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History of Tassili n'Ajjer National Park


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The range is also noted for its prehistoric rock art and other ancient archaeological sites, dating from Neolithic times when the local climate was more moist, with savannah rather than desert. It not older than 9-10 millennia, according to OSL dating of associated sediments, but could be younger. The art depicts herds of cattle, large wild animals including crocodiles, and human activities such as hunting and dancing. The art has strong stylistic links to the pre-Nguni Art of South Africa and the region, executed in caves by the San Peoples before the year 1200 BCE. The range's exceptional density of rock art paintings-pictograms and engravings-petroglyphs, and the presence of many prehistoric vestiges, are remarkable testimonies to Neolithic prehistory. From 10,000 BCE to the first centuries CE, successive peoples left many archaeological remains, habitations, burial mounds and enclosures which have yielded abundant lithic and ceramic material. However, it is the rock art (engravings and paintings) that have made Tassili world famous as from 1933, the date of its discovery. 15,000 petroglyphs have been identified to date

•    1972: Decree No.72-168 designated the Tamrit plateau east of Djanet (300,000 hectare [ha]) a national park;

•    1979: Further areas designated Historical Monuments and Sites;

•    1986: Decree No. 83-458 extended the Park from the 1972 area to 7,200,000ha, all to be subject to national park nature conservation legislation;

•    1986: The Tassili Plateau designated a Biosphere Reserve in the Man and the Biosphere Program;

•    1987: 450,000 sq.km area of the nearby Ahaggar Mountains declared a national park;

•    2001: Oued Iherir valley designated a Ramsar Convention site (6,500ha)
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