Some key anthropological sites in Algeria include: - Tighenif, the site of an excavation that uncovered fossils of Homo erectus dating back around 700,000 years ago. - Tassili N'Ajjer, known for its 15,000 rock paintings and engravings dating back as far as 12,000 years that depict the changing environment and peoples of the Sahara over millennia. - Roman ruins such as Djemila, Tipasa, and Timgad that showcase Algeria's classical architecture and urban planning under Roman rule.

1. Some Anthropological Places In
Algeria
Realised by: B. Sara
Academic year: 2014/2015
PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OFALGERIA
UNIVERSITY CHADLI BENJEDID EL TAREF
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

2. Introduction
• People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in
North African the Mediterranean coast. Its capital and most
populous city is Algeirs. 90% of which is desert, Algeria is
the country in the world, and the largest in
Arab world and Africa and on the Mediterranean.
• The territory of today's Algeria was the home of many
prehistoric cultures, including Aterian and Capsian and the
Proto-Berber cultures. Its area has known many empires
and dynasties, including ancient Numidians, Phoenicians,
Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Umayyads,
Abbasids, Fatimids, Hammadids. And the following are
some of it’s anthropological places.

3. 1-Places:

4. Tighenif
• Ternifine, also called Tighenif, site of
paleoanthropological excavations located about 20
km (12 miles) east of Mascara, Algeria, known for its
remains of Homo erectus.

5. • Ternifine was quarried for sand in the 19th century,
and numerous fossilized animal bones and stone
artifacts were recovered. Realizing the potential
significance of these finds, paleontologists carried out
systematic excavations in 1954–55. Their efforts
produced much additional material, including three
human mandibles (jawbones). Digging was stopped
because of flooding, but subsequent lowering of the
water table permitted detailed studies of the sediment
layers. The Ternifine deposits consist of layers of hard
grayish clays and sands of a small lake or swamp. The
surrounding environment of this area was probably
treeless and rather arid, as inferred from the types of
animals present. The fossils of those animals along
with geologic evidence date Ternifine to about 700,000
years ago.

6. TASSILI N'AJJER – ALGERIA

7. • Location and Values: The Tassili N’Ajjer world
heritage site covers a vast area of desert
landscape in southern Algeria, stretching from the
Niger and Libyan border area, north and east of
Djanet, as far as Illizi and Amguid. It includes the
whole of the Tassili N’Ajjer mountain range, as
well as the sands and dune areas in the extreme
southeast of the country, adjoining the Libyan
Tadrart Acacus world heritage property. The site is
listed under both natural and cultural criteria,
and, from a cultural perspective ranks as the
premier rock-art site anywhere in the world.

8. • It is the home of more than 15,000 rock
paintings and engravings, dating back as far as
12,000 years. This incredible open-air gallery
tells the story of the changing fortunes of this
part of the Sahara and the people who have
occupied the area over the millennia.

9. 15,000 artworks over ten millennia reveal the
evolution of human life on the edge of the Sahara
Tassili n'Ajjer has been described as the finest prehistoric open-air museum in
the world.
Great god of Sefar (c 10,000 BC). Photo source.
The art comprises more than 15,000
paintings and engravings on exposed
rock faces, and includes pictures of
wild and domestic animals, humans,
geometric designs, ancient script, and
mythical creatures, such as men with
animal heads and gods or spirit
beings.

10. • The oldest art belongs to the Wild Fauna Period (or
‘naturalistic period’), which is estimated to have existed
between 12,000 and 6,000 BC. It depicts the fauna of the
savannah, which inhabited the area when it was much wetter
than today and includes elephants, giraffes, hippos, rhinos,
and other animals.
Petroglyph depicting a possibly
sleeping antelope, located at Tin
Taghirt on the Tassili n’Ajjer in
southern Algeria. Photo credit: Linus
Wolf

