Index
Index
The153 Club
The Agades Cross
People of the Sahara
Saharan Landscapes
Saharan Salt Trade
The Gundi
Illizi Festival 2000
Sahara Freeze-up
Camel Cheese
153 News Update
Join the 153 Club
Père de Foucauld
L'Arbre du Ténéré
1
L'Arbre du Ténéré 2
Saharan Forts 1
Saharan Forts 2
Saharan Rock Art
Giraffe Engravings
Leo Africanus
Battuta's Saharan travels
Shabeni's Timbuktu
Timbuctoo the Mysterious
Heroditus & Pliny on Libya
Timbuktu, a poem
Joliba Trust
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 1
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 2
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 3
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 4
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 5
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 6
Old Michelin Maps
Early NW Africa Map 1
Early NW Africa Map 2
Early NW Africa Map 3
Early NW Africa Map 4
Early NW Africa Map 5
Saharan Exploration
Henry Barth 1
Henry Barth 2
Henry Barth 3
Denham & Clapperton 1
Denham & Clapperton 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 1
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 3
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 4
External Links
Jim
Mann Taylor's Home Page
___________________________
Index
Index
The153 Club
The Agades Cross
People of the Sahara
Saharan Landscapes
Books on the Sahara(1)
Books on the Sahara(2)
Books on African Art
Saharan Salt Trade
The Gundi
Illizi Festival 2000
Sahara Freeze-up
Camel Cheese
153 Club Newsletter
153 News Update
Join the 153 Club
Today's African News
Père de Foucauld
L'Arbre du Ténéré
1
L'Arbre du Ténéré 2
Saharan Forts 1
Saharan Forts 2
Saharan Rock Art
Giraffe Engravings
Leo Africanus
Battuta's Saharan travels
Shabeni's Timbuktu
Timbuctoo the Mysterious
Heroditus & Pliny on Libya
Timbuktu, a poem
Joliba Trust
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 1
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 2
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 3
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 4
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 5
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 6
Old Michelin Maps
Early NW Africa Map 1
Early NW Africa Map 2
Early NW Africa Map 3
Early NW Africa Map 4
Early NW Africa Map 5
Saharan Exploration
Henry Barth 1
Henry Barth 2
Henry Barth 3
Denham & Clapperton 1
Denham & Clapperton 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 1
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 3
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 4
External Links
Jim
Mann Taylor's Home Page
___________________________
|
New
Giraffe Engravings Found
|
Found
at a so far undisclosed location in the deserts of Niger, the
above rock carving of a slightly larger than life giraffe is causing
a worldwide stir amongst African Rock Art experts. They were disclosed
at the beginning of October 1998, but had been 'discovered' in
November 1997 by David Coulson chairman of the Trust for African
Rock Art, Alec Campbell founder of the National Museum of Botswana
and pictured above with a Tuareg guide, and Jean Clottes the heritage
curator of the French Ministry of Culture and president of the
International Committee on Rock Art. Said Jean Clottes 'When I
saw the first giraffe, I was amazed because it was so big. That
is highly unusual. Occasionally you find some rock art motifs
several metres long. These are very big, perfectly proportioned,
and the technique is expert.' The Louvre is said to be planning
to make a cast for display. The engraving is on top of a 50 ft
high outcrop of rock some 300 yards in extent and apparently covered
in rock art. |
Coulson
says the giraffes were engraved between 6,000 and 9,000 years
ago on a slightly inclined outcropping of rock. Smaller giraffe
paintings have been found throughout Africa. 'We have no idea
who carved it, but one or two interesting things we do know,'
Coulson says. 'We've been all over Africa, and the giraffe appears
to dominate the art in most areas of the continent. It was an
incredibly important animal for so many apparently unrelated
cultures.' The Niger Sahara giraffe and its smaller companion
both have a line coming out from the nose and terminating in
the form of a tiny man. A painting found in South Africa depicts
a giraffe with its head above the clouds and rain falling upon
it. A painting in Namibia shows a giraffe's head and neck emerging
from a cloud. A painting in Algeria depicts a tiny giraffe with
a long neck like a tornado going into a cloud. An engraving
in Libya shmws a man copulating with a giraffe. Another shows
a man feeding the giraffe. 'Whatever it was, the giraffe was
thought to be possessed of special powers,' Coulson says.
|
Mark Davidson (a 153 Club member)
remembers seeing the giraffe engravings in 1984. Christer Wilkinson
(a 153 Club member) then e-mailed me to say that the pictures
rang a bell and he then found that the following photograph
of the two giraffes appeared in the Saharan Exhibition Guide
of the Abbey at Senanque in the mid 1980s. Finally (for the
moment) Jean-Loic Le Quellec has given me the following 1988
article reference:
DUPUY (Christian): Evolution iconographique de trois stations
de gravures rupestres de l'Aïr méridional (Niger)
Orstom, Cahiers des Sciences Humaines 24 (2) : 303-315 (1988)
(a good tracing of the giraffes and of all the surrounding petroglyphs
is pl. II, No. 9).
|
Have you yourself travelled
in North West Africa? Then you should be interested in joining us. Join.
We have been going since 1978.
|