Glossary

The database includes six key sets of data:

Id and Location – broad information on each site, including:

id: a unique progressive number identifying the site, following the geographic location of the sites;

name: an alphanumeric code identifying the site;

site toponym: when known, a toponym is provided with the transliteration used in Barbato 2008 for the Tadrart Acacus; for the Messak, local names follow Van Albada and Van Albada’s 2000 transliteration;

country: the country’s modern name (for the time being, always Libya);

area: the main geomorphological features’ name (massif, plateau, or other);

sub-area: the sub-areas inside each area, outlined according to the different geographic and geomorphological characters;

locale: the name of specific localities recognizable in each sub-area (in the case of the Tadrart Acacus and Messak, mostly wadis). Toponyms are reported with the transliteration used in Barbato 2008 for the Tadrart Acacus; for the Messak, local names follow Van Albada and Van Albada’s 2000 transliteration;

Position and geomorphology - general information about the site’s geographical setting, including:

coordinates: in agreement with the Libyan Department of Antiquities (DoA) specific latitude and longitude are undisclosed;
geology: the local geological composition according to Zerboni et al 2014:

  • Messak Sandstone
  • Lower Devonian sandstone (Tadrart Fm)
  • Upper Silurian sandstone (Acacus Fm)
  • Lower to Middle Silurian shales (Tanezzuft Fm)

geomorphological unit: the portion of landscape containing a landform created by erosional and/or depositional processes. It includes:

  • boulder: a large to massive unmovable rock fragment
  • desert pavement: a residual surface covered by closely packed angular or rounded rock fragments. When the surface is pebble-strewn, it is called a serir; an hammada is a rock-floored surface.
  • escarpment: a steep slope formed by the faulting and displacement of stone blocks or deep erosion. An escarpment separates two areas with different altitudes
  • guelta: (Arabic) a desert riverbed pool occurring in mountainous regions. It occurs at the foot of a former or occasional waterfall or where the rocky riverbed was deepened by fluvial or solution processes
  • isolated hill/inselberg: a rock hill/mound abruptly arising from a flat or gently sloping area; occasionally, it can be found inside large wadis
  • plateau: a highland area with flat topography raising sharply above the neighboring region
  • rock wall: a vertical bedrock exposure
  • solutional feature: rock cavities opening at the base of a rock cliff as a result of different resistances of the rock strata to weathering
  • rock outcrop: a visible bedrock exposure on the earth surface
  • wadi: the valley of a dry river/stream in arid regions; wadis are occasionally flooded during heavy rainfall

physiography - the landscape unit around the site. It includes:

  • wadi bank: the area (a slope or rock wall) bordering the wadi
  • wadi bottom: a flat alluvial valley crossing the massif
  • terraces: structural surfaces (Zerboni et al 2014) at different altitudes, indicated as the first or second terrace
  • intermediate: the position between the wadi bottom and the first terrace
  • slope: a variation in the altitude of the land surface
  • escarpment rim: the border of the escarpment

site type - the site context. It includes:

  • cave: a deep rock cavity at the base of a rock cliff resulting from the differing resistance of the rock strata to weathering
  • rock shelter: a shallow rock cavity at the base of a rock cliff resulting from the differing resistance of the rock strata to weathering
  • open-air: exposed rock surfaces including rock walls, boulders, slabs, or outcrops

Site and landscape - general information on the sites’ main features and surrounding landscape, including:

altitude aslm – numeric value recorded in the field
length (m) – numeric value recorded in the field height (m) – numeric value recorded in the field depth (m) – numeric value recorded in the field exposure – cardinal orientation of the site
open field – an open, level even area supporting social activities (sensu Pager and Lenssen-Erz 1989). It is defined as:

  • yes
  • no
  • nd: no information was recorded in the field and no identification can be made from photographs

living place – the degree of a site’s potential habitability (following Pager and Lenssen- Erz 1989, the definition is here extended to all site types):

  • spacious: a site with a more or less flat level even floor tall enough for an average (170 cm) person to stand on their feet.
  • unfavourable: a site with an uneven, sloping, or rocky floor and/or a place where standing erect is impossible
  • vertical rock: a site without an overhang that could shelter a person
  • nd: no information was recorded in the field and no identification can be made from photographs

accessibility: the accessibility of a site on foot, considering the gradient, roughness of the terrain, and the presence of paths/tracks/routes:

