60th century BCE – 20th century BCE
Sahara and eastern desert regions
The Bovidian Pastoral phase is a Saharan rock-art tradition of paintings and engravings associated with food-producing nomadic or transhumant herders. Its artists kept large herds of fully domesticated cattle and were probably organized in powerful tribal groups. In the central Sahara it followed the Round Head style and lasted until the third millennium BC; in the eastern desert and Nile Valley, much rock art belongs to this phase or later.
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The Story
The Bovidian Pastoral phase followed the Round Head style in parts of the Sahara and became one of the best-known traditions of Saharan paintings and engravings. Its artistic and archaeological associations point to food-producing communities that were nomadic or at least transhumant. The tradition is therefore connected not simply with imagery but with a major transformation in subsistence and mobility.
The artists are described as herders of large numbers of fully domesticated cattle. They may have been organized in powerful tribal groups, suggesting that cattle were not only an economic resource but also part of social and political organization. The excerpt contrasts this phase with the less securely understood Round Head tradition, whose makers may still have depended heavily on hunting and fishing.
In the central Sahara, Bovidian Pastoral art lasted until the third millennium BC. In the eastern desert, including the Nile Valley, most rock art belongs to this phase or later and is attributed to food-producers. The chronology and mechanisms by which pastoral art spread remain incompletely understood, as does the possible transmission of artistic forms to groups south of the Sahara.
60th century BCE – 20th century BCE
Sahara and eastern desert regions
The Bovidian Pastoral phase is a Saharan rock-art tradition of paintings and engravings associated with food-producing nomadic or transhumant herders. Its artists kept large herds of fully domesticated cattle and were probably organized in powerful tribal groups. In the central Sahara it followed the Round Head style and lasted until the third millennium BC; in the eastern desert and Nile Valley, much rock art belongs to this phase or later.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Bovidian Pastoral phase followed the Round Head style in parts of the Sahara and became one of the best-known traditions of Saharan paintings and engravings. Its artistic and archaeological associations point to food-producing communities that were nomadic or at least transhumant. The tradition is therefore connected not simply with imagery but with a major transformation in subsistence and mobility.
The artists are described as herders of large numbers of fully domesticated cattle. They may have been organized in powerful tribal groups, suggesting that cattle were not only an economic resource but also part of social and political organization. The excerpt contrasts this phase with the less securely understood Round Head tradition, whose makers may still have depended heavily on hunting and fishing.
In the central Sahara, Bovidian Pastoral art lasted until the third millennium BC. In the eastern desert, including the Nile Valley, most rock art belongs to this phase or later and is attributed to food-producers. The chronology and mechanisms by which pastoral art spread remain incompletely understood, as does the possible transmission of artistic forms to groups south of the Sahara.
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