View source for History:Round Head Period

{{Short description|Earliest rock paintings of the Central Sahara}}

[[File:Fondazione Passaré V1 056.jpg|thumb|Round Head figures and zoomorphic figures, including a Barbary sheep{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=45–55}}]]

'''Round Head''' rock art is the earliest painted,<ref name="Soukopova">{{cite journal |last1=Soukopova |first1=Jitka |title=Central Saharan rock art: Considering the kettles and cupules |journal=Journal of Arid Environments |date=August 2017 |volume=143 |url=https://www.academia.edu/33092285 |pages=10–12 |doi=10.1016/J.JARIDENV.2016.12.011 |s2cid=132225521 |issn=0140-1963 |oclc=7044514678 |bibcode=2017JArEn.143...10S}}</ref><ref name="Soukopova II">{{cite journal |last1=Soukopova |first1=Jitka |title=Saharan rock art sites as places for celebrating water |journal=Expression |date=June 2016 |url=https://www.academia.edu/28386236 |issn=2499-1341 |page=69}}</ref><ref name="Soukopova III">{{cite journal |last1=Soukopova |first1=Jitka |title=Tassili Paintings: Ancient roots of current African beliefs? |date=September 2015 |url=https://www.academia.edu/24483825 |journal=Expression |issn=2499-1341 |pages=116–119}}</ref><ref name="Soukopova XII" /><ref name="Soukopova V">{{cite journal |last1=Soukopova |first1=Jitka |title=Leading role of male hunters in Central Saharan prehistoric rituals |date=March 2016 |url=https://www.academia.edu/31487599 |journal=Expression |issn=2499-1341 |pages=68–71}}</ref> monumental form of Central Saharan rock art,<ref name="Di Lernia II">{{cite journal |last1=Di Lernia |first1=Savino |title=Places, monuments, and landscape: Evidence from the Holocene central Sahara |date=June 2013 |volume=48 |issue=2 |doi=10.1080/0067270X.2013.788867 |s2cid=162877973 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271666951 |journal=Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa |page=178}}</ref> which was largely created from 9500 BP to 7500 BP<ref name="Soukopova VI">{{cite journal |last1=Soukopova |first1=Jitka |title=Women and prehistoric rituals in the Round head rock art of the Sahara |date=2019 |url=https://www.academia.edu/41442650 |journal=Expression |issn=2499-1341 |page=54}}</ref> and ceased being created by 3000 BP.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> The Round Head Period is preceded by the [[History:Kel Essuf Period|Kel Essuf Period]] and followed by the Pastoral Period.<ref name="Soukopova" /> Round Head rock art number up to several thousand depictions in the Central Sahara.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> Human and undomesticated animal (e.g., [[Biology:Barbary sheep|Barbary sheep]], [[Biology:Antelope|antelope]]) artforms are usually portrayed, with a variety of details (e.g., dancing, ceremonies, masks, spiritual animal forms), in painted Round Head rock art.<ref name="Soukopova" /> Painted Round Head rock art and engraved Kel Essuf rock art usually share the same region and occasionally the same rockshelters.<ref name="Soukopova" /> The Round Head rock art of Tassili and the surrounding mountainous areas bear considerable similarity with traditional [[Place:Sub-Saharan Africa#Culture|Sub-Saharan African cultures]].<ref name="Soukopova III" />

At the start of 10th millennium BP, amid the Epipaleolithic, the walls of rockshelters (e.g., Tin Torha, Tin Hanakaten) were used as a [[Organization:Foundation (engineering)|foundation]] for proto-village huts that families resided in, as well as hearths, which may have been suitable for the mobile lifestyle of semi-sedentary Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherers.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=20}}<ref name="Barich">{{cite book |last1=Barich |first1=Barbara |title=Encyclopedia of Archaeology |date=December 2008 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296652579 |publisher=Academic Press |page=63 |chapter=Africa, north: Sahara, West and Central |doi=10.1016/B978-012373962-9.00320-4 |isbn=9780123739629 |s2cid=128002774}}</ref> Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherers built a simple [[Chemistry:Stone wall|stone wall]], dated to 10,508 ± 429 cal BP/9260 ± 290 BP, which may have been used for the purpose of serving as a [[Biology:Windbreak|windbreak]].{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=20}} In 10,000 BP, Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherers, to some extent, engaged in processing of [[Earth:Flora|flora]], and were specialists in the use of Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia).{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=19-24}} Though uncommon, ceramics and lithic complexes were also utilized.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=19-24}} Hunters of the Epipaleolithic especially hunted Barbary sheep, among other animals, as well as utilized ceramics and basic lithic constructs between 10,000 BP to 8800 BP.<ref name="Soukopova" /> Hunters of the Epipaleolithic, who possessed a sophisticated social organization, as well as exceptional stone tools and ceramics, created the Round Head rock art.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> Amid an early period of the Holocene, semi-settled Epipaleolithic and Mesolithic hunters, who created a refined material culture (e.g., stone tools, decorated pottery) as early as 10,000 BP,<ref name="Soukopova V" /> also created the engraved Kel Essuf and painted Round Head rock art styles located in the region (e.g., some in the Acacus, some in the Tadrart) of [[Place:Libya|Libya]], in the region (e.g., some in the [[Earth:Tadrart Rouge|Tadrart]], most abundant in [[Earth:Tassili n'Ajjer|Tassili n'Ajjer]]) of Algeria, in the region (e.g., Djado) of Nigeria, and the region (e.g., Djado) of Niger.<ref name="Soukopova V" /><ref name="Soukopova XI">{{cite journal |last1=Soukopova |first1=Jitka |title=Penis only for Gods? Sexual Imagery in the Earliest Central Saharan Rock Art |date=March 2017 |url=https://www.academia.edu/35186723 |journal=Expression |issn=2499-1341 |page=69}}</ref>

