495

Site
Site name
RA01/91
Toponym(s) of the site

Ti-n-Anneuin

Description

A rock shelter known as Ti-n-Anneuin located on the left side of the Wadi Senaddar. It is one of the most famous rock art sites in the Acacus and with the highest density of paintings. A selection of pictograms was reproduced on one of the Mori Collection canvases. The wall is completely covered with paintings from different periods spanning from the later Pastoral to the Camel style and often creating complex palimpsests. All the figures are of great scholarly interest and are combined into scenes that can be used as paradigms for the diverse styles. Two styles are particularly significant: Pastoral and Horse/Bitriangular. Like the artwork at Ti-n-Lalan II, the green and red herders have been used to illustrate a specific regional expression of the latest phase of the Pastoral style. Even though they are badly preserved, these paintings are commonly considered masterpieces of North African rock art. This site also contains a wide variety of Horse/Bitriangular style scenes with fighting, human couples, and complex tableaux showing an oasis landscape with palm-trees and both mundane and ritual activities, including a scene with several musicians. The site also includes mainly painted Tifinagh inscriptions (one of them reports the toponym of Teshuinat- (TŠWNT, Biagetti et al. 2015:16). The site was seriously damaged by vandalism in 2009. Several illegible black and silver inscriptions were painted over the most famous and prized paintings. More specifically, the scenes showing the oasis and the musicians are currently unrecognizable. Only the upper part of the left wall was left undamaged.