90th century BCE – 60th century BCE
Southern Maghrib and central Sahara
The Large Wild Fauna, Hunter, or Bubalis style is an early North African rock-art tradition represented by engravings of giant buffalo, cattle, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, giraffes, equids, rams, and human figures. Its age is uncertain, but evidence places some examples well before 6000 BC and possibly between 9000 and 8000 BC in the Tadrart Acacus. The tradition is associated with communities fundamentally engaged in hunting large mammals.
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The Story
The Large Wild Fauna phase is among the earliest recognized forms of North African rock art, apart from the possible early Capsian engravings at El-Mekta. It is represented by engravings rather than paintings and occurs particularly in the southern Maghrib and central Sahara. Its defining subject is the extinct giant buffalo Bubalis antiquus, also known as Homoioceras antiquus.
The engravings also portray cattle, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, giraffes, equids, and rams. Some rams carry discs between their horns or display collars, pendants, and perhaps lassos. Human figures appear in hunting scenes and occasionally in explicitly sexual positions, while the deeply cut grooves may show polishing or pecking inside the figures.
The chronology remains unsettled. Radiocarbon and archaeological evidence suggest that the style extends well before 6000 BC, and observations of superimposed images in the Tadrart Acacus have led to proposals for beginnings near the close of the Pleistocene, between 9000 and 8000 BC. The excerpt links the art to people who were basically hunters of large mammals, while stressing that the communities themselves remain poorly known.
90th century BCE – 60th century BCE
Southern Maghrib and central Sahara
The Large Wild Fauna, Hunter, or Bubalis style is an early North African rock-art tradition represented by engravings of giant buffalo, cattle, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, giraffes, equids, rams, and human figures. Its age is uncertain, but evidence places some examples well before 6000 BC and possibly between 9000 and 8000 BC in the Tadrart Acacus. The tradition is associated with communities fundamentally engaged in hunting large mammals.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Large Wild Fauna phase is among the earliest recognized forms of North African rock art, apart from the possible early Capsian engravings at El-Mekta. It is represented by engravings rather than paintings and occurs particularly in the southern Maghrib and central Sahara. Its defining subject is the extinct giant buffalo Bubalis antiquus, also known as Homoioceras antiquus.
The engravings also portray cattle, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, giraffes, equids, and rams. Some rams carry discs between their horns or display collars, pendants, and perhaps lassos. Human figures appear in hunting scenes and occasionally in explicitly sexual positions, while the deeply cut grooves may show polishing or pecking inside the figures.
The chronology remains unsettled. Radiocarbon and archaeological evidence suggest that the style extends well before 6000 BC, and observations of superimposed images in the Tadrart Acacus have led to proposals for beginnings near the close of the Pleistocene, between 9000 and 8000 BC. The excerpt links the art to people who were basically hunters of large mammals, while stressing that the communities themselves remain poorly known.