Looting the Sahara: The material, intellectual and social implications of the destruction of cultural heritage (briefing)

Journal of North African Studies

Volumn 10, Issue 3-4, 2005, Pages 471-489

  Keenan, Jeremy ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF EXETER   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARCHAEOLOGY; CULTURAL HERITAGE; SOCIAL IMPACT;

AFRICA; SAHARA;

EID: 31044442833     PISSN: 13629387     EISSN: 17439345     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13629380500372156     Document Type: Article

References (66)

1. Publications stemming from this research are: J. Keenan, 'The theft of Saharan rock-art', Antiquity 74 (July 2000), pp. 287-288
2. J. Keenan. 'Tourism, development and conservation: A Saharan perspective', in D.J. Mattingly, S. McLaren, E. Savage, Y. al-Fasatwi, and K. Gadgood, Natural Resources and Cultural Heritage of the Libyan Desert: Proceedings of a Conference held in Libya. 14-21 December 2002 (London: Society for Libyan Studies 2006)
3. J. Keenan, 'The Lesser Gods of the Sahara', Journal of Public Archaeology 2/3 (2002), pp. 131-150
4. J. Keenan, 'Contested Terrain. Tourism, environment and security in Algeria's extreme south', Journal of North African Studies (Special Issue) 8/3-4 (2003), pp. 226-265
5. J. Keenan, 'Who thought rock-art was about archaeology? The political economy of Saharan rock-art', paper presented at the 70th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, March 30-April 3, 2005, Salt Lake City, Utah, forthcoming in: Journal of Contemporary Africa Studies (Special Issue on 'The Sahara') (2006).
6. J. Keenan, 'Waging war on terror: The implications of America's "New Imperialism" for Saharan peoples' (in this volume).
7. H. Lhote, A la Découverte des Fresques du Tassili (Paris: Arthaud 1958, 1973); translated as The Search for the Tassili Frescoes: The Story of the Prehistoric Rock-Paintings of the Sahara (London: Hutchinson 1959).
8. Lhote's highly controversial role in the 'discovery' of the Tassili paintings is assessed in J. Keenan, 'The Lesser Gods of the Sahara', Journal of Public Archaeology 2/3 (2002), pp. 131-150.
9. My reference to 'antiquities' is restricted primarily to pre- and proto-historic rock art, lithic scatterings, certain funereal and other stone monuments and associated archaeological sites and formations.
10. Lhote (note 3).
11. The late Alfred Muzzolini, who had an exceptional appreciation of the extent of Saharan rock-art, agreed with this figure. (Personal communication). See A. Muzzolini, Les Images Rupestres du Sahara (Toulouse, France: Muzzolini 1995).
12. D. Coulson, 'Ancient art of the Sahara', National Geographic 195/6 (1999), pp. 98-119.
13. The precise number of artefacts looted from the Sahara is obviously not known. The figure is certainly in millions. For example, it is generally estimated that some two million artefacts have been looted from the Tassili region of Algeria alone.
14. W. Challis, A. Campbell, D. Coulson, and J. Keenan, 'Funerary monuments and horse paintings: A preliminary report on the archaeology of a site in the Tagant region of south east Mauritania - near Dhar Tichitt' (in this volume).
15. For an assessment of the Libyan situation, see: S. di Lernia, 'Incoming Tourism, Outgoing Culture: Tourism, Development and Cultural Heritage in the Libyan Sahara' (in this volume).
16. C. Arambourg and L. Balout, 'L'ancien lac de Tihodaine et ses gisements préhistoriques', in Congrès panafricain de Préhistoire, Algiers (1952), pp. 281-292.
17. T. Barnett, 'Libyan Rock-Art as Cultural Heritage', in Mattingly et al., (note 1).
18. A. Larocca, 'Rock Art Conservation in Morocco', Public Archaeology 3/2 (2003).
19. di Lernia (note 11).
20. F. Mori, Tadrart Acacus. Arte rupestre e culture del Sahara preistorico (Torino: Einaudi 1965), p. 35. Quoted by di Lernia (note 11).
21. Keenan (note 4).
22. The painting concerned is the 'Great God' of Sefar.
23. Larocca (note 14).
24. See the expedition's book: A. Castilgioni, A. Castiglioni and G. Negro, Fiumi di pietra (Varese: Lativa 1986).
25. Research undertaken by Francois Soleilhavoup has shown how the moisture re-activates microbes in the paint substances that have been dormant for thousands of years. F. Soleilhavoup, 'Les œuvres rupestres sahariennes sont-elles menacées?' (Publication de l'Office du Parc national du Tassili, 1978).
26. Lhote (note 3).
27. Keenan (note 4).
28. Archaeologists and other scientists today have no excuse for such actions. However, as the text associated with note 30 illustrates, they still have vehement apologists for their past misdemeanours.
