Bidzar is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

from

Guider Guider (sometimes spelled Guidder) is a city situated in Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bor ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, featuring

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

between 3000 and 300 years old. The site, currently under threat from local cement and marble manufacturing operations, is being considered for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage list of sites with "outstanding universal value" to the world.

Site Description

The Bidzar petroglyphs are located near Bidzar village, on the Maroua-Garoua road toward Guider. An area of marble flagstone extending around the village ''circa'' from north to south, and from east to west displays around 500 engraved figures in total. The marble is of a

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an adje ...

type called cipolin; it has an ideal composition for

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

, having low resistance to friction and breaking easily. Figures were engraved into the marble using a hammer and an engraving tool. The figures are mostly

geometrical Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...

, consisting of groups of circles, some isolated and some in groups. It has been speculated that the engraving represent concepts or stories from myths, or elaborate a

cosmogeny Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe. Overview Scientific theories In astronomy, cosmogony refers to the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used i ...

History

The age of the engravings has proven difficult to determine.

Radiometric dating Radiometric dating, radioactive dating or radioisotope dating is a technique which is used to date materials such as rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurities were selectively incorporated when they were formed. The method compares t ...

has produced a range of estimates, dating various carvings to between 300 and 3000 years of age. The petroglyph site was discovered in 1933 by a French researcher named Buisson.

World Heritage Status

In the twentieth and twenty first centuries, the calcareous marble on which the engravings stand has been extracted for use at nearby cement and marble factories. This activity endangers the engravings, which received provisional protection when the site was included in the Cultural category of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage 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 ...

Tentative List, on April 18, 2006.Les Gravures Rupestres de Bidzar - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
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Gallery

Site archéologique de Bidzar7.jpg Site archéologique de Bidzar3.jpg Site archéologique de Bidzar4.jpg

References

External links