  • easy: a site accessible through a flat or slightly inclined path, with a low gradient and a low degree of roughness
  • moderate: a site accessible through gentle slopes and occasional rock steps
  • difficult: a site accessible through a long and steep rocky slope
  • nd: no information was recorded in the field and no identification can be made from photographs/maps

water resource type: the main water source near the site. It includes:

  • guelta: (Arabic) a desert riverbed pool found in mountainous regions, located at the foot of a former or occasional waterfall or at a site where the rocky riverbed was deepened by fluvial or solution processes
  • wadi: a dry river/stream in arid regions; wadis are occasionally flooded during sporadic rainfall
  • tributary: a minor stream
  • paleolake: a wide dried water basin
  • well: a traditional well
  • nd: the info has not been recorded in the field and it is not recognisable from the pictures/maps

water resource proximity: distances from the water source are codified as:

  • adjacent
  • < 300 m
  • > 300 m

route and path type: the main accessways near the site. It includes:

  • aqba: (Arabic) a passageway consisting of a narrow mountain trail and featuring a steep slope that crosses the massif’s escarpment
  • caravan route: a traditional route used for animal-powered transport, often approximate
  • modern track: the tracks of modern vehicle transport
  • path: a track produced by human or animal crossing
  • nd: no information was recorded in the field and no identification can be made from photographs/maps

route and type proximity: distances from the trail are coded as:

  • adjacent;
  •  < 300 m
  • > 300 m
  • nd

Main rock art features - information about the rock art features

support - the setting of the artworks at a site, defined as:

  • wall: the main rock surface, generally inside rock shelters
  • cliff/cliffs: open-air exposed vertical or oblique rock surfaces
  • boulder/boulders: a large to massive unmovable rock fragment
  • slab/slabs: tabular, unmovable rock fragments, both natural and human made
  • bedrock/exposed outcrop: a horizontal, convex, or complex rock surface

technique – the art technique employed at a site:

  • petroglyph: a type of rock art involving a subtractive process, such as percussion or abrasion (cf. IFRAO 2000). It includes carvings, peckings, and scratchings
  • pictogram: a type of rock art involving an additive process, such as the application of paint, dry pigment, or beeswax (cf. IFRAO 2000)
  • combination: a type of rock art produced with a combination of both techniques.

style – a pattern of distinctive features of artistic expression or execution, distinctive of a specific person, people, school, or time period (cf. IFRAO Glossary). a pattern of distinctive features of artistic expression or execution, distinctive of a specific person, people, school, or time period (cf. IFRAO 2000); the following styles are here referred:

  • Wild Fauna
  • Round Heads
  • Pastoral
  • Horse/Bitriangular
  • Camel
  • Tifinagh inscriptions
  • Modern Camel
  • Arabic inscriptions

chronology – a standard chronological attribution (according to the International Chronostratigraphic Chart 2021 - Cohern et al. 2013, updated)[2]

  • Holocene: early (or upper) – ca. 9700 - 6200 BCE
  • Holocene: middle – ca. 6200 - 2250 BCE
  • Holocene: late (or lower) – ca. 2250 BCE - present
  • Holocene (generic)

number of panels – the number of panels visible at a site

state of preservation - the physical state of the rock art:

  • bad: the painting/engraving is highly damaged or very faded
  • scarce: the figures have visible outlines but the details are unrecognizable
  • good: the figures’ details are visible
  • nd: data not available (not recorded, etc.)

type of damage – the origin of the damage. It includes:

  • natural: a combination of natural causes damaging the rock surface and artworks. They range from physical (i.e.i.e., thermal degradation and erosion) to

bio-chemical (i.e. desquamation, exfoliation) and biological (i.e., Hymenoptera nests) processes

  • anthropic: a combination of the anthropogenic causes damaging the artworks. These include indiscriminate economic development, antiquated recording techniques (including wettings and graphite tracing) pastoral activities, invasive tourism, and deliberate vandalism – including graffiti, scratching, removal, and looting

synthetic description – a synthesis of information for a general understanding of the rock art.

