Tadrart Acacus Rock Art Sites

Rock art sites of Tadrart Acacus represent an outstanding record of ancient human groups who lived in the central Saharan region during the Holocene, from the early hunting-gathering communities, to the emergence of the first Pastoral society, to the development of the Garamantian state, until the Tuareg occupation. The subjects and scenes are painted and engraved on cliffs, isolated boulders or on the walls of rock-shelters, and in the rare deep caves. They mainly represent animals and humans, both isolated, in groups and performing daily or ritual activities. Set into the wider archaeological and palaeoclimatic framework, rock art adds important elements to the reconstruction of the environmental, socio-cultural and ideological dynamics of the past cultures. Aim of this contribution is to propose the most updated description of Tadrart Acacus rock art sites, highlighting the main features of Saharan rock art, identifying its key archaeological and historical issues in a wider North African perspective, together with its current main threats.