Amid the early Sahara, Round Head rock artists, who had a sophisticated culture and engaged in the activity of hunting and [[Biology:Hunter-gatherer|gathering]], also developed pottery, used vegetation, and managed animals.<ref name="Barich II">{{cite book |last1=Barich |first1=Barbara |title=The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines |date=December 2018 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329571626 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=108 |chapter=The Sahara |isbn=9780199675616 |oclc=944462988}}</ref> The cultural importance of shepherded Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia) is shown via their presence in Round Head rock art throughout the Central Sahara (e.g., Libyan region of Tadrart Acacus, Algerian region of Tassili n’Ajjer).<ref name="Rotunno">{{cite journal |last1=Rotunno |first1=Rocco |display-authors=0 |title=Coprolites from Rock Shelters: Hunter-Gatherers "Herding" Barbary Sheep in the Early Holocene Sahara |date=Jul 9, 2019 |volume=17 |issue=1 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jaa/17/1/article-p76_5.xml |journal=Journal of African Archaeology |pages=76–94 |doi=10.1163/21915784-20190005 |s2cid=198731047 |issn=2191-5784 |oclc=8197143305}}</ref> Barbary sheep were corralled in stone enclosures near Uan Afuda cave.<ref name="Rotunno" /> From up to 9500 BP, this continued until the beginning of the [[History:Pastoral Neolithic|Pastoral Neolithic]] in the Sahara.<ref name="Rotunno" /> Between 7500 BCE and 3500 BCE, amid the Green Sahara, undomesticated central Saharan flora were farmed, stored, and cooked, and domesticated animals (e.g., [[Biology:Barbary sheep|Barbary sheep]]) were milked and managed, by hunter-gatherers near the Takarkori rockshelter, which is representative of the broader Sahara; this continued until the beginning of the Pastoral Neolithic in the Sahara.<ref name="Mercuri">{{cite journal |last1=Mercuri |first1=Anna Maria |display-authors=0 |title=Plant behaviour from human imprints and the cultivation of wild cereals in Holocene Sahara |date=January 29, 2018 |volume=4 |issue=2 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-017-0098-1 |journal=Nature Plants |doi=10.1038/s41477-017-0098-1 |s2cid=3302383 |page=73|pmid=29379157 |hdl=11567/979083 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Between 8800 BP and 7400 BP, Mesolithic hunter-gatherers hunted different kinds of animals and used numerous grinding and flaking stone technologies and ceramics for the purpose of improving the overall number of undomesticated vegetation gathered.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=19-24}} Among hunter-gatherers of the Mesolithic, there was use of ceramics, due to the increased settling and acquiring of undomesticated vegetation, and considerable use of lithic grinding tools, between 8800 BP and 7400 BP.<ref name="Soukopova" /> At Uan Afuda, Mesolithic hunter-gatherer settlements had remnants of baskets with undomesticated vegetation within them and cords, which date between 8700 BP and 8300 BP.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=20}}

==Classifications==

Rock art is categorized into different groups (e.g., Bubaline, [[History:Kel Essuf Period|Kel Essuf]], Round Heads, Pastoral, Caballine, Cameline), based on a variety of factors (e.g., art method, organisms, motifs, superimposed).<ref name="Soukopova" />

In 5000 BP, buffalo ([[Biology:Pelorovis|Bubalus antiquus]]) in Africa underwent mass extinction; consequently, the engraved stone portrayals of these macroscopic, undomesticated buffalos in unenclosed rock art zones resulted in them being identified as Bubaline.<ref name="Soukopova" /> In contrast, located in enclosed rock art zones, there are engraved Kel Essuf ("spirit of dead" in the Tuareg language) art, which portray short-armed, little human artforms with legs and penile appendages.<ref name="Soukopova" />

Human and undomesticated animal (e.g., [[Biology:Barbary sheep|Barbary sheep]], [[Biology:Antelope|antelope]]) artforms are usually portrayed, with a variety of details (e.g., dancing, ceremonies, masks, spiritual animal forms), in painted Round Head rock art.<ref name="Soukopova" /> Painted Round Head rock art and engraved Kel Essuf rock art usually share the same region and occasionally the same rockshelters in contrast to engraved Bubaline rock art, which rarely appear in rock art zones where painted Round Head rock art is portrayed predominantly.<ref name="Soukopova" />

Compared to painted Round Head rock art, in addition to its art production method, depictions of domesticated cattle are what makes engraved/painted Pastoral rock art distinct; these distinct depictions in the Central Sahara serve as evidence for different populations entering the region.<ref name="Soukopova" /> The decreased appearance of large undomesticated organisms and increased appearance of one-humped camels and horses depicted in latter rock art (e.g., Pastoral, Camelline, Cabelline) throughout the Sahara serves as evidence for the Green Sahara undergoing increased [[Earth:Desiccation|desiccation]].<ref name="Soukopova" />

==Chronology==

For the rock art of the Sahara, the most contentious among academic debates has remained the topic of chronology.<ref name="Soukopova" /> Round Head, Kel Essuf, and Bubaline rock art, as the oldest chronological types, have been regarded as less certain compared to the younger chronological types (e.g., rock art depicting Saharan animals, which could be chronologically approximated to a specific timespan).<ref name="Soukopova" /> Consequently, two types of chronologies (i.e., high chronology, low chronology) were developed.<ref name="Soukopova" />

The date for Bubaline rock art was approximated to the late period of the Pleistocene or early period of the Holocene using remnants of clay, manganese, and iron oxide in the dark hued [[Engineering:Patina|patina]].<ref name="Soukopova" /> Rock walls were estimated to have developed between 9200 BP and 5500 BP using substances of organic origin found within the depths of the rock walls.<ref name="Soukopova" /> The Qurta petroglyphs of [[History:Prehistoric Egypt|prehistoric Egypt]], which portray undomesticated animals, has been estimated to a minimum of 15,000 BP; this has been used as an additional consideration for Bubaline rock art dating well before 10,000 BP.<ref name="Soukopova" />

While the Kel Essuf rock art and Bubaline rock art have not been found layered above one another, in addition to the Kel Essuf rock art being found within a dark hued patina, it has been found layered beneath Round Head rock art.<ref name="Soukopova" /> Due to the layering and the artistic commonalities between the Kel Essuf rock art and Round Head rock art of the Central Sahara, the engraved Kel Essuf rock art is regarded to be the artistic precursor to the painted Round Head rock art.<ref name="Soukopova" />

Credence to the high chronology is given via decoratively detailed Saharan ceramics dated to 10,726 BP.<ref name="Soukopova" /> A spatula and lithic grinding tools with ocher remnants on them, which serves as evidence of painting, were found in an Acacus rockshelter with Round Head rock art.<ref name="Soukopova" /> Paint from Round Head rock art in the region (e.g., Acacus) of Libya was also tested and dated to 6379 BP.<ref name="Soukopova" /> Altogether, these show continuation of the Round Head rock art tradition well into the Pastoral Period.<ref name="Soukopova" />

Based on 13 sediment samples from the floor directly at or near the walls of Round Head rock art in Sefar and Ti-n-Tazarift, and determined via the [[Physics:Optically stimulated luminescence|optically stimulated luminescence]] dating method, the Round Head rock art may have been created amid the Holocene and may have a terminus ante quem date of 9000 BP to 10,000 BP.<ref name="Norbert">{{cite journal |last1=Mercier |first1=Norbert |title=OSL dating of quaternary deposits associated with the parietal art of the Tassili-n-Ajjer plateau (Central Sahara) |date=July 2012 |volume=10 |url=https://www.academia.edu/23441910 |journal=Quaternary Geochronology |pages=2, 5–6 |doi=10.1016/J.QUAGEO.2011.11.010 |bibcode=2012QuGeo..10..367M |s2cid=140611969 |issn=1871-1014 |oclc=5901395315}}</ref> Most scholars are of the view that, from 9500 BP to 7500 BP, Round Head rock artists created Round Head rock art.<ref name="Soukopova VI" />

