Dhar Tichitt, Walata et Nema

Abstract

The sandstone cliffs zone located along the eastern, northern, and western edge of the Hodh depression in south-central Mauritania were colonized by Neolithic agro-pastoral communities at the beginning of the second millennium BCE. They were not only growing finger millet, and rearing cattle and sheep/goats, but also hunting, fishing in the ponds and lakes, and collecting wild grains. They have left conspicuous evidence of the presence in the landscape, including impressive villages built with dry-stone maçonry technique, rock engravings and paintings, as well as stone tumuli and surface sites. Each of these component of the material record feature one aspect of the ongoing construction of the local cultural landscapes, aimed at “socializing” nature, building a “behavioral space”, and a “social mental map” at multiple spatial scales. Four such spatial scales, the domestic, community or village, sub-regional, and regional space, are discussed in this paper. The goal is to unwrap and understand the site-location strategies devised by these Neolithic agro-pastoralists and how their settlement systems evolved and changed in the long-term.

Keywords

• cultural landscapes
• Dhar-Tichitt-Walata-Nema
• Mauritanian Sahara
• Neolithic agro-pastoralists
• West Africa