Adrar Bous

About

Adrar Bous is a massif in the Aïr Mountains on the western edge of the Ténéré Desert, Niger. Archaeological research at Adrar Bous, conducted by J. Desmond Clark, has produced finds spanning the Late Acheulean (1.76 – 0.13 Ma) through the Neolithic (11, 950 – 6, 450 BP). The massif contains a number of sites where microlithic tools are present, along with faunal and human remains. Most notable are extensive remains of ritualized feasting by specialized Tenerian cattle pastoralists. Its name is written in the Tamasheq language. The massif itself has been dated to be about 487 million years old. While the oldest formations in Adrar Bous date to the Precambrian period (~4600 – 541.0 ± 1.0 Ma), much of the ring-dike formation originated during the early Silurian period (443.8 ± 1.5 – 419.2 ± 3.2 Ma), likely due to the melting of the Saharan ice caps at that time. The massif is composed primarily of granite, and is host to a number of workable rocks: jasper, quartzite, chalcedony, and others. Surrounding the Adrar Bous Massif, several occurrences of diatomites yielded small stone tools and other artifacts, as well as the remains of aquatic and amphibious animals. Among the stone tools, scraper-type utensils were the most frequently found. A site lying to the southeast of the main massif yielding a larger amount of truncated blades and crescent-shaped microlithic tools than other nearby sites. Whether or not it was inhabited at the same time as the other Tenerian formations is under debate, as its tools appear to be slightly older than those found at other sites nearby. A site lying south of the main massif, Adrar n'Kiffi, shows the remnants of a lake, with a number of tools made of bone and stone including a stone harpoon and some dotted wavy-line pottery, as well as amphibious and fish-like remains. It is the namesake of the Kiffian technocomplex.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.