==Climate==

From 60,000 BP or 40,000 BP to 20,000 BP, the Aterian culture existed.<ref name="Soukopova" /> Between 16th to 15th millennium BP, the environment was humid.<ref name="Soukopova" /> From 20,000 BP to 13,000 BP, there was a varied climate system.<ref name="Soukopova" /> The high elevated regions with mountains were considerably more wet than low elevated regions without mountains, which led to the variation in climate.<ref name="Soukopova" /> Regions of high elevation had occurrences of considerable rainfall, to the extent that lakes developed, whereas, regions of low elevation had occurrences of considerable dryness.<ref name="Soukopova" /> Amid the [[Earth:Late Pleistocene|late period of the Pleistocene]], with its varied climate system, the mountainous environment remained sufficiently humid, which allowed for animal, plant, and human life to be sustained.<ref name="Soukopova" />

==Origins of the Round Head Rock Art==

[[File:Plateau du Djado - exemple de peinture des Têtes Rondes figurant un anthropomorphe très proche du modèle des Kel Essuf.jpg|thumb|Djado Plateau: example of painting from the Round Heads depicting an anthropomorph very close to the Kel Essuf model]]
[[File:Fondazione Passaré V31 474.jpg|thumb|Round Head figure wearing a Barbary sheep-styled mask{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=45–55}}]]

Mori (1967) first hypothesized that Round Head rock art evolved from Kel Essuf rock art in the Acacus region; this hypothesized evolution of one rock art type into another receives support due to Round Head rock art having been superimposed upon Kel Essuf rock art in the Tadrart of Algeria.<ref name="Soukopova XII">{{cite journal |last1=Soukopova |first1=Jitka |title=Similarity between Round-Head Paintings and Kel Essuf Engravings |journal=What Ever Happened to the People? Humans and Anthropomorphs in the Rock Art of Northern Africa |date=September 2015 |url=https://www.academia.edu/36786856 |publisher=Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences |pages=173, 175–177, 179 |isbn=978-90-756-5260-4 |oclc=1091181355}}</ref> The superimposed state of Round Head rock art upon Kel Essuf rock art is viewed as showing that Kel Essuf rock art chronologically precedes Round Head rock art and is also perceived as a pattern of development, from simpler detailed Kel Essuf engravings to more complexly detailed (e.g., fingers) Round Head paintings.<ref name="Soukopova XII" /> Mori (1967) has found continued support by Hallier & Hallier (1999) and Streidter et al. (2002 – 2003).<ref name="Soukopova XII" />

The striking likenesses between the Kel Essuf and Round Head rock artforms, along with likeness in shape, include the following notable traits: forms shaped like a “half-moon” connected to the shoulder(s), engraved forms shaped like a “half-moon” near “figures”, forms bearing bows and sticks, and horns atop the heads of the Kel Essuf forms that are like the Round Head forms in configuration (e.g., shape, position).<ref name="Soukopova XII" /> Due to the absence of these likenesses in Pastoral rock artforms, these likenesses may be concluded as cultural particularities unique to the hunter-gatherers who created the Kel Essuf and Round Head rock artforms.<ref name="Soukopova XII" />

A cultural particularity unique to the Kel Essuf rock art, in contrast to the Round Head rock art, are penile forms; these penile forms, or additional appendages, may be indicative of maleness, and may be absent from the Round Head rock art due to taboo.<ref name="Soukopova XII" /> Aside this absence, both the Kel Essuf and Round Head rock art are largely composed of male artforms.<ref name="Soukopova XII" />

Comparative analysis of the rock art from Tassili n’Ajjer and Djado resulted in the conclusion that the Round Head rock art of Djado was the precursor to the Round Head rock art of Tassili n’Ajjer.<ref name="Hallier">{{cite book |last1=Hallier |first1=U. W. |last2=Hallier |first2=Brigitte C. |title=The World of Petroglyphs: "Roundheads" In The Djado And Tassili-Mountains (N-Niger / S-Algeria): Pecked and painted human figures in the rock picture inventory of these regions |url=https://www.freemedia.ch/fileadmin/img/rockart/stonewatch/download/004.pdf |date=May 2004 |publisher=StoneWatch |s2cid=44206739 |page=2}}</ref> With the enneris of the mountainous area of Djado as its origin, the creators of the Round Head rock art of Djado migrated, from Djado to Tassili, and, as continuation of the Djado artistic tradition, produced the Round Head rock art of Tassili n’Ajjer.<ref name="Hallier" />

The "pecked Djado-Roundheads", or Kel Essuf rock art, in the Djado mountains of northern Niger are viewed as having great likeness with the Round Head rock art in the region (e.g., Tadrart, Tassili) of Algeria and to some rock art in the region (e.g., Acacus) of Libya; hence, this is viewed as showing that the hunting societies who created these rock art were of the same cultural unit and cultural ideology, though having cultural varieties unique to each area.<ref name="Soukopova XIII">{{cite journal |last1=Soukopova |first1=Jitka |title=Decorated boulders and other neglected features of the Central Saharan rock art |date=September 2018 |volume=156 |url=https://www.academia.edu/36974539 |journal=Journal of Arid Environments |page=98 |doi=10.1016/J.JARIDENV.2018.05.001 |bibcode=2018JArEn.156...96S |s2cid=91151284 |issn=0140-1963 |oclc=8156836407}}</ref>

While the Round Head rock art is found in less abundance in the mountainous regions (e.g., Tadrart, Acacus) of Algeria and Libya, it is found in greatest abundance in the plateau area of Tassili.<ref name="Soukopova XII" /> The precursors for Round Head rock art may have originated in the mountainous northern area (e.g., Adrar Bous, Air) of Niger.<ref name="Soukopova XII" /> These areas are viewed as archaeologically similar (e.g., pottery).<ref name="Soukopova XII" /> Undomesticated flora and animals were used in Epipaleolithic and Mesolithic hunter-gatherer cultures between 10,000 BP and 8000 BP as well as 8800 BP and 7400 BP.<ref name="Soukopova XII" /> Based on the dates acquired for the ceramics in the northern Sahara (8th millennium BP), Tibesti (8949 BP), Libya (8950 BP), and Tin Hanakaten (9420 BP), the core area for the most ancient ceramics of the Sahara may have likely been in the shared region (e.g., Tassili, Air, Adrar Bous) of Niger and Algeria.<ref name="Soukopova XII" /> The Round Head rock artists may have originated in this core area, and may have had a cultural practice of association, via long distance, among other Round Head rock artists.<ref name="Soukopova XII" /> The emergence and expansion of ceramics in the Sahara may be linked with the origin of both the Round Head and Kel Essuf rock art, which occupy rockshelters in the same regions (e.g., Djado, Acacus, [[Earth:Tadrart Rouge|Tadrart]]) as well as have common resemblances (e.g., traits, shapes) with one another.<ref name="Ahmed">{{cite journal |last1=Ahmed |first1=Achrati |title=RAR Review |date=May 2020 |volume=37 |issue=1 |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/0672a3f225f577d7efc873adae4ba3d3/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=376312 |journal=Rock Art Research |page=109 |issn=0813-0426 |oclc=809603634}}</ref>

