The Dabous Giraffes are

neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

petroglyphs by unknown artists on the western side of the

Aïr Mountains The Aïr Mountains or Aïr Massif ( tmh, Ayăr; Hausa: Eastern ''Azbin'', Western ''Abzin'') is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara. Part of the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion, the ...

in north-central

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesDabous Giraffes, Niger
, ''Atlas Obscura'', accessed 30 September 2022. The carvings are in height and consist of two giraffes carved into the ''Dabous Rock'' with a great amount of detail. One of the giraffes is male, while the other, smaller, is female. The Dabous Giraffes are located on a

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

outcrop in the

Ténéré The Ténéré ( Tuareg: Tenere, literally: "desert") is a desert region in the south central Sahara. It comprises a vast plain of sand stretching from northeastern Niger into western Chad, occupying an area of over . The Ténéré's boundaries ...

desert in the first foothills of the

, about 110 km north of

Agadez Agadez ( Air Tamajeq: ⴰⴶⴰⴷⴰⵣ, ''Agadaz''), formerly spelled Agadès, is the fifth largest city in Niger, with a population of 110,497 based on the 2012 census. The capital of Agadez Region, it lies in the Sahara desert, and is also ...

and a few kilometres from the Trans-Saharan Highway. They are the largest known animal petroglyphs in the world. In the surroundings, 828 images have been found engraved on the rocks, of which 704 are animals (cattle, giraffes, ostriches, antelopes, lions, rhinoceros, and camels), 61 are human, and 17 are inscriptions in Tifinâgh. The carvings are believed to have been done between 6,000 and 8,000 years ago, during the

African humid period The African humid period (AHP) (also known by other names) is a climate period in Africa during the late Pleistocene and Holocene geologic epochs, when northern Africa was wetter than today. The covering of much of the Sahara desert by grasses, ...

, when the region was less arid, and the Sahara was a vast savannah. There are also remains of

petrified wood Petrified wood, also known as petrified tree (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of '' fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. ' ...

found in the area.Dabous, Niger

The British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

accessed 10 July 2021. The giraffe carvings were first recorded by French archaeologist Christian Dupuy in 1987, and documented by David CoulsonCoulson, David (June 2007). ''Sub-Zone 3: Niger'', in
Rock Art of Sahara And North Africa: Thematic study
', pp.45-52. ICMOS, Vancouver, accessed 10 July 2021. in 1997 while on a photographic expedition to the site. Due to degradation of the engravings resulting from human activity, a mold was made of the engravings for display.Miller, Ritchie W. (Sept. 2000)

''State Magazine,'' U.S. Department of State, accessed 10 July 2021. An aluminum cast of this mold is on display at the airport of Agadez. The Bradshaw Foundation is an organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of this petroglyph.Rock Art of Giraffe Dabous Niger Dated at Approximately 9,000 Years Ago
, ''Archaeology World,'' June 11, 2020, accessed 10 July 2021.

References

External links

Bradshaw Foundation Save the Dabous Giraffes
Prehistoric sculpture Rock art in Africa Prehistoric art Giraffes in art {{Niger-geo-stub