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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2011

Dirk Huyge ,
Dimitri A.G. Vandenberghe ,
Morgan De Dapper ,
Florias Mees ,
Wouter Claes  and
John C. Darnell
Dirk Huyge
Affiliation:
1Royal Museums of Art and History, Jubelpark 10/10 Parc du Cinquantenaire, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium (Email: d.huyge@kmkg.be)
Dimitri A.G. Vandenberghe
Affiliation:
2Laboratory of Mineralogy and Petrology (Luminescence Research Group), Department of Geology and Soil Science, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 (S8), B-9000 Gent, Belgium
Morgan De Dapper
Affiliation:
3Department of Geography, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 (S8), B-9000 Gent, Belgium
Florias Mees
Affiliation:
4Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Leuvensesteenweg 13, B-3080 Tervuren, Belgium
Wouter Claes
Affiliation:
1Royal Museums of Art and History, Jubelpark 10/10 Parc du Cinquantenaire, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium (Email: d.huyge@kmkg.be)
John C. Darnell
Affiliation:
5Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Yale University, P.O. Box 208236, New Haven, CT 06520-8236, USA
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Extract

Long doubted, the existence of Pleistocene rock art in North Africa is here proven through the dating of petroglyph panels displaying aurochs and other animals at Qurta in the Upper Egyptian Nile Valley. The method used was optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) applied to deposits of wind-blown sediment covering the images. This gave a minimum age of ~15 000 calendar years making the rock engravings at Qurta the oldest so far found in North Africa.

Keywords

North AfricaEgyptPleistocene~15 ka minimum agerock artOSL dating
Type
Research article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 85 , Issue 330 , December 2011 , pp. 1184 - 1193
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2011

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