==Round Head Rock Art and Hunter-Gatherers==

===Round Head Rock Art===

Round Head rock art is the earliest painted rock art in the Central Sahara.<ref name="Soukopova" /><ref name="Soukopova II" /><ref name="Soukopova III" /><ref name="Soukopova XII" /><ref name="Soukopova V" /> Round Head rock art number up to several thousand depictions in the Central Sahara.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> In the region (e.g., Tassili, Tadrart) of Algeria and region (e.g., Acacus) of Libya, there are at least 149 painted body images, 85 stick holder images, 77 horned images, and 34 bow bearer images that have been recognized.<ref name="Soukopova XII" /> In the Tassili region, there are at least 55 arm band wearing images, 43 images with traits similar to form to a "T", 22 connected and 20 disconnected forms shaped like a "half-moon", and 7 "Great God" images.<ref name="Soukopova XII" /> The Round Head rock art of Tassili n’Ajjer are located in urban-like lithic complexes (e.g., rock shelters, rock arches, rock canyons).<ref name="Soukopova XIV">{{cite journal |last1=Soukopova |first1=Jitka |title=The Earliest Rock Paintings of the Central Sahara: Approaching Interpretation |date=July 2011 |volume=4 |issue=2 |url=https://www.academia.edu/2067705 |magazine=Time and Mind |page=195 |doi=10.2752/175169711X12961583765333 |s2cid=143429582 |issn=1751-696X |oclc=8322366572}}</ref> The final period of the Round Head rock art portrayals have been characterized as [[Biology:Negroid|Negroid]] (e.g., dominant mandible, big lips, rounded nose).<ref name="Soukopova VII">{{cite journal |last1=Soukopova |first1=Jitka |title=Prehistoric Colonization of the Central Sahara: Hunters versus Herders and the Evidence from the Rock Art |date=2020 |url=https://www.academia.edu/44872727 |journal=Expression |issn=2499-1341 |pages=59–60, 62, 66}}</ref> A distinct portrayal of a single, domesticated cow created in the Round Head rock art style may serve as evidence for some of the hunter-gatherers, who created the Round Head rock art, adopting the culture of cattle pastoralism from incoming cattle pastoralists.<ref name="Soukopova VII" />

The Round Head rock art tradition is a continuation of the Kel Essuf rock art tradition.<ref name="Aïn-Séba">{{cite journal |last1=Aïn-Séba |first1=Nagète |title=Saharan Rock Art, A Reflection Of Climate Change In The Sahara |journal=Tabona: Revista de Prehistoria y Arqueología |date=June 3, 2022 |volume=22 |issue=22 |pages=308–310 |doi=10.25145/j.tabona.2022.22.15 |url=https://riull.ull.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/915/27450/TB_22_%282022%29_15.pdf |issn=2530-8327 |s2cid=249349324}}</ref> While Bubaline rock art does not give prominence to humans, Round Head rock art does give prominence to humans; the difference in human prominence depicted by Bubaline rock artists and Round Head rock artists, as indicative of increasing awareness of the importance and agency of humans, may be viewed as a representational transition in Central Saharan rock art from the [[Earth:Paleolithic|Paleolithic]] period toward the [[History:Neolithic|Neolithic]] period.<ref name="Aïn-Séba" /> [[Biology:Syncerus antiquus|Buffalo]], [[Biology:Aurochs#In Africa|cattle]], crocodiles, and fish are portrayed in Round Head rock art.<ref name="Aïn-Séba" /> Round Head rock art also features depictions related to [[Earth:Agriculture|agriculture]] and animal domestication; for example, there is Round Head rock art at Tassili N’Ajjer that features a muzzled antelope.<ref name="Aïn-Séba" />

During the early period of the [[Earth:Holocene|Holocene]], Round Head rock art was created at Tassili N'Ajjer, in Algeria, and at Tadrart Acacus, in [[Place:Libya|Libya]], 70% of which is composed of anthropomorphic art forms; male and female art forms feature scarification marks that differ; linear design patterns are exclusive to male art forms, whereas, crescent-shaped and concentric circular design patterns are exclusive to female art forms.<ref name="Barich III">{{cite book |last1=Barich |first1=Barbara E. |title=A Companion to Gender Prehistory |date=December 4, 2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9781118294291 |oclc=815474264 |pages=301–302 |doi=10.1002/9781118294291.ch14 |s2cid=129703953 |chapter-url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118294291.ch14 |chapter=Gender in North African Prehistory}}</ref> Between the 5th millennium BCE and the 4th millennium BCE, the Central Saharan rock art depiction of a horned running woman, who may have been a goddess or a dancer<ref name="Lee" /> with body scarification markings (e.g., breasts, belly, thighs, shoulders, calves),<ref name="Rowanchilde">{{cite journal |last1=Rowanchilde |first1=Raven |title=Male genital modification: A sexual selection interpretation |journal=Human Nature |date=June 1996 |volume=7 |issue=2 |page=191 |doi=10.1007/BF02692110 |pmid=24203319 |s2cid=206820828 |issn=1045-6767 |oclc=5656566239 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02692110}}</ref> was created by Africans, during the Round Head Period<ref name="Keenan">{{cite journal |last1=Keenan |first1=Jeremy H |title=The lesser gods of the Sahara |journal=Public Archaeology |date=2002 |volume=2 |issue=3 |page=138 |doi=10.1179/pua.2002.2.3.131 |s2cid=140954728 |issn=1465-5187 |oclc=5525845873 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/pua.2002.2.3.131}}</ref><ref name="Lee">{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Raymond L. |last2=Fraser |first2=Alistair B. |title=The Rainbow Bridge: Rainbows in Art, Myth, and Science |date=2001 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |isbn=0-271-01977-8 |bibcode=2001rbra.book.....L |s2cid=16848465 |oclc=41951270 |pages=14–15 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kZcCtT1ZeaEC&q=horned+running+woman&pg=PA3 |chapter=The Bridge to the Gods}}</ref> of Tassili N’Ajjer, in Tanzoumaitak, Algeria.<ref name="Rowanchilde" />

[[File:Fondazione Passaré V31 465.jpg|thumb|250px|Round Head depiction of a horned running woman with body scarification markings, who may have been a goddess or a dancer<ref name="Lee" /><ref name="Rowanchilde" /><ref name="Keenan" />]]

