Prehistoric rock art of Jebel Shaqadud, Northwestern Butana (Sudan)

0575577 - ARÚ 2025 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Varadzinová, Lenka - Unger, Jiří - Černý, Martin - Varadzin, Ladislav
Prehistoric rock art of Jebel Shaqadud, Northwestern Butana (Sudan).
African Archaeological Review. Roč. 41, č. 1 (2024), s. 47-69. ISSN 0263-0338. E-ISSN 1572-9842
Grant - others:AV ČR(CZ) LQ300022002
Program: Prémie Lumina quaeruntur
Institutional support: RVO:67985912
Keywords : Eastern Sahel * petroglyphs * giraffe depictions * iconography * archaeological context * dating
OECD category: Archaeology
Impact factor: 1.6, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-023-09549-2

The dating and meaning of petroglyphs constitute a challenge in African rock-art research. In this article, we present and discuss a recently found rock-art assemblage from the Shaqadud site complex (Sudan), a site aggregation that well documents Holocene prehistoric cultural adaptations in non-aquatic, deep-savanna environments in what is today the Eastern Sahel. The rock-art corpus contains 120 identifiable motifs with a clear predominance of giraffes (n = 113, 94.2%) that are of small dimensions (< 50 cm) and are shown in a limited number of compositions. The thematic and technological compactness of the assemblage suggests a chronological integrity of the local figurative rock art and a coherent thematic and technological mindset of its creators. The archaeological context and the general characteristics of the assemblage place the local figurative rock art between the beginning of the Holocene and the Late Neolithic, in absolute dates between ca. 8748–1639 cal BC. However, spatial and visual connections could suggest a narrower dating of the assemblage, to the late Khartoum Mesolithic, around 6421–6088 cal BC. The predominance of the giraffe in the Shaqadud rock art suggests that this species may have carried a special significance for the local prehistoric communities. At the same time, the lack of hunting scenes in the figurative assemblage indicates that the importance of the giraffe motif goes beyond subsistence.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0345373