digital photograph(colour)
- Museum number
- 2013,2034.5373
- Description
-
Digital photograph (colour); view of engraved rock art on a rock face, showing a giraffe, an antelope and several unidentified shapes. Centre: outlined (polished) giraffe upright facing right, cupule within body, polished, lined coat pattern markings throughout neck. Right: outlined (polished) antelope upright facing right, head cut off by stone breaking. Random, interspersed polished lines and outlined, unidentified shapes throughout the tableau. Tazina period. A 10 cm photo scale has been fitted at the bottom of the tableau. Ait Ouazik, Morocco.
Scanned
- Production date
-
30 June 2006 (date digitized)
-
March 1998 (original photograph)
- Dimensions
-
File size: 117 megabytes
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Resolution: 300 dots per inch
- Curator's comments
- The schematic features and elongated legs of the animal ascribe it to the Tazina style and chronology.
The engravings are located in the Draa valley, Morocco’s longest river (1100 km). The Draa river flows from the High Atlas south-east into the Atlantic Ocean, although the lower part of the course falls dry most of the year. Along the river course an in the nearby areas at least 120 rock art sites have been documented, being by far the biggest concentration of rock art in Morocco. Engravings (only a score of painted rock art sites have been documented in Morocco insofar) consist mostly in wild animals –including ostriches, lions or rhinoceros- and cattle, along with depictions of warriors on horses and camels. The classification of Moroccan rock art is slightly different from that of the Sahara, consisting on three main periods: Tazina, Cattle (Saharan Pastoral period) and Libyan-Berber (Saharan Horse and Camel periods).
The first mentions of the Draa valley rock art date from the late 19th century, but it was after the treaty of Fes in 1912 when a true interest for the subject arise, especially among the authorities of the new created French Protectorate. However, it wasn’t until the 1960s onwards when a systematic research started thanks to the efforts of A. Simoneau, who in 1977 published a catalogue of the rock art sites of this area that still remains as the most comprehensive approach to the subject.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 2013
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- 2013,2034.5373
- Additional IDs
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Previous owner/ex-collection number: MORATM0010225 (TARA number)