===Hunter-Gatherers===

Central Saharan hunter-gatherers, such as those of the Acacus region, had a sense of monumentality.<ref name="Cancellieri">{{cite journal |last1=Cancellieri |first1=Emanuele |last2=Di Lernia |first2=Savino |title=Re-entering the central Sahara at the onset of the Holocene: A territorial approach to Early Acacus hunter–gatherers (SW Libya) |date=23 January 2014 |volume=320 |url=https://www.academia.edu/4479911 |journal=Quaternary International |page=59 |doi=10.1016/J.QUAINT.2013.08.030 |bibcode=2014QuInt.320...43C |s2cid=128897709 |issn=1040-6182 |oclc=5146151649}}</ref> While architectural monuments used for the purpose of dwelling or ritual are absent from the Central Sahara amid the early period of the Holocene, Round Head rock art may be viewed as monumental Central Saharan rock art amid the early period of the Holocene.<ref name="Di Lernia II" /> The possibility of there being some hunter-gatherers who did not create any rock art in the Central Sahara has also been previously raised.<ref name="Di Lernia">{{cite book |last1=Di Lernia |first1=Savino |editor-first1=Bruno |editor-first2=Ian J |editor-last1=David |editor-last2=McNiven |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Rock Art |chapter=The Archaeology of Rock Art in Northern Africa |date=Mar 2017 |chapter-url=https://iris.uniroma1.it/retrieve/handle/11573/942123/362415/diLernia_Archaeology-rock-art_2017.pdf |publisher=The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Rock Art |page=16 |doi=10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780190607357.013.17 |isbn=978-0-19-060735-7 |s2cid=134533475}}</ref>

The creators of the Round Head rock art possessed dark skin.<ref name="Soukopova II" /><ref name="Soukopova III" /><ref name="Soukopova V" /><ref name="Soukopova XI" />{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=107}}<ref name="Soukopova XIV" /> The dark-skinned ethnic groups, who created the Round Head rock art, differed from Tuareg Berbers.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=107}}<ref name="Soukopova XIV" /> Long-dwelling Tuareg from the same area also recognized the Round Head rock art as a creation of [[Biography:Black people|black people]] who resided in the Tassili region long ago.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=3}} The dark skin complexion of the hunters who created the Round Head rock art was verified via the testing of skin samples taken from human remains located in the Acacus region of Libya and the Tassili region of Algeria.<ref name="Soukopova III" />

In the Acacus region, at the Uan Muhuggiag rockshelter, there was a child mummy (5405 ± 180 BP) and an adult (7823 ± 95 BP/7550 ± 120 BP).{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=19-24}} In the Tassili n'Ajjer region, at Tin Hanakaten rockshelter, there was a child (7900 ± 120 BP/8771 ± 168 cal BP), with cranial deformations due to disease or [[Physics:Artificial cranial deformation|artificial cranial deformation]] that bears a resemblance with ones performed among Neolithic-era Nigerians, as well as another child and three adults (9420 ± 200 BP/10,726 ± 300 cal BP).{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=19-24}} Based on examination of the Uan Muhuggiag child mummy and Tin Hanakaten child, the results verified that these Central Saharan peoples from the Epipaleolithic, Mesolithic, and Pastoral periods possessed dark skin complexions.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=19-24}} Soukopova (2013) thus concludes: “The osteological study showed that the skeletons could be divided into two types, the first [[Chemistry:Melanin#Eumelanin|Melano]]-African type with some Mediterranean affinities, the other a robust [[Biology:Negroid|Negroid]] type. [[Biography:Black people|Black people]] of different appearance were therefore living in the Tassili and most probably in the whole Central Sahara as early as the 10th millennium BP."{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=19-24}}

====Cultural history====

At the start of 10th millennium BP, amid the Epipaleolithic, the walls of rockshelters (e.g., Tin Torha, Tin Hanakaten) were used as a [[Organization:Foundation (engineering)|foundation]] for proto-village huts that families resided in, as well as hearths, which may have been suitable for the mobile lifestyle of semi-sedentary Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherers.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=20}} Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherers built a simple [[Chemistry:Stone wall|stone wall]], dated to 10,508 ± 429 cal BP/9260 ± 290 BP, which may have been used for the purpose of serving as a [[Biology:Windbreak|windbreak]].{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=20}} In 10,000 BP, Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherers, to some extent, engaged in processing of flora, and were specialists in the use of Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia).{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=19-24}} Though uncommon, ceramics and lithic complexes were also used.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=19-24}} Hunters of the Epipaleolithic especially hunted Barbary sheep, among other animals, as well as used ceramics and basic lithic constructs between 10,000 BP to 8800 BP.<ref name="Soukopova" /> Hunters of the Epipaleolithic, who possessed a sophisticated social organization, as well as exceptional stone tools and ceramics, created the Round Head rock art.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> Amid an early period of the Holocene, semi-settled Epipaleolithic and Mesolithic hunters, who created a refined material culture (e.g., stone tools, decorated pottery) as early as 10,000 BP,<ref name="Soukopova V" /> also created the engraved Kel Essuf and painted Round Head rock art styles located in the region (e.g., some in the Acacus, some in the Tadrart) of [[Place:Libya|Libya]], in the region (e.g., some in the [[Earth:Tadrart Rouge|Tadrart]], most abundant in [[Earth:Tassili n'Ajjer|Tassili n'Ajjer]]) of Algeria, in the region (e.g., Djado) of Nigeria, and the region (e.g., Djado) of Niger.<ref name="Soukopova V" /><ref name="Soukopova XI" />

In the Tadrart Acacus region of Libya, hunter-gatherers may have begun to dwell starting between 10,721 cal BP and 10,400 cal BP.<ref name="Petrullo">{{cite journal |last1=Petrullo |first1=Giacoma |last2=Barich |first2=Barbara |title=The Bone Artifact Collection from Wadi Ti-n-Torha (Northern Tadrart Akakus, Libya): A Reappraisal Based on Technological Analysis |date=March 2021 |volume=38 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339751218 |journal=African Archaeological Review |pages=2–3, 14–18 |doi=10.1007/s10437-020-09374-x |s2cid=216390833 |issn=0263-0338 |oclc=8936533854}}</ref> Hunter-gatherers dwelled in various locations at Tin Torha (e.g., Torha East, Torha North, Two Caves).<ref name="Petrullo" /> At Torha East, hunter-gatherers used bones, lustrous lithic items, ostrich eggshells, and pottery.<ref name="Petrullo" /> Flora (e.g., [[Biology:Brachiaria|Brachiaria]], [[Biology:Echinochloa|Echinochloa]], [[Biology:Panicoideae|Panicoideae]], [[Biology:Panicum|Panicum]], [[Biology:Pennisetum|Pennisetum]], [[Biology:Sorghum|Sorghum]]/[[Biology:Andropogoneae|Andropogoneae]]) also was increasingly used in concert with lithic tools purposed for grinding and pottery purposed for boiling.<ref name="Petrullo" /> The earliest bone tool at Torha Two Caves dates between 9774 cal BP and 9534 cal BP and the earliest bone tool at Torha East Rinf dates between 9679 cal BP and 9536 cal BP.<ref name="Petrullo" />