11. • The so-called Round Head Period (or ‘archaic period’), from approximately
9500 BC to 6,000 BC, is associated with schematic figures that evoke
possible magic-religious practices. Generally, Round Head figures are seen
in profile with round, often featureless heads, seemingly floating through
space (depicted in the featured image and the picture below). In one
scene, women are depicted with raised hands, as though seeking blessings
from a huge figure that towers above them. Fabrizio Mori describes the
scene: “We become aware, in them, of a sense of affectionate, fearless
subjection (to the divine), of pure worship.” The art tends to portray and
ethereal world where man is a part of nature rather than standing apart
from it.
Round Head Figures. Photo credit: Mohammed Beddiaf

12. • The Pastoral Period (or ‘Bovidian period’) from around
7,200 BC to 3,000 BC is the dominant period in terms
of the number of paintings, during which there is the
representation of bovine herds and the scenes of daily
life. They have an aesthetic naturalistic realism to
them and are among the best known examples of
prehistoric mural art
An engraving of an ancient species
of cow. Photo credit: Mohammed
Beddiaf

13. • The Horse and Libyan Warrior Period (‘Equidian period’), which dates
from approximately 3200 BC to 1000 BC, covers the end of the
Neolithic and protohistoric periods, which corresponds to the
disappearance of numerous species from the effects of progressive
desiccation and to the appearance of the horse. Horses have also
been depicted pulling chariots, driven by whip-wielding
• unarmed charioteers, suggesting that the chariots were not used for
fighting, but possibly for hunting. However, chariots with wooden
wheels could not have been driven across the rocky Sahara and into
the mountains where many of the chariot paintings
A depiction of two horses and
chariot. Photo source.

14. Some Historical Sites in Algeria:

15. Roman Ruins
• Numerous ancient Roman cities are scattered along Algeria's coastal strip, displaying some
of the Mediterranean's best examples of classical Roman architecture. The most impressive
Roman sites in Algeria are Djemila, Algeria's best-known ancient city, set in the mountains of
Setif; Tipasa, spread along a pristine Mediterranean beach; and the ruins of Timgad in the
green hills of the northern Aurès Mountains, showcasing the orderly style of urban planning
used in Roman times. Highlights of Timgad include Trajan's Arch, a small theater still used to
stage productions, and the Capitaline Temple, dedicated 2,000 years ago to Jupiter.
TIPAZA

16. Image of Zeus, Djemila ruins, Algeria,
World Heritage - Photographie de stock
Theater, Timgad ruins, Algeria, World Heritage
Market, Djemila ruins, Algeria, World Heritage

17. • Many more monuments are scattered across the
country, standing as memorials to a host of
different eras and civilizations. Al-Qal'a of Beni
Hammad, an 11th-century fortified city southeast
of Algiers, is one of the most impressive. Built by
11th-century Hammadid rulers, most of the city
was demolished in 1152, but significant parts
remain to this day within its several-mile
circumference of fortified walls. Among other
famous Algerian monuments are the Moorish
architecture of Tlemcen on the Mediterranean
coast and the medieval ramparts of Beni Isguen
in the M'Zab.

18. Minaret, Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad, Algeria,
World Heritage

19. City View, Beni-isguen, M'Zab Valley, Algeria, World Heritage

20. • Moorish architecture of Tlemcen

21. Tombs Of Berber kings
Tomb of Queen Tin Hinan
In Abalessa, the ancient capital of the Hoggar
region, there is the tomb of the famous Tuareg
queen Tin Hinan.
About this famous ancestress of the Tuaregs
following story is told: Tin Hinan came in the
company of her maid-servant Takamat from
Tafilalet in South Morocco to the Hoggar.
There she became the first Tamenokalt (=
Queen) of the Tuaregs and her fame was so
great, that even today the Tuaregs call
her »Mother of Us All«.
The corpse of the famous Tin Hinan was found when the grave was
excavated by archaeologists. She was lying on a finely carved
wooden bed and was covered all over by jewels. So she had seven
silver bracelets on her right forearm and on her left forearm seven
gold bracelets.

22. Tomb of King Massinissa in khroub

23. Pottery :
Berber Pottery from sahara south Algeria
Berber pottery from northeastern Algeria Kabyle
Kabyle double vessel (19th century). By cliff1066 via