Archaeology and Giraffes

I read this article last year and it's made a lasting impression on me. It highlights the wonder of archaeology. The evidence dates back to when the Sahara was green...

About 9,000 years ago, a very wet climate prevailed in parts of the Sahara Desert called the Neolithic Subpluvial period. Lasting several thousand years, this Green Sahara was home to many grassland and woodland animals as well as humans. While on an expedition for dinosaur fossils with paleontologist Paul Sereno in Niger in 2000, Hettwer discovered a burial area containing hundreds of skeletons from two distinct cultures, each thousands of years old - the Kiffian and Tenerian. Also found in the dry and desolate site were hunting tools, pottery, and bones of large land animals and fish.

In what is now desert we can still find captured moments from thousands of yeas ago. They were discovered through hard work in a difficult environment. Hot days and freezing nights spent in the emptiness of the Saharan desert...







Skeletons were found of a mother and two kids. They were buried at the same time and laid to rest holding hands...



My favorite image is this apparent petroglyph of a giraffe with a leash in it's nose...

reply to post by Kandinsky


Interesting, very nice I liked the way the thread moved, nice and smooth. Thats interesting about the giraffes, I know they are in the south area of the Sahara desert, but were they ever that far up? Maybe we used to ride giraffes, seems very interesting that they would have a leash in its nose.

The two giraffe, one large male in front of a smaller female, were engraved side by side on the sandstone’s weathered surface. The larger of the two is over 18 feet tall, combining several techniques including scraping, smoothing and deep engraving of the outlines.

GIRAFFE ART

TexGiraffes are one of the most commonly depicted animals and there are several theories why these spectacular giraffe panels are so numerous. Some researchers believe that ancient peoples may have domesticated giraffes; others believe that the art expresses a symbolic link between humans and the spirit power of giraffes. Yet another theory is that giraffes were a significant source of food for ancient man.

voice123.com...

There are still Desert crocodiles in the Sahara.

So much for the global warming myth lol.

reply to post by northerngate


Are those the same ones that bury underground when water dries up,they moderate their heart beat,breathing, blood pressure and can supposedly live for years until rains come again..crazy stuff.

reply to post by Kandinsky


First I was like: "What do those animals have to do with that? This is a tactic to get me to read this thread!!"
Well it worked and very nice.

With how old this planet is I am not surprised. It's like saying where I lived used to be the bottom of the Ocean! Which has been proved so bravo to green deserts.

good thread

and really good link

flagged and star

Nia

wonderful thread.
star & flag.

that skeleton of the crocodile (is it that??) gives me shivers!!

reply to post by coredrill
Thank you very much Coredrill It's the first thread I've posted that hasn't bombed.