[[File:Fondazione Passaré V1 057.jpg|thumb|350px|Zoomorphic figures, including a Barbary sheep{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=45–55}}]]

Most bone tools were found in Torha East. Bone tools derive from various kinds of fauna (e.g., Ammotragus lervia, Bird, Canis aureus, Gazella dorcas, Large Bovid, Phacochoerus aethiopicus, Vulpes rueppelli).<ref name="Petrullo" /> A bone tool, with decorations, may have been used as a handle for a leadership emblem.<ref name="Petrullo" /> A human bone, which may show evidence of human intervention, is also present.<ref name="Petrullo" /> Various [[Engineering:Debitage|debitage]] methods (e.g., fracturing, sawing) were employed on selected bones, using various kinds of lithic implements (e.g., [[Engineering:Blade (archaeology)|blades]], [[Earth:Glossary of archaeology#bladelet|bladelets]], [[Engineering:Lithic flake|flakes]]), along with methods (e.g., abrasion, scraping) to form the bone tools.<ref name="Petrullo" /> The process occurred locally and the type of lithic implements used in the process of forming the bone tools may have also been used to grind ochre and process flora.<ref name="Petrullo" /> Bone tool decorations may reflect a style and design that derive from basket weaving (e.g., basketware, cords), which may be similar to basket weaving (e.g., basketry, rope) and pottery design found in the Acacus region.<ref name="Petrullo" />

The distinct designs of the various bone objects (e.g., item with an hourglass shape, [[Engineering:Spatula|spatula]]-knife made from a [[Biology:Warthog|warthog]] tooth, two pendants, leadership emblem), which were expertly created, designed, and used by the Tin Torha hunter-gatherers, may have served as collective identity markers and those created bone objects may have served a vital purpose in trade with other groups.<ref name="Petrullo" />

Amid the early Sahara, Round Head rock artists, who had a sophisticated culture and engaged in the activity of hunting and [[Biology:Hunter-gatherer|gathering]], also developed pottery, used vegetation, and managed animals.<ref name="Barich II" /> The cultural importance of shepherded Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia) is shown via their presence in Round Head rock art throughout the Central Sahara (e.g., Libyan region of Tadrart Acacus, Algerian region of Tassili n’Ajjer).<ref name="Rotunno" /> Barbary sheep were corralled in stone enclosures near Uan Afuda cave.<ref name="Rotunno" /> From up to 9500 BP, this continued until the beginning of the [[History:Pastoral Neolithic|Pastoral Neolithic]] in the Sahara.<ref name="Rotunno" /> Between 7500 BCE and 3500 BCE, amid the Green Sahara, undomesticated central Saharan [[Earth:Flora|flora]] were farmed, stored, and cooked, and domesticated animals (e.g., [[Biology:Barbary sheep|Barbary sheep]]) were milked and managed, by hunter-gatherers near the Takarkori rockshelter, which is representative of the broader Sahara; this continued until the beginning of the Pastoral Neolithic in the Sahara.<ref name="Mercuri" />

Between 8800 BP and 7400 BP, Mesolithic hunter-gatherers hunted different kinds of animals and used numerous grinding and flaking stone technologies and ceramics for the purpose of improving the overall number of undomesticated vegetation gathered.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=19-24}} Among hunter-gatherers of the Mesolithic, there was use of ceramics, due to the increased settling and acquiring of undomesticated vegetation, and considerable use of lithic grinding tools, between 8800 BP and 7400 BP.<ref name="Soukopova" /> At Uan Afuda, Mesolithic hunter-gatherer settlements had remnants of baskets with undomesticated vegetation within them and cords, which date between 8700 BP and 8300 BP.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=20}}

Before the migration of cattle herders into Jebel Uweinat between 4400 BCE and 3300 BCE, African hunter-gatherers may have created the painted Round Head rock art at Jebel Uweinat.<ref name="Noguera">{{cite journal |last1=Noguera |first1=Alessandro Menardi |title=Uweinat Roundhead: Body Proportions and Postures |journal=What Ever Happened to the People? Humans and Anthropomorphs in the Rock Art of Northern Africa |date=September 2015 |url=https://www.academia.edu/36842386 |publisher=Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences |pages=321–323, 325–330 |isbn=978-90-756-5260-4 |oclc=1091181355}}</ref>

With the Green Sahara undergoing [[Earth:Desertification|desertification]], the formal finish of Round Head paintings occurred by 3000 BP.<ref name="Soukopova III" />

==Ethnography==

The Round Head rock art of Tassili and the surrounding mountainous areas bear considerable similarity with traditional Sub-Saharan African cultures.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> As one of the primary aspects of Sub-Saharan African cultures are their conservative values, despite change in the material economy, mainstay values remain (e.g., women's role to bear and rear children, men's participation in ceremony to facilitate the positive passing of time).<ref name="Soukopova III" /> The creators of the Round Head rock art possessed dark skin.<ref name="Soukopova II"/><ref name="Soukopova IIIb">{{cite journal |last1=Soukopova |first1=Jitka |title=Tassili Paintings: Ancient roots of current African beliefs? |date=September 2015 |url=https://www.academia.edu/24483825 |journal=Expression |issn=2499-1341 |pages=116–120}}</ref><ref name="Soukopova VII" /><ref name="Soukopova XI"/>{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=107}}<ref name="Soukopova XIV"/> The dark-skinned ethnic groups, who created the Round Head rock art, differed from Tuareg Berbers.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=107}}<ref name="Soukopova XIV" />

Traditional Sub-Saharan African cultures bear notable likeness with Round Head rock art.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> For example, men predominantly partake in the primary ceremonies of traditional Sub-Saharan African cultures, while women may neither obtain in-depth sacred understanding (e.g., creation myths) nor partake in many of the ceremonies.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> Sub-Saharan African ceremonies being predominantly acted out by men and spiritual knowledge being reserved for men who have been ritually initiated culturally corresponds with 95% of Round Head rock art depictions being men.<ref name="Soukopova XVI">{{cite journal |last1=Soukopova |first1=Jitka |title=Round Heads: Religion and spirituality of ancient central Saharan hunters |date=September 2015 |journal=What Ever Happened to the People? Humans and Anthropomorphs in the Rock Art of Northern Africa |url=https://www.academia.edu/24498304 |publisher=Royal Academy For Overseas Sciences |pages=8, 14 |isbn=978-90-756-5260-4 |oclc=1091181355}}</ref>

