(Courtesy D. Huyge, RMAH Brussels)
Petroglyphs found near the village
of Qurta in southern Egypt
have been confirmed as the
first known Paleolithic artwork in
North Africa. They were dated using
a technique called optically stimulated
luminescence on sand that had piled up
against the rock face where the images
were carved. The team of archaeologists
from Belgium, Australia, and the United
States showed that the carvings are
at least 15,000 years old and possibly
much older. Before this research, the
idea that Egypt had any Paleolithic rock
art had been controversial.
The site consists of at least 179
figures deeply carved into sandstone.
Many depict animals in a more naturalistic
style than was used in later
petroglyphs at sites nearby. Some of the
most remarkable petroglyphs are less
naturalistic—stylized images of people
with large buttocks,
similar to ones made
in Europe around
14,000 years ago.
According to Dirk
Huyge of Belgium's
Royal Museums of
Art and History,
these images could
be evidence of an
indirect link between
very distant cultures.
Since 2005, when
the team first published
descriptions
of the art at Qurta,
four or five other
sites with images made in a similar
style have been identified about 45
miles south of the site. "One find provokes
another," says Huyge. "Qurta
has opened up a whole new area of
Paleolithic art research."
