Tassili n'Ajjer

Tassili n'Ajjer
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The Tassili n'Ajjer is a mountain range characterized for its impressive rock art and geological formation of sandstone "rock forests".

Erosion in the area has resulted in nearly 300 natural rock arches being formed, along with many other spectacular landforms. It lies in the Sahara desert in southeast Algeria.

Its prehistoric rock paintings and other ancient archaeological sites date from neolithic times when the local climate was much moister, with savannah rather than desert. Over 15,000 rock paintings have been inventarized. They date from five different periods up until the first centuries AD.

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Boj

Philippines - 11-Feb-20 -

Tassili n'Ajjer by Boj

In the crossroads of modern-day Algeria, Libya and Niger, is the vast, the beautiful Tassili n'Ajjer National Park. I booked a two-hour flight from Algiers to Djanet - a 2200km+ journey that would have taken two full days (with rest and sleep stops) by land.

Mr. Hassani (Tinariwen Tours) welcomed me with a gift - a blue scarf - and instantly got me acquainted with how their group is most popularly described, Tuareg or the blue people. That cool February day, Mr. Hassani's indigo robe shone in the gold sand and brown rock forests.


"In the desert," he said, "the wind is the artist," and showed me curious geologic formations and contoured sand dunes. I went to Djanet in search of prehistoric rock art (see photo), and returned with remembrance of solitude and moments of temporary yet much-needed detachment from the material world. 
 
 
 

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Site Info

Full Name
Tassili n'Ajjer
Unesco ID
179
Country
Algeria
Inscribed
1982
Type
Mixed
Criteria
1 3 7 8
Categories
Archaeological site - Rock Art Natural landscape - Desert
Link
By ID

Site History

1982 Inscribed

Site Links

Unesco Website
Tassili n'Ajjer
Related

The Most Beautiful Desert of All

Wiki on Tassili n'Ajjer

Tassili N'Ajjer: As wild as it gets

Locations

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Tassili n'Ajjer

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Constructions
Petroglyphs
Pictographs
Tumuli: The lowlands have stone tumuli and hearths dating between 6000 to 4000 BCE. (wiki)
Ecology
Natural Arches and Bridges: Numerous
Notable Trees: The Tassili Cypress only exists on the Tassili and is one of the oldest trees in the world after the Barbed Pine in the USA.
Critically endangered fauna species: Saharan cheetah (UNEP-WCMC)
Bird Migrations: The entire region is important for resting migratory Palaearctic birds. (UNEP-WCMC)
Sandstone Formations: The property is also of great geological and aesthetic interest: the panorama of geological formations with "rock forests" of eroded sandstone resembles a strange lunar landscape. (description Unesco website)
Aurochs: Images from the Large Wild Fauna Period (12,000 BP - c 6,000 BP) include aurochs.
Geography
Sahara
Contiguous separate sites across national boundaries: With Tadrart Acacus, Algeria vs Libya
History
Neolithic age: The site of Tassili was primarily occupied during the Neolithic period by transhumant pastoralist groups whose lifestyle benefitted both humans and livestock. There are numerous rock shelters within the sandstone forests, strewn with Neolithic artifacts including ceramic pots and potsherds, lithic arrowheads, bowls and grinders, beads, and jewelry. (wiki)
Berbers: The rock art includes Libyc and Tifinagh inscriptions (ancient and recent Tuareg/Berber script). The artists of the Horse Period art were ancestral Berbers, some of whose descendants are the modern Tuareg.
Palaeolithic and Mesolithic: there are palaeolithic sites at Erg (formerly lake) Tihodaine (UNEP-WCMC)
Human Activity
Erotic art: Some scenes appear to portray sexuality, e.g. men with an erect penis.
Chariots: The paintings and engravings of the Horse Period commonly depict horses and horse-drawn chariots.
Pastoralism: The site of Tassili was primarily occupied during the Neolithic period by transhumant pastoralist groups whose lifestyle benefitted both humans and livestock. The transition to pastoralism following the African Humid period during the early Holocene is reflected in Tassili n'Ajjer's archaeological material record, rock art, and zooarchaeology. Cattle were herded across vast areas as early as 3000-2000 BCE, reflecting the origins and spread of Pastoralism in the area. (Wikipedia) More recent paintings show cattle herders, which may have helped bring about the drier conditions in this part of the Sahara. (Ab Ev - IUCN)
Individual People
Erich von Däniken: Many Round Head paintings portray 'strange' people with round, featureless heads and formless bodies. Erich von Däniken controversially described these paintings in his 1968 book "Chariots of the Gods?" as representing prehistoric, extra-terrestrial astronauts who had somehow influenced human evolution.
Religion and Belief
Shamanism: Among the rock paintings, there are depictions of ritual figures or shamans. (wiki)
Science and Technology
Recorded cultural discoveries: It is the rock art (engravings and paintings) that have made Tassili world famous as from 1933, the date of its discovery. (Unesco) Tassili was already well known by the early 20th century, but Western eyes were fully introduced due to a series of sketches made by French legionnaires, specifically Lieutenant Brenans during the 1930s. He brought with him French archaeologist Henri Lhote, who would later return during 1956 - 1957, 1959, 1962, and 1970. (Wikipedia)
Timeline
Built in the 6th millennium BC
Paleozoic: grès fluviatiles du Paléozoïque (env. 450 millions d'années) en cours d'ensablement par les dunes du grand erg oriental et granite érodé en 'boules' au premier plan (wiki)
Trivia
Dubbed as another WHS: The Oued Djerat has been dubbed the "Vézère of the Sahara" because of its big naturalistic engravings.
On Banknotes: 1000 dinar; 1998, 2005
WHS on Other Lists
World Biosphere Reserves: (1986)
Ramsar Wetlands: La Vallée d'Iherir, 2001

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