Masks are a regular theme in both Round Head rock art and modern African cultures.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> A limited group of men (e.g., male relatives of the dead and their ancestors, male ritual initiates) are permitted to make physical contact with secret masks.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> The repeated painting over of Round Head rock art in Tassili is similar to the repeated painting over that occurs for young male initiates in Mali rockshelters (where masks are kept), among the Dogon people.<ref name="Soukopova III" />

A vital aspect for young male and female initiates of Sub-Saharan African ceremonies to partake in is body painting.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> Body painting symbolisms are regularly used for the purpose of petitioning spirits for improved reproductive capability and security.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> Young male initiates receive the spiritual emblem of the stick to denote peace and wisdom; afterward, men who have been initiated receive the reserved hunting emblem of the bow.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> Traditional Sub-Saharan African cultures regularly use horn emblems in reference to their focus on improved reproductive capability and development.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> Comparatively, Round Head rock art may have been created, in specially chosen rockshelters, by initiating individuals who were undergoing ceremonial rites.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> As with the Nigerien Songhai, who wore large middle finger rings to provide security against forces that can harm and malevolent spirits, the bands, worn by 90% of male Round Head rock artforms, may have been worn to provide a similar kind of spiritual security.<ref name="Soukopova III" />

There are considerable affinities between Sub-Saharan Africans and Round Head rock art in the performative roles of women.<ref name="Soukopova V" /> For example, in many traditional Sub-Saharan African cultures, men are usually the primary ceremonial leaders and women are usually performing secondary, but, nevertheless, essential functions, within ceremonies.<ref name="Soukopova V" /> Men usually are the primary actors in central ceremonies of varying purpose (e.g., healing, fire, rainmaking) and women are secondary actors who contribute musically, vocally, and rhythmically.<ref name="Soukopova V" /> While men become psychologically entranced, via dance, women provide aid to men (e.g., Southern African San women musically encircling San men as they dance around a fire).<ref name="Soukopova V" /> First menstrual cycle rites are an example of ceremonies where women are the primary actors.<ref name="Soukopova V" /> Comparatively, ceremonial depictions in Round Head rock art (e.g., at Tan Zoumaitak) portray female human artforms bearing sticks and rounded forms connected to their arms.<ref name="Soukopova V" />

[[File:Great god of Sefar.jpg|thumb|350px|Great God figure{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=45–55}}]]

Common traits between Round Head rock art and Sub-Saharan African cultures include concepts of down-headed animals and mighty deities.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> Down-headed animals, which appear in South African rock art, and portray shamanic animal sacrifice as a rainfall ritual, also appear in Round Head rock art.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> In the Round Head rock art of Tassili, mighty deities are portrayed centrally on rockshelter walls.<ref name="Soukopova III" /> Comparatively, throughout Sub-Saharan African cultures, rocks and caves are regularly viewed as being inhabited by spirits and awe-inspiring mountains of high elevation regularly viewed as being habitations of the [[Religion:Deity#Sub-Saharan African|divine]].<ref name="Soukopova III" />

The considerable commonalities, absent in modern North African cultures, are present and able to be found between Round Head paintings and modern Sub-Saharan African cultures.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=105}} Saharan ceramics are viewed as having clear likeness with the oldest ceramics found in Djenne-Djenno, which have been dated to 250 BCE.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=105}} The egalitarian [[Social:Civilization|civilization]] of Djenne-Djenno was likely established by the Mande progenitors of the Bozo people, which spanned from 3rd century BCE to 13th century CE.<ref name="Vydrin">{{Cite book|last1=Vydrin |first1=Valentin |title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics |chapter=Mande Languages |date=30 July 2018 |chapter-url=https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-397 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.397 |isbn=978-0-19-938465-5 |s2cid=240363385}}</ref> The masks found in Round Head paintings bear close resemblance with masks found in modern Sub-Saharan African cultures.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=105}} Among other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, but especially in Mali, Niger, and Chad, the conservativeness of traditional Sub-Saharan African cultures shown; symbolisms found in Round Head paintings are also found in these cultures, which may be indication of cultural continuity.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=105}}

With the exception of the depicted artform of a giraffe, depicted artforms of undomesticated animals, animals that were favored for hunting, and hunting situations, are absent from the Round Head rock art at Jebel Uweinat.<ref name="Noguera" /> Rather, Round Head rock art at Jebel Uweinat is primarily composed of human artforms, with archers that wield bows (e.g., long bows) and arrows composing 9% of the overall rock art.<ref name="Noguera" /> Some parts (e.g., arms) of the polychrome-colored human artforms, which may have had body embellishments, were red-colored and other parts (e.g., loincloths, accessories, some hairstyles, bows and arrows, large armbands) were white-colored.<ref name="Noguera" /> Though likely more, at least 43% of Round Head rock art at Jebel Uweinat portrays traditional African dance.<ref name="Noguera" />

As found in traditional African cultures (e.g., tattoos, scarification), some human artforms may have had body modifications (e.g., facial tattoos) and hairstyles (e.g., chignons).<ref name="Noguera" /> 2% of the overall human artforms (i.e., six) have hands and fingers, and some may have had closed fists.<ref name="Noguera" /> The human artforms were generally portrayed as figures with thickly muscled arms and legs.<ref name="Noguera" /> Human artforms consisted of both men and women, though women numbered up to nine in total (4% of overall human artforms).<ref name="Noguera" /> Some aspects of the rock art, though increasingly rare, may have portrayed a mother and her children.<ref name="Noguera" /> There may have also been portrayal of two supernatural individuals.<ref name="Noguera" />

Out of the 146 various ways that human artforms were portrayed, 35% were symmetric-armed and standing, 16% were asymmetric-armed and standing, 16% were bent-on-knees, 11% had one leg free, 11% were running and walking, 10% were kneeling and sitting, and 1% were jumping or tiptoeing.<ref name="Noguera" />

Among symmetric-armed human artforms, there are individuals portrayed in combat-ready poses.<ref name="Noguera" /> There are also individuals depicted in an "A-pose" – the most common of depicted posted in the Round Head rock art at Uweinat, which, in West African art, bears the meaning of a person who is alive in contrast to a person is dead, and in African dance, is usually the starting stance that bears the meaning of unlimited expressive possibility.<ref name="Noguera" /> Among asymmetric-armed human artforms, one man is depicted with an extended arm and clenched fist, and another arm drawn back for a subsequent strike.<ref name="Noguera" /> There is also the depicted situation of what may be an adult protecting two children (or two human artforms depicted smaller for unclear an unclear purpose).<ref name="Noguera" />

Among bent-on-knees human artforms, there are semi-squatted individuals.<ref name="Noguera" /> These depicted individuals may portray, as is found throughout [[Place:Sub-Saharan Africa|Sub-Saharan Africa]] and among the African diaspora (e.g., African-Americans), a set of traditional African dance techniques known as "getting down."<ref name="Noguera" /> There is also a situation depicting African dance and likely involving a person of elite stature.<ref name="Noguera" /> The most notable of situations for bent-on-knees human artforms is one portraying two dancing individuals, with white-colored halos around their heads, which may denote the attainment of a particular [[Unsolved:Religious ecstasy|psychological/spiritual state]] as a result of the energetic, rhythmic African dance.<ref name="Noguera" />

