Tichit or Tichitt ( ber, Ticit, ar, تيشيت) is a partly abandoned village at the foot of the
Tagant Plateau
The Tagant Plateau is located in eastern Mauritania, forming a stony part of the Sahara Desert. The Tagant Region, a national administrative division, is named after the plateau.
Geography
Some towns are located at the foot of the Tagant Plateau ...
in central southern
Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
that is known for its
vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...
. The main agriculture in Tichit is
date
Date or dates may refer to:
*Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'')
Social activity
*Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner
** Group dating
*Play date, a ...
farming, and the village is also home to a small
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
.
Tichitt Airport has two unpaved runways designated in a barren area southeast of the village.
Archaeological significance
This region includes a long sandstone cliff formation that defines the northern limit of the Hodh depression, near the former lake of
Aoukar.
The medieval trading settlement at Tichit is now a UNESCO
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.
The
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 ...
site of
Dhar Tichitt in this area was settled by agropastoral communities around 2000 BC. Their settlements were generally situated on the cliffs and included stone building. These are the oldest surviving archaeological settlements in
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...
and the oldest of all stone base settlements south of the Sahara. They are thought to have been built by the
Soninke people and were possibly the precursor of the
Ghana empire.
[.] The area was abandoned around 500 BC probably because of the onset of more arid conditions. Hundreds of rock art images have been discovered, depicting various animals and hunting scenes. Archaeologists including P.J. Munson, Augustin F.C. Holl, and S. Amblard have found some evidence that
millet was farmed seasonally as early as 2000 BC.
Climate
Notes
References
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Further reading
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External links
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{{Authority control
Communes of Mauritania
World Heritage Sites in Mauritania
Prehistoric Africa
Archaeological sites in Mauritania