area of 72,000 sq. km.
and other ancient archaeological
sites, dating from Neolithic
times when the local climate was much moister, with savanna
h rather than desert. The art depicts herds of cattle, large wild animals including crocodiles, and human activities such as hunting and dancing. The art has strong stylistic links to the pre-Nguni Art of South Africa
and the region, executed in caves by the San Peoples before the year 1200 BCE.
The range's exceptional density of rock art
paintings-pictogram
s and engravings-petroglyph
s, and the presence of many prehistoric vestiges, are remarkable testimonies to Neolithic prehistory. From 10,000 BCE to the first centuries CE
, successive peoples left many archaeological remains, habitations, burial mounds and enclosures which have yielded abundant lithic and ceramic material. However, it is the rock art (engravings and paintings) that have made Tassili world famous as from 1933, the date of its discovery. 15,000 petroglyphs have been identified to date.
, about 10 km southwest of the range.
Much of the range, including the cypresses and archaeological sites (see below), is protected in a National park
, Biosphere Reserve
and World Heritage Site
, named the Tassili n'Ajjer National Park.
The plateau is also of great geological and aesthetic interest: the panorama of geological formations with "rock forests" of eroded sandstone resembles a strange lunar landscape.
. Erosion in the area has resulted in nearly 300 natural rock arches
being formed, along with many other spectacular landforms.
is somewhat richer than the surrounding desert; it includes a very scattered woodland of the endangered
endemic
species Saharan Cypress and Saharan Myrtle in the higher eastern half of the range.
The ecology of the Tassili n'Ajjer is more fully described in the article West Saharan montane xeric woodlands
, the ecoregion
to which this area belongs. The literal English translation of Tassili n'Ajjer is 'Plateau of the rivers' referring to a time when the climate was repeatedly far wetter
than today (see Neolithic Subpluvial
).
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
in the Algerian section of the Sahara Desert. It is a vast plateau in south-east Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
at the borders of Libya, Niger and Mali, covering an area of 72,000 sq. km.
Prehistoric art
The range is also noted for its prehistoric rock artRock art
Rock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...
and other ancient archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
sites, dating from Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
times when the local climate was much moister, with savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
h rather than desert. The art depicts herds of cattle, large wild animals including crocodiles, and human activities such as hunting and dancing. The art has strong stylistic links to the pre-Nguni Art of South Africa
Art of South Africa
South African art is the creative output of human beings from South Africa.The oldest art objects in the world were discovered in a South African cave. Dating from 75,000 years ago, these small drilled snail shells could have no other function than to have been strung on a string as a necklace....
and the region, executed in caves by the San Peoples before the year 1200 BCE.
The range's exceptional density of rock art
Rock art
Rock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...
paintings-pictogram
Pictogram
A pictograph, also called pictogram or pictogramme is an ideogram that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and graphic systems in which the characters are to considerable extent pictorial in appearance.Pictography is a...
s and engravings-petroglyph
Petroglyph
Petroglyphs are pictogram and logogram images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images...
s, and the presence of many prehistoric vestiges, are remarkable testimonies to Neolithic prehistory. From 10,000 BCE to the first centuries CE
CE
CE, Ce or ce may refer to:* Common Era , secular alternative to Anno Domini * Cerium, chemical element with symbol Ce- Titles :* Chief Executive, administrative head of some regions...
, successive peoples left many archaeological remains, habitations, burial mounds and enclosures which have yielded abundant lithic and ceramic material. However, it is the rock art (engravings and paintings) that have made Tassili world famous as from 1933, the date of its discovery. 15,000 petroglyphs have been identified to date.
Geography
The Tassili n'Ajjer range extends from 26°20′N 5°00′E east-south-east to 24°00′N 10°00′E, and the highest point is Adrar Afao, 2158 m, at 25°10′N 8°11′E. The nearest town is DjanetDjanet
Djanet is an oasis city in southeast Algeria. It is located in Illizi Province, 412 kilometers from Illizi. It is inhabited by the Kel Ajjer Tuareg people. It is the capital of Djanet District.-Transport:...
, about 10 km southwest of the range.
Much of the range, including the cypresses and archaeological sites (see below), is protected in a National park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
, Biosphere Reserve
Biosphere reserve
The Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO was established in 1971 to promote interdisciplinary approaches to management, research and education in ecosystem conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.-Development:...
and World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
, named the Tassili n'Ajjer National Park.
The plateau is also of great geological and aesthetic interest: the panorama of geological formations with "rock forests" of eroded sandstone resembles a strange lunar landscape.
Geology
The range is composed largely of sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. Erosion in the area has resulted in nearly 300 natural rock arches
Natural arch
A natural arch or natural bridge is a natural geological formation where a rock arch forms, with an opening underneath. Most natural arches form as a narrow ridge, walled by cliffs, become narrower from erosion, with a softer rock stratum under the cliff-forming stratum gradually eroding out until...
being formed, along with many other spectacular landforms.
Ecology
Because of the altitude and the water-holding properties of the sandstone, the vegetationVegetation
Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...
is somewhat richer than the surrounding desert; it includes a very scattered woodland of the endangered
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
species Saharan Cypress and Saharan Myrtle in the higher eastern half of the range.
The ecology of the Tassili n'Ajjer is more fully described in the article West Saharan montane xeric woodlands
West Saharan montane xeric woodlands
The West Saharan montane xeric woodlands is an ecoregion that extends across several highland regions in the Sahara. Surrounded at lower elevations by the largely barren Sahara, the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands are isolated refuges of plants and animals that can survive in the higher...
