Cattle in the Desert

A Contemporary Occurrence in the Context of Rock Engravings (Tibesti, Borku, Ennedi)

Abstract

In North Borku, indicine cattle still lives in the hyper-arid desert where, according to common understanding, cattle husbandry is not anymore possible. The aim of this article is to explain the contemporary find from North Borku in the context of more nuanced models of hyper-arid environments. The article is based on a collection of cattle engravings, which allow to raise questions about the period in which they were created. Particular attention is paid to presumably early or late dates of origin of the engravings, which can be deduced from the patina and from accompanying animal species, as well as to represented morphological characteristics that allow to relate the engravings with the cattle of North Borku. The diversity in cattle that can be observed and the occurrence of the latter at various times suggests that cattle husbandry took place in the Sahara at very different moments (or even continuously) with herders knowing how to exploit environmental diversity.