204

Site
Site name
RA02/126
Description

A rock shelter located in the westernmost part of the Wadi Awis area on the slope of an isolated inselberg. Although the site was published with the name Ti-Iyerdin by Viallet (1995) and Ti-n-Adjen by Choppy et al. (2002), it is probably better known as “The fake”. It was the northernmost site to be vandalized in 2009 (di Lernia et al. 2010). The shelter had four panels of pictograms and isolated petroglyphs possibly attributable to at least three different styles. The vandals covered almost all the panels with black oil spray paint: only Panels 3 and 4 were left undamaged. Three of the panels are located on the shelter’s back wall, while the fourth is on the exterior face of a fallen boulder on the shelter’s right end side. Panel 1, on the back wall’s left end side, contains the oldest fully red paint ings that were already very faded before being covered with black spray paint. Prior to the vandalism, it was barely possible to identify a few bitriangular humans likely engaged in different actions. Panel 2 covers the remainder of the back wall and contains a series of scenes with domestic activities, a possible fighting scene, and a convivial scene with a man and a woman playing instruments. Panel 3 is on the vault above the main panel and contains a couple of red-contoured cattle; it appears similar to the main panel in terms of content and style. On the right side, Panel 4 contains at least a couple of stylized bovids possibly attributable to the last phases of the Pastoral period.