Dabous Giraffes

The Dabous Giraffes are life-sized engravings of two giraffes in the Sahara from the Neolithic period. The engravings are on the sloped top of a sandstone block and can not be seen from ground level. The larger male giraffe has a height of 5.4 m from the horns to the hooves. The age is estimated to be 8000 years.

Location

The rock carvings are located on the edge of the Aïr Mountains in Niger, about 110 kilometers north of Agadez, a few kilometers off the Trans-Saharan route. In the vicinity there are other rock engravings, but be significantly smaller and the remains of petrified wood.

Protection measures

1999 copies of the engravings were made, inter alia, can be seen at the airport in Agadez. In 2000, the rock engravings of Dabous were included in the World Monuments Watch List of the 100 most endangered cultural monuments.