Photo Gallery

93 - Enneri Blaka. Site 1. - Very beautiful cow from the bovine period. Bicolored, like the Deer-Robert from photo 91. The udders are clearly outlined. Although this piece is on the right, it is on the same line as the previous frieze, making it difficult to associate them in the same style. From the snout to the base of the tail: 0.295 m.

204 - Tadrart Acacous. Ouan Amil. - We enter a different world: that of the bovids, dominated by livestock farming. Rock art leads us to the idea that we are looking at a true visual imagery of the period. Many beautiful ochre paintings, sometimes highlighted with white, are found in shelters, as two fine examples at the edge of the Oued Amil on the next page’s photo. The naturalness of the characters and the accuracy of their postures stand out. The life of this time is represented realistically. The panel measures 1.43 m in height.

206 - Ouan Amil (detail from photograph 204). - The central figure, slightly shifted upwards, measures 0.18 m in height and gives the scale. Not all details are identifiable, but they all demonstrate how much the artists emphasized realism. The figure mentioned above has a hairstyle identical to that of the others. It seems to be wearing a loincloth, while other figures are dressed in tunics finished with fringes. We are facing a true "reportage."

207 - Tadrart Acacous. Ouan Amil. – Another detail from photo 204: An archer walks behind another person going in the same direction. Both are slender. The archer wears a kind of transparent skirt (?) and measures 0.15 m in height.

208 - Tadrart Acacous. Ouan Amil. – A figure, whose importance is emphasized by their attire, is being assisted by two servants. Note the hairstyles, which, more than the Phrygian cap, evoke those of the women of Martinique. The fabrics feature interesting patterns.

209 - Tadrart Acacous. Ouan Amil. – Not only is the life of the bovids simple, but the artists who depict it also capture its intimacy. A figure, at the top left, is again assisted in their grooming by several others. To the right, a group is sitting and performing unclear actions. In the center at the bottom, although classically coiffed, a figure appears to be naked ... A scalariform structure is also visible on the left. Panel height: 0.46 m.

210 - Tadrart Acacous. Ouan Amil. – The two people shown here have a clear Europoid profile. They are exchanging undefined objects. The person on the left holds a sort of boomerang (?). Each holds a hook (?) in their hand. They appear to have no headgear. The figure on the right wears dark clothing, while the one opposite is entirely transparent and ends with a patterned band. Width of the displayed panel: 0.44 m.

211 - Tadrart Acacous. Ouan Amil. – The woman in the center is handing over a baby. This is remarkable because such acts are rare. At the top center, a figure with a tail – unless it's part of their loincloth hanging out – is gesticulating in an unnatural way.

212 - Tadrart Acacous. Ouan Amil. – Our bovids were also hunters. Here, an archer stands behind a giraffe, the bow drawn. Note the transparency of the “skirt.”

213 - Tadrart Acacous. Ouan Amil. – A deep familiarity of our bovids with their cattle leads to highly precise painted representations, such as this moving cow with a bicolored coat. Horns on the back leg: 0.33 m.

214 - Tadrart Acacous. Ouan Amil. – In the same style as the previous cow, a standing cow in front of another lying one. Above, a third with a “pack” on its back. The coat’s colors are rendered in red and white areas. From the muzzle of the lying cow to the muzzle of the standing cow: 0.47 m.

215 - Tadrart Acacous. Ouan Amil. – Two figures. One is white, on the right, with narrow thighs; the other is black, with wide thighs and a typically negroid morphology. They are depicted in the same posture. The "black" man holds a stick or a spear in his left hand. The "white" man holds a bow, also in his left hand. Height of the white man: 0.23 m.

216 - Tadrart Acacous. Ou an Amil. – Elongated figure, an archer of the bovidian type, holding the bow in the left hand. No arrow is visible. The hairstyle is familiar to us. A skirt, made of a net or mesh structure, seems to be worn over a kind of underwear. The bow measures 0.14 m from end to end.

243 - Tadrart Acacous. Tin-Anneouin. – Lying cows painted with red ochre. Bovidian period.

302 - Ou an Ouksem (Tadrart). - Shelter. A fresco of bovids from the "bovid" period painted in white and red. In the top right, one bovid is above another. The panel shown measures 1.10 m in width.

403 - Jabbaren (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - General view of another shelter, whose walls are covered in polychrome paintings ranging from white to dark brown. It should be noted that these are men with a distinctly Negroid morphology. Almost all of them are depicted in an aggressive posture, running, often with a bow in hand. Also noteworthy are the curved, narrower structures in front and thicker at the back. The depiction of bovids remains very naturalistic. We are still in the "bovid era". Width of the depicted panel: 2.60 m.

404 - Jabbaren (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Detail from photo 403. At the top left and bottom right, bovids are shown ridden by three figures. At the top, in front of the cow, a runner precedes them at high speed. Above the yellow ox, which he overtakes on the right, an archer appears to be drawing his bow, while behind him, a man holds a bundle of arrows (?) and walks in front of another who carries a staff resting on his hips. This is still a familiar attitude among shepherds today.

405 - Jabbaren (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - In the center of this other detail from photo 403, an archer holds a bow in front of him, with his arms outstretched, painted in a curious white color. He is distinctly dolichocephalic, his body is slender and very long-limbed. The male sex is clearly marked. Above him, slightly to the left, is a magnificent bovine painted with fine lines but without any coloration of the fur.

406 - Jabbaren (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Detail from photo 403. Archers with well-stocked quivers appear to be attacking an enemy. Upon viewing these scenes, it is clear that this black ethnicity is engaged in warfare, not hunting.

407 - Jabbaren (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Final detail of panel 403. The galloping archer is clearly visible in his pastoral bovine setting.

437 - Jabbaren (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – A very fine document showing well the use of the walls of a rock shelter. Its floor continues from that of the neighboring shelter. The large herd of bovines is characteristic of the beautiful polychrome paintings of the pastoral period and shows the homogeneity of a bovine species with multiple coat colors. Width of the depicted slab: 1.20 m.

438 - Jabbaren (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Mural of bovines from the pastoral period, painted with red ochre and white paint. There is a predominance of males. It can be assumed that castration was already known at this time, but it is unclear what economic practices governed the management of these large herds. The panel depicted is 1.85 meters wide.

439 - Jabbaren (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Detail of the previous panel. The combination of red ochre with various metal oxides allowed the creation of black-brown, green, blue, and yellow hues.

584 - Tin-Terhert (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - This very beautiful engraving from the bovid era shows a reclining antelope sleeping, with its snout resting on the right front leg. When considering the tools available to the artist, one can say that, artistically, we have not invented anything new. Overall width: 0.47 m.

586 - Tin-Terhert (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Engraved ungulate, indeterminate due to the unclear depiction of the head. From the snout to the tail tip: 0.61 m.

614 - Alan-Edoument (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Beautiful bovine fresco mixing herders and cattle. The large figure in the center wears a yellow loincloth. It appears to be holding its head and extending something with the left hand. The cow on the right is black, while the other animals and herders are polychrome. The panel measures 0.70 m in width.