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First evidence of Pleistocene rock art in North Africa: securing the age of the Qurta petroglyphs (Egypt) through OSL dating

Dirk Huyge, Dimitri A.G. Vandenberghe, Morgan De Dapper, Florias Mees, Wouter Claes & John C. Darnell

The following figures are published here in supported of the main article, publish in Antiquity Journal (December 2011, Issue 85, Vol 85):

Click here for the main article


Supporting photographs

Figure 1
Figure 1. General view of the Qurta I site from the south. The scaffolding in the centre indicates the location of the main rock art panel (© RMAH, Brussels)
Click to enlarge.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Wooden scaffolding constructed in March 2008 to reach the rock art at the Qurta I site. The Nubian sandstone scarp to the left of this location has been completely quarried away, using explosives, for about 200 m (© RMAH, Brussels)
Click to enlarge.

Figure 3
Figure 3. Wooden scaffolding constructed in March 2008 to reach the rock art at the Qurta I site. The Kom Ombo Plain is in the background (© RMAH, Brussels)
Click to enlarge.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Belgian archaeologist Wouter Claes poses with a panel with wild bovids (Bos primigenius or aurochs) at the Qurta II site. The chalking of the outline of the figures to make them more visible was not done by the Belgian archaeological mission (© RMAH, Brussels)
Click to enlarge.

Figure 5
Figure 5. American archaeologist Elyssa Figari recording rock art at the Qurta I site. The panel contains 33 images, including 25 wild bovids and a stylised human figure (© RMAH, Brussels)
Click to enlarge.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Detail of the main rock art panel at the Qurta I site, showing a wild bovid (Bos primigenius or aurochs) with forward pointing horns, detailed hoofs and curiously bent hind legs. Even the dewlap of the animal is clearly indicated (© RMAH, Brussels)
Click to enlarge.

Figure 7
Figure 7. Detail of the main rock art panel at the Qurta I site, showing how the makers of the rock art made use of the relief of the rock surface to lend volume and movement to the animal images (© RMAH, Brussels)
Click to enlarge.
Figure 8
Figure 8. Detail of a rock art panel at the Qurta II site, showing two superb drawings of wild bovids (Bos primigenius or aurochs) with forward pointing horns. The double belly line of the right specimen is typical of the Qurta II bovids (© RMAH, Brussels)
Click to enlarge.

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