Among one leg free human artforms, there are depictions of African dance involving squat-and-kick movements.<ref name="Noguera" /> Two women with chignon hairstyles engaging in what may have been choreographed African dance movements.<ref name="Noguera" /> Among human artforms (e.g., jumping or tiptoeing, running/walking), there are individuals with chignons.<ref name="Noguera" /> Among kneeling and sitting human artforms, there are more individuals portrayed sitting than kneeling.<ref name="Noguera" />

==Legacy==

There is an abundance of ancient rock art (e.g., paintings, petroglyphs) in the Algerian Tadrart and Tassili as well as the Libyan Acacus regions of the Sahara.<ref name="Soukopova XVIII">{{cite journal |last1=Soukopova |first1=Jitka |title=Rain and rock art in the Sahara: a possible interpretation |date=2020 |url=https://www.academia.edu/43418786 |journal=Expression |issn=2499-1341 |page=79}}</ref> The region was initially peopled by gatherers and hunters in 10,000 BP,<ref name="Soukopova XVIII" /> and then, peopled by cattle herders in 7500 BP,<ref name="Soukopova XVIII" /> which gave rise to pastoralism in the region.<ref name="Soukopova" /> The cattle and sheep pastoralists, who once occupied higher elevated areas (e.g., mountainous refugia) in 7500 BP, due to increased desertification, likely migrated into lower elevated areas (e.g., near lakes) for part-time settlement prior to 5000 BP.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=19-24}} Pastoralists after 5000 BP occupied higher and lower elevated areas on a seasonal basis and possessed often-used lithic grinding tools, ceramics (plain in detail), and, with heightened use, distantly located resources.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=19-24}}

As cattle pastoralism had endured in the Sahara since 7500 BP, Central Saharan hunters and herders may have lived together in a common area for a long period of time.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=19-24}} Desertification may have resulted in migrations from the Central Saharan region, where the Round Head paintings are located, toward Lake Chad and the Niger Delta.{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=105}} While some migrated south of the Sahara, other Central Saharan hunter-gatherers may have taken on the custom of pastoralism<ref name="Soukopova III" /> (e.g., herding domesticated cattle and goats).{{sfn|Soukopova|2013|p=19-24}} Given the opportunity to become socially distinguished, to develop food surplus, as well as to acquire and aggregate wealth, this led to the adoption of a domestic cattle pastoral economy by some Central Saharan hunter-gatherers.<ref name="Garcea">{{cite book |last1=Garcea |first1=Elena A.A. |title=Uan Tabu in the Settlement History of the Libyan Sahara |date=July 2019 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334706511 |publisher=All’Insegna del Giglio |pages=233 |chapter=Cultural adaptations at Uan Tabu from the Upper Pleistocene to the Late Holocene |s2cid=133766878 |isbn=9788878141841 |oclc=48360794}}</ref> In exchange, cultural information regarding use of vegetation (e.g., [[Biology:Cenchrus|Cenchrus]], [[Biology:Digitaria|Digitaria]]) in the Central Sahara (e.g., Uan Tabu, Uan Muhuggiag) was shared by Central Saharan hunter-gatherers with incoming Early Pastoral peoples.<ref name="Garcea" />

Migration of hunter-gatherers and cattle herders out of the Central Sahara occurred as the Green Sahara underwent desertification in 4000 BP.<ref name="Soukopova XVIII" /> Seasonal waterways were the likely migratory route taken to the Niger River,<ref name="Soukopova XVIII" /> Chad Basin,<ref name="Soukopova XVIII" /><ref name="Soukopova III" /> and Nile Valley.<ref name="Tohamy">{{cite journal |last1=Tohamy |first1=Adel Kamel Tohamy Geady |last2=Farag |first2=Handouqa Ibrahim |last3=Ali |first3=Asmaa Abdelalim |title=Economic Life in the Age of the Round Heads in North Africa through Rock Art (7000-3000) BC |journal=Journal of Aswan Faculty of Arts |date=October 2022 |volume=12 |issue=1 |doi=10.21608/mkasu.2022.133968.1041 |issn=2735-4164 |url=https://mkasu.journals.ekb.eg/article_247593_93943016e9978c063b37eecf0a0cec40.pdf?lang=en}}</ref> Dwelling in the Sahelian region began to occur as long inhabited settlement and funerary sites of the northern region of Niger stopped being used.<ref name="Soukopova XVIII" /> Migration of Central Saharan peoples into the Sahelian region of [[Place:Sub-Saharan Africa|Sub-Saharan Africa]] is verified via Saharan influenced pottery that appear in the Sahelian region.<ref name="Soukopova XVIII" />

As late as 2500 BP in the Central Sahara, groups from the Round Head period may have continued to persist as hunters.<ref name="Soukopova XVI" /> Central Saharan hunter-gatherers, amid the Horse period of the Central Sahara, were identified by Herodotus as "[[Place:Aethiopia|Aithiopian]] Troglodytes",<ref name="Soukopova VII" /><ref name="Magnavita">{{cite book |last1=Magnavita |first1=Sonja |last2=Magnavita |first2=Carlos |title=Landscapes, Sources and Intellectual Projects of the West African Past |date=18 Jul 2018 |chapter-url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004380189/BP000003.xml |publisher=Brill |pages=25–26 |chapter=All that Glitters is Not Gold: Facing the Myths of Ancient Trade between North and Sub-Saharan Africa |doi=10.1163/9789004380189_003 |s2cid=201331821 |isbn=9789004380189 |oclc=1041204346}}</ref> who are indicated to have been pursued by Garamantes.<ref name="Magnavita" /><ref name="Godley">{{cite web |last1=Herodotus |title=The Histories |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.%204.183&lang=original |publisher=Harvard University Press}}</ref> Contrary to the popular academic myth of North Africans (e.g., Garamantes) engaging in the [[Social:Chariot|chariot]]-driven capture, enslavement, and trade of Sub-Saharan West Africans during [[History:Classical antiquity|classical antiquity]], there were equitable transactions of materials (e.g., gold) made between Sub-Saharan West Africans and North Africans (e.g., Carthaginians).<ref name="Magnavita" />

==References==

{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===

* {{cite book |last1=Soukopova |first1=Jitka |title=Round Heads: The Earliest Rock Paintings in the Sahara |date=16 January 2013 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |pages=3, 19–24, 45–55, 105, 107 |isbn=9781443845793 |oclc=826685273 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=07wwBwAAQBAJ&q=Tuareg&pg=PR5}}

[[Category:Prehistoric Africa]]

{{Sourceattribution|Round Head Period}}