https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/dabous-giraffes
"In the heart of the Sahara lies the Tenere Desert, a flat, waterless
wilderness that means “emptiness” in the Tamacheck language of the local Tuareg
nomads. We are more familiar with the Arabic word with the same meaning: sahra
(Sahara). On the far side of the Aïr mountains lie more than 800 petroglyphs,
including an exceptional carving of two towering giraffes.
The Dabous Giraffes were first recorded by Christian Dupuy in 1987. Subsequent
field trips brought more attention to the site, and more than 820 individual
images have since been found engraved on rocks in the area. Around 700 of these
petroglyphs represent animals, including buffalo, ostriches, antelope, lions,
camels, and rhinoceros. About 60 petroglyphs represent humans, and 160 or so
are open to interpretation.
But it’s the two large giraffes that are the real jewels of the collection.
Believed to be between 6,000 and 8,000 years old, the pair of giraffes are
engraved onto the gently sloping, weathered surface of a large sandstone rock.
Various techniques were used to create them, including scraping and smoothing
of certain areas, the deep engraving of the outlines, and low-relief carving of
the dots all over the body, which are two to three centimeters deep. For such
ancient petroglyphs, the detail is truly impressive.
Then there’s the sheer size of the carvings. The two giraffes are believed to
represent a male and a female, with the larger male in front and the smaller
female standing behind. The larger of the two is almost 18 feet tall (5.4
meters), or 21.4 feet tall (6.35 meters) when measured from the tip of its ears
to the extremity of its hind leg. This makes it the largest petroglyph in the
world, and the largest known rock carving of an animal.
Intriguingly, each giraffe also has an etched line leading down from its mouth
to an engraved human figure below (something found in other ancient
representations of giraffes in the Sahara). Does this perhaps represent a
symbolic relationship between giraffes and humans or, more practically, ancient
attempts at domestication?"
Via Muse, who wrote "The Dabous Giraffes are pretty amazing! More than
6000-7000 years old!"
See also
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabous_Giraffes
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
