North Africa, central Sahara region, ca. 6000 BCE. This is an engraved piece of rock art that has been produced using flints to show the outline of a genderless shaman figure. The style of this piece looks similar to the famous sleeping antelope/gazelle located at Tin Taghirt on the Tassili n’Ajjer, a mountain/high altitude plateau in southeastern Algeria. This area is a UNESCO World Heritage Area of Outstanding Universal Value for its over 15,000 drawings and engravings spanning nearly 8,000 years of rock art. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of the rock art from this area suggests that they are from 10-9000 years before present. During this time period, weather conditions called the Neolithic Subpluvial meant that the Sahara was a green, fertile landscape; cultures that produced rock art flourished during this time period. The people who lived here had plentiful game to hunt and lived in a place with savannahs and woodlands in which they could have a sustainable hunter-gatherer lifestyle. These people also produced some of the oldest pottery in the world and, from about 5000 BCE, had domesticated cattle, sheep, and goats. Size: 15.5" W x 23" H (39.4 cm x 58.4 cm).

Provenance: Ex- Peter Arnovick, ex Ogawa collection, Japan

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#111177

Although this is a fragment of rock, all of the rock art is intact. There is some destruction to one hand but otherwise the piece is in excellent condition.