Other archaeological information – the archaeological features and traces of human occupation.

presence of human occupation – the traces of human occupation, defined as:

  • pre-protohistoric – before the Garamantian era (ca. first millennium BCE)
  • historic – from the Garamantian era to WWII.
  • present – after WWII.

archaeological features – the main archaeological features at a site, including:

  • archaeological deposits – generic remains of human habitation.
  • excavated archaeological deposits - stratigraphic deposits or remains of ancient occupation investigated through test pits or extensive excavations.
  • funerary/ceremonial/ funerary stone structures – human-made stone structures such as tumuli, cairns etc.
  • domestic stone structures – human-made stone features in settlements such as fireplaces, huts, etc.
  • scatters of archaeological artefacts – archaeological tools including pottery, stone artefacts etc.

Raw data source – information about the raw data source and further readings.

Raw data source – we acknowledge the following archives as the source of the raw data for this research. The raw data was variously compiled, integrated, modified and interpreted in the Atlas,

  • Archive of the Archaeological Mission in the Sahara: includes a specific reference to the year of fieldworks:
    • 1990s: geoarchaeological surveys in the Acacus, team Mauro Cremaschi and Savino di Lernia (Rosanna Ponti, Rita Damiotti 1995-1996)
    • 2001: rock art survey in the Wadi Raharmellen and surroundings; team Ibrahim Azebi, Mauro Cremaschi, Daniela Zampetti, and Andrea Zerboni, photographer Roberto Ceccacci;
    • 2002: rock art survey in the central Acacus and Wadi Afar: team Ibrahim Azebi, Mauro Cremaschi, Daniela Zampetti, Andrea Zerboni, photographer Giovanni Battista Bertolani;
    • 2003I: rock art survey in central and southern Acacus; team Savino di Lernia, Daniela Zampetti, photographer Roberto Ceccacci;
    • 2003II: rock art survey in northern Acacus; team Stefano Biagetti and Daniela Zampetti;
    • 2004: rock art survey in southern Acacus; team Daniela Zampetti, Chiara Pizzi; in collaboration with Mauro Cremaschi and Andrea Zerboni;
    • 2005: rock art survey in northern Acacus; team Daniela Zampetti, Chiara Pizzi; in collaboration with Mauro Cremaschi; photographer Sara Giovannetti;
    • 2008: Saharan Waterscapes Project; team: Savino di Lernia, Isabella Massamba n’Siala; Andrea Zerboni; photographer Filippo Gallino;
    • 2009: Tifinagh Rock Inscriptions Project; team Saad Saleh Abdulaziz, Stefano Biagetti, Savino di Lernia, Massimo Massussi, Andrea Zerboni; photographers Roberto Ceccacci, Sara Giovannetti;
    • 2010: Saharan Waterscapes Project; team: Savino di Lernia, Isabella Massamba n’Siala; Andrea Zerboni, photographer Filippo Gallino;
    • Adriana Ravenna & Sergio Scarpa Falce Archive, Milano, Italy - comprises the rock art sites recorded by Adriana Ravenna and Sergio Scarpa Falce in southwestern Libya in the 1990s and 2000s;
    • Donatella Calati & Aldo Boccazzi Archive, Legnano, Italy - comprises the rock art sites recorded by Donatella Calati and Aldo Boccazzi in the Tadrart Acacus in the 1990s;
    • Choppy et al. 2002 - refers to the rock art sites recorded and by Choppy et colleagues in the Awis area[3]

degree of investigation – the recording activity at the site, defined as:

  • fast survey – generic identification of the site
  • systematic survey – targeted research projects, including complete photographic documentation.
  • pictorial reproduction – rock art pictorial reproductions by painters accompanying Fabrizio Mori (known as the Mori Collection).

 

Site: any type of petroglyph or pictogram, or clusters of them, occurring within a ‘physically defined’ space. It can correspond to discrete geographic entities (rock shelters, caves, or isolated boulders) or to a portion of cliff, wadi banks and terraces. In the latter case, the site’s boundaries are arbitrarily defined.

Etaghas: areas with geomorphological and soil characters suitable for flood-recession or rain-fed cultivation

 

[1] Also available at http://www.ifrao.com/rock-art-glossary/

[2] The Chronology is here expressed in BCE. Available at http://www.stratigraphy.org/ICSchart/ChronostratChart2021-10.pdf

[3] We considered exclusively this corpus of published data because including coordinates and a full documentation of panels and motifs.