All the main Central Saharan mountainous massifs present prehistoric rock art. In the Tassili n’Ajjer, Algerian Tadrart, Acacus and Djado both paintings and petroglyphs are present and the Round Head paintings and petroglyphs therefore coexist with other forms of rock art. However, the term coexistence is referring to a vast territory because only in exceptional cases do we find Round Head paintings and prehistoric petroglyphs in the same shelter. The division of territories for different artistic expressions, namely the paintings and petroglyphs, may have been caused by different periods of creation or by different cultures or just by the geomorphological conditions (existence of rock shelters or not).
The main groups/periods are:
- Bubaline (petroglyphs and paintings)
- Kel Essuf (petroglyphs and possibly paintings)
- Round Head (paintings and petroglyphs )
- Pastoral (paintings and petroglyphs )
- Horse/Caballine (paintings and petroglyphs )
- Cameline (paintings and petroglyphs )
How old?
The chronology of the Saharan rock art is the source of persistent controversy. The lack of direct dating gives a wide margin for subjective chronological interpretation, resulting in two chronologies being established: a high and a low periods
| Styles |
High chronology (14C years) |
Low chronology (14C years) |
| Bubaline | 10,000–7,500 BP | 7,000–4,500 BP |
| Kel Essuf | before 9,800 BP | from 7,000 BP |
| Round Head | 9.800–7,500 BP | 7,000–2,800 BP |
| Pastoral | 7,500–2,800 BP | 7,000–2,800 BP |
| Horse/Caballine | from 2,800 BP | from 2,800 BP |
| Cameline | from 2,000 BP | from 2,000 BP |