| Dhar Tichitt | |
|---|---|
  Dhar Tichitt | |
| Location | Mauritania |
| Coordinates | 18°27′06″N 9°24′19″W / 18.4517°N 9.40528°W |
Dhar Tichitt is a line of sandstone cliffs located in the southwestern region of the Sahara Desert in Mauritania that boasts a series of eponymous Neolithic archaeological sites. It is one of several in the area belonging to the Tichitt culture, including Dhar Tichitt, Dhar Walata, Dhar Néma, and Dhar Tagant.[1] Dhar Tichitt, which includes Dakhlet el Atrouss, may have served as the primary regional center for a hierarchical social structure within the Tichitt Tradition.[2] The cliffs of Dhar Tichitt were inhabited by pastoralists and farmers between 4000 BP and 2300 BP,[3] or between 2000 BCE and 300 BCE.[4][5]
Dhar Tichitt is one of the oldest known archaeological occupation sites in West Africa. About 500 settlements littered the region in the former savannah of the Sahara. In addition to herding livestock (cattle, sheep, goats), its inhabitants hunted, fished, collected wild grain, and grew bulrush millet. The inhabitants and creators of these settlements during these periods are thought to have been ancestors of the Soninke people. Plateau settlements consisted of multiple drystone-compounds containing houses and granaries (or "storage facilities"), sometimes with "street" layouts, which were constructed between c. 1400 BCE and 300 BCE.[6] Large livestock enclosures were erected in proximity of some sites. And around some settlements, larger common stone "circumvallation walls" were built, suggesting that "special purpose groups" cooperated as a result of decisions "enforced for the benefit of the community as a whole."[7][8]
- ^ Sterry, Martin; Mattingly, David J. (26 March 2020). "Pre-Islamic Oasis Settlements in the Southern Sahara". Urbanisation and State Formation in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond. Cambridge University Press. p. 318. doi:10.1017/9781108637978.008. ISBN 9781108494441. OCLC 1128066278. S2CID 243375056.
- ^ Linares-Matás, Gonzalo J. (13 April 2022). "Spatial Organization and Socio-Economic Differentiation at the Dhar Tichitt Center of Dakhlet el Atrouss I (Southeastern Mauritania)". African Archaeological Review. 39 (2): 167–188. doi:10.1007/s10437-022-09479-5. ISSN 1572-9842. OCLC 9530792981. S2CID 248132575.
- ^ Holl, Augustin F. C. (2009-08-01). "Coping with uncertainty: Neolithic life in the Dhar Tichitt-Walata, Mauritania (ca. 4000–2300 BP)". Comptes Rendus Geoscience. Histoire climatique des déserts d'Afrique et d'Arabie. 341 (8): 703–712. doi:10.1016/j.crte.2009.04.005. ISSN 1631-0713.
- ^ Holl, Augustin (1985). "Background to the Ghana empire: Archaeological investigations on the transition to statehood in the Dhar Tichitt region (mauritania)". Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 4 (2): 73–115. doi:10.1016/0278-4165(85)90005-4. ISSN 0278-4165.
- ^ Holl, Augustin F. C. (2002). "Time, Space, and Image Making: Rock Art from the Dhar Tichitt (Mauritania)". African Archaeological Review. 19 (2): 75–118. doi:10.1023/A:1015479826570. hdl:2027.42/43991. S2CID 54741966.
- ^ Challis, Sam; et al. (2005). "Funerary monuments and horse paintings: A preliminary report on the archaeology of a site in the Tagant region of South East Mauritania - Near Dhar Tichitt". The Journal of North African Studies. 10 (3): 459–470. doi:10.1080/13629380500336821.
- ^ Holl, Augustin (August 2009). "Coping with uncertainty: Neolithic life in the Dhar Tichitt-Walata, Mauritania, ( ca. 4000–2300 BP)". Comptes Rendus Geoscience. 341 (8–9): 703–712. doi:10.1016/j.crte.2009.04.005.
- ^ Hall A (1985). "Background to the Ghana Empire: archaeological investigations on the transition to statehood in the Dhar Tichitt region (Mauritania)". Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 4 (2): 108. doi:10.1016/0278-4165(85)90005-4.