Algeria finds more ancient rock etchings

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS, June 18 (Reuters) - Algeria, a treasure house of prehistoric Saharan art, has discovered more neolithic rock etchings in the desert from around 8,000 years ago showing cattle herds, a government newspaper reported Monday. El Moudjahid daily said local tour guide Hadj Brahim found about 40 images near the town of Bechar, about 800 km (500 miles) southwest of the capital Algiers.

Prehistoric paintings are found in many parts of the Sahara, often portraying a garden-like environment of hunting and dancing in bright greens, yellows and reds at a time before desertification, which happened around 4,000 years ago.

Algeria's best known drawings are in the southeast in the Tassili N'Ajjer mountains. The site of 15,000 images has been named world's finest prehistoric open-air art museum by UNESCO.

Despite a rich Saharan inheritance, Algeria remains off the beaten track for most tourists because of its politically unstable history and an undeveloped tourist sector.

Algeria finds more ancient rock etchings

[amalgamate]

wow, interesting

[Al-khiyal]

August 2, 2007 -- An important archaeological discovery has been made recently in the region of Batna (east of Algiers) which consists of prehistoric frescoes that date back some 3,500 years.

Local experts are asking for the immediate intervention of the minister of culture to send international searchers to probe into the matter, because of the importance of this unprecedented historical discovery. The province of Batna is well known for its outdoor historical sites such as Timgad, Ouazana and Imedghassen.

These frescoes are similar to those already existing in the remote parts of the Algerian desert, Tassili and Hoggar, as well as those in the Atlas, namely at Djelfa and Ain Defla. The drawings have been discovered inside caverns located in “Tachyoune”, some 14 kms east of the town of N’guaouess and only a few local inhabitants and shepherds are familiar with them.

To certify the historical authenticity of such a discovery, an important delegation including top local officials and researchers moved to the site last June and scrutinized the frescoes which portrayed the social life of prehistoric man through the representation of domestic utensils, plants and animals.

According to archaeologists much is left to be discovered in this virgin territory, and this discovery is but the visible part of the iceberg, that’s why it is central that the Algerian authorities, through the ministry of culture, organize scientific expeditions to shed light on other historical sites of a universal value.

3,500 years old frescoes discovered in the region of Batna