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These etchings feature no domestic animal
figures. The fauna is made up of wild oxen
(85% of the etchings), birds, hippopotamus,
gazelles and fish. There are also some stylized
human representations. The chronology of this
parietal art is still not cleared, but the
Belgian team claims that it could be from
the Upper Palaeolithic, particularly since
there are no indications of domestication.
At around 200 meters from Quarta I site of
rock art, a dwelling from the same period
was excavated by the Canadian team. Dirk Huyge’s
team links these two sites and suggests for
Qurta I a dating of 13,000 BC based on the
“Silsilian” type of lithic production, discovered
nearby in the 1960’s.
An analysis of the fine layer of natural
patina in the incisions may in Spring of 2008
shed light on this chronological hypothesis..
Radiocarbon datings from the two stratified
Silsilian sites from the Qurta region indicate
as of 1964 an absolute chronology of 12,000
B.C. (P. Smith, 1964, Science 149, p. 811).
Research on installations from the Upper Palaeolithic
in the plane of Kôm Ombo is not new,
since it began in the 1920’s (excavation of
French Prehistorian Edmond Vignard), but the
efforts recently made in understanding the
rock art from this region may prove useful
in comparison with other petroglyptic regions
of Egypt.
For further information, please see the
site or
the following article.
© Illustrations: Mission Archéologique
Belge 2007 |