, the ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
to which this area belongs. The literal English translation of Tassili n'Ajjer is 'Plateau of the rivers' referring to a time when the climate was repeatedly far wetter
Sahara pump theory
The Sahara pump theory is a hypothesis that explains how flora and fauna migrated between Eurasia and Africa via a Levantine land bridge. The theory observes that extended periods of abundant rainfall lasting many thousands of years in Africa are associated with a "wet Sahara" phase, during which...
than today (see Neolithic Subpluvial
Neolithic Subpluvial
The Neolithic Subpluvial — sometimes called the Holocene Wet Phase — was an extended period of wet and rainy conditions in the climate history of northern Africa...
).
In popular culture
- TassiliTassili (album)Tassili is the fifth album by the Tuareg-Berber band Tinariwen recorded in Tassili n'Ajjer, an Algerian national park. The album marked a major departure from previous recordings. It is their only album to be recorded outside a studio in major cities like Paris and Bamako, Mali...
is the recording location and the title of a 2011 album by the Tuareg-Berber band TinariwenTinariwenTinariwen is a band of Tuareg-Berber musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. The band was formed around 1979 in refugee camps in Libya but returned to Mali after a cease-fire in the 1990s...
. - In his 1992 book Food of the Gods, new-age icon Terence McKennaTerence McKennaTerence Kemp McKenna was an Irish-American philosopher, psychonaut, researcher, teacher, lecturer and writer on many subjects, such as human consciousness, language, psychedelic drugs, the evolution of civilizations, the origin and end of the universe, alchemy, and extraterrestrial beings.-Early...
hypothesized that the NeolithicNeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
culture that inhabited the site used psilocybin mushrooms as part of its religious ritual life, citing rock paintings showing persons holding mushroom-like objects in their hands, as well as mushrooms growing from their bodies. Pictures used in his book doesn't fit to real paintings found in Tassili. - Tassili Plain is a track on the 1994 album Natural Wonders of the World in Dub by dub reggae group Zion TrainZion TrainZion Train are a British dub reggae ensemble . Initially formed in Oxford as a sound system in 1988 by Neil Perch and Ben Hamilton, Colin Cod and Dave Tench joined in 1990 upon relocation to London. The line-up was added to with vocalist Molara in 1992...
.
Gallery
Further reading
- Bahn, Paul G.Paul BahnPaul G. Bahn is a British archaeologist, translator, writer and broadcaster who has published extensively on a range of archaeological topics, with particular attention to prehistoric art...
(1998) The Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. - Bradley, R (2000) An archaeology of natural places London, Routledge.
- Bruce-Lockhart, J and Wright, J (2000) Difficult and Dangerous Roads: Hugh Clapperton's Travels in the Sahara and Fezzan 1822-1825
- Chippindale, ChrisChristopher ChippindaleChristopher Chippindale is a British archaeologist. He works at the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. He is the author of the book Stonehenge Complete, published in 2004.-References:...
and Tacon, S-C (eds) (1998) The Archaeology of Rock Art Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. - Clottes, J. (2002): World Rock Art. Los Angeles: Getty Publications.
- Coulson, D and Campbell, Alec (2001) African Rock Art: Paintings and Engravings on Stone New York, Harry N Abrams.
- Holl, Augustin F.C. (2004) Saharan Rock Art, Archaeology of Tassilian Pastoralist Icongraphy
- Lajoux, Jean-Dominique (1977) Tassili n'Ajjer: Art Rupestre du Sahara Préhistorique
- Le Quellec, J-L (1998) Art Rupestre et Prehistoire du Sahara. Le Messak Libyen Paris: Editions Payot et Rivages, Bibliothèque Scientifique Payot.
- Lhote, Henri (1959, reprinted 1973) The Search for the Tassili Frescoes: The story of the prehistoric rock-paintings of the Sahara London.
- Mattingly, D (ed) (forthcoming) The archaeology of the Fezzan.
- Muzzolini, A (1997) "Saharan Rock Art", in Vogel, J O (ed) Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa Walnut Creek: 347-353.
- Van Albada, A. and Van Albada, A.-M. (2000): La Montagne des Hommes-Chiens: Art Rupestre du Messak Lybien Paris, Seuil.
- Whitley, D S (ed) (2001) Handbook of Rock Art Research New York: Altamira Press.
See also
- Rock art of FiguigRock art of FiguigThe rock art of the Figuig region of Morocco consists of prehistoric engravings of the Neolithic age. They belong to the wide south Algerian group "Sud-oranais" . They are east of the rock art of the Atlas mountains...
- Rock art of south Oran (Algeria)Rock art of south Oran (Algeria)The rock art of south Oran, are prehistoric engravings of Neolithic age in the south of Oran Province, Algeria, in the Saharan Atlas Mountains, in the regions of Figuig, Ain Sefra, El-Bayadh, Aflou and Tiaret. Comparable engravings have been described, even further east, around Djelfa and in the...
- Rock art of the Djelfa regionRock art of the Djelfa regionThe rock art of the Djelfa region consists of prehistoric engravings of Neolithic age which have been recognized since 1914. Following the Saharan Atlas Mountains they follow on from those, to the west, of south Oran , to which they are related...
- Saharan rock artSaharan rock artSaharan rock art is a significant area of archaeological study focusing on the precious treasures carved or painted on the natural rocks found in the central Sahara desert. There are over three thousand sites discovered that have information about Saharan rock art...