100th century BCE – 20th century BCE
North Africa, from the Atlantic to the Red Sea Hills and from the Maghrib to the southern Sahara
Early North African art comprises diverse portable and rock-art traditions whose dates, cultural affiliations, and functions remain debated. Evidence includes Iberomaurusian figurines and carved stones, Capsian ostrich-eggshell and stone art, Saharan engravings and paintings, and later pastoral imagery. Some works belong to pre-agricultural hunters, gatherers, and fishermen, while others were made by food-producing herders. The tradition may begin in the early Holocene or final Pleistocene.
Continue exploring
The Story
There was no single prehistoric art style across North Africa. Artistic traditions varied by period, geography, and probably culture, extending from the Atlantic to the Red Sea Hills and from the Maghrib steppes and mountains to the southern Sahara. Their chronology and cultural context have been debated for more than three-quarters of a century, particularly for engraved and painted rock art.
Portable art is documented in several Epi-Palaeolithic contexts. A clay animal figurine occurs at Tamar Hat around 10000 BC, carved and incised stones are reported from Taforalt around 9000 BC, and Capsian art is securely present by about 6500 BC in incised ostrich eggshell, engraved stone plaques, and sculpted stones. Other evidence includes decorated eggshell from northern Saharan sites and a bird drawing on a pebble associated with the Libyco-Capsian of Haua Fteah between 8000 and 5000 BC.
Rock art includes the Large Wild Fauna or Bubalis engravings, the Round Head paintings, and the later Bovidian Pastoral phase. The earliest art may belong to pre-agricultural hunters, gatherers, and fishermen, whereas pastoral imagery was produced by food-producing herders. The purposes of the art cannot be established with confidence; proposed functions include hunting-related ritual, commemoration, and marking social transitions.
100th century BCE – 20th century BCE
North Africa, from the Atlantic to the Red Sea Hills and from the Maghrib to the southern Sahara
Early North African art comprises diverse portable and rock-art traditions whose dates, cultural affiliations, and functions remain debated. Evidence includes Iberomaurusian figurines and carved stones, Capsian ostrich-eggshell and stone art, Saharan engravings and paintings, and later pastoral imagery. Some works belong to pre-agricultural hunters, gatherers, and fishermen, while others were made by food-producing herders. The tradition may begin in the early Holocene or final Pleistocene.
Continue exploring
The Story
There was no single prehistoric art style across North Africa. Artistic traditions varied by period, geography, and probably culture, extending from the Atlantic to the Red Sea Hills and from the Maghrib steppes and mountains to the southern Sahara. Their chronology and cultural context have been debated for more than three-quarters of a century, particularly for engraved and painted rock art.
Portable art is documented in several Epi-Palaeolithic contexts. A clay animal figurine occurs at Tamar Hat around 10000 BC, carved and incised stones are reported from Taforalt around 9000 BC, and Capsian art is securely present by about 6500 BC in incised ostrich eggshell, engraved stone plaques, and sculpted stones. Other evidence includes decorated eggshell from northern Saharan sites and a bird drawing on a pebble associated with the Libyco-Capsian of Haua Fteah between 8000 and 5000 BC.
Rock art includes the Large Wild Fauna or Bubalis engravings, the Round Head paintings, and the later Bovidian Pastoral phase. The earliest art may belong to pre-agricultural hunters, gatherers, and fishermen, whereas pastoral imagery was produced by food-producing herders. The purposes of the art cannot be established with confidence; proposed functions include hunting-related ritual, commemoration, and marking social transitions.
Continue the journey
Other paths related to this story.