29. S. Kelly, The Hunt for Zerzura. The Lost Oasis and the Desert War (London: John Murray 2002), p. 67.
30. Ibid. pp. 76-77.
31. Ibid.
32. Lhote (note 3), p. 17.
33. Keenan (note 4), p. 143.
34. H. Alimen, F. Beucher and H. Lhote (with the collaboration of G. Delibrias), 'Les gisements néolithiques de Tan-Tartrait et d'In-Itinen, Tassili-n-Ajjer', Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française LXV (1968), pp. 421-456 (p. 423).
35. This statement was sent to the editors of Public Archaeology as part of the peer review process of my article 'The Lesser Gods of the Sahara' (Keenan, note 4).
36. Details of Arzmüller's activities were presented to the Libyan authorities in December 2002. Nevertheless, it transpired that he made two visits to Libya in the following month, one into the Ubari area and one further south towards Tibesti, seemingly without arrest.
37. Details of Arzmüller's activities in the Sahara, including his former website, have been recorded, including on film, and are being held pending any legal action against him by the German or North African authorities. For further details, see: J. Keenan, 'Contested Terrain. Tourism, environment and security in Algeria's extreme south', Journal of North African Studies (Special Issue) 8/3-4 (2003), pp. 226-265 (pp. 238, 242).
38. Ousseini Issa, 'Archaeological Treasures May Soon Become a Thing of the Past', IPS (Niamey, 9 February 2005).
39. Contraband trafficking is often referred to by local peoples as one of the three mainstays of the Sahara's economy: The other two are hydrocarbons and tourism!
40. In some parts of the Sahara, notably Niger, hijacks of tourists have been ascribed to competing tourism agencies trying to embarrass each other.
41. Ibid.
42. Tourism to Libya was effectively restricted by the embargo until the latter 1990s, while tourism to Algeria ceased almost entirely between 1992 and 1999 as a result of the country's 'civil war' that followed the army's annulment of the 1992 election results.
43. Lhote (note 3).
44. This refers to bona fide tourists and not professional looters, who in Algeria's case appear to have been mostly foreign (and German).
45. Masc. sing. chinoui; masc. pl. chnaoui; fem. sing. chinouia or chinouiette; fem. pl. chnaouia or chnaouiat (ettes). J. Keenan, 'Ethnicity, Regionalism and Political Stability in Algeria's Grand Sud', Journal of North African Studies 8/4 (2003), pp. 67-96.
46. N. Brooks, S. di Lernia, N. Drake, M. Raffin, and T. Savage, 'The geoarchaeology of Western Sahara: Preliminary results of the first Anglo-Italian expedition in the "free zone"', Sahara 14 (2003), pp. 63-80.
47. See also N. Brooks, 'Cultural heritage and conflict: The threatened archaeology of Western Sahara' (in this volume).
48. G. Anag, M. Cremaschi, S. di Lernia and M. Liverani, 'Environment, Archaeology, and Oil: The Messak Settafet Rescue Operation (Libyan Sahara)', African Archaeological Review 19/2, (2002), pp. 67-73.
49. See also, di Lernia (note 11).
50. Keenan (note 4).
51. My first article on 'The Lesser Gods of the Sahara' was published in 2002 (see Keenan, note 4). Following my filming of the Tassili rock art, this article was republished at the end of 2003 with a postscript (see pages 216-217) under the same title in the Journal of North African Studies 8/3-4 (2003), pp. 193-225.
52. Lhote (note 3), p. 18.
53. H. Alimen et al. (note 30).
54. See also M. Hachid, Tassili des Ajjer (Paris: Alger et Editions Paris-Méditerranée 1998), translated as The Tassili of the Ajjer (Paris: Alger et Editions Paris-Méditerranée 2000), pp. 118, 277:
55. 'We also have no information on the results obtained from the excavations carried out at the Ambassadors' Shelter near Djanet, at Tasigmet and other shelters in Wadi Djerat, or about the important deposits of the plateaux of Wadi Tadjelahine and Wadi Eheren'.
56. Malika Hachid, former Director of the Tassili National Park, remarked: Henri Lhote noted a great profusion of cattle, sheep and goat bones in all the excavations he conducted on the plateau and the piedmont. It would be very useful today to find these bones and study them, for such an analysis would help us date the domestication of animals in the Central Sahara, and also help identify the species of cattle* and goats that existed in the region. (Hachid, note 47, p. 120).
57. Soleilhavoup (note 21).
58. Challis et al. (note 10).
59. C. Chippindale, and P. S. C. Taçon, The Archaeology of Rock-Art (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1998).
60. Lhote (note 3).
61. Exceptions include the corpora of works by Fabrizio Mori, Alfred Muzzolini, Malika Hachid, Fancois Soleilhavoup, J.-L Le Quellec, Christian Dupuy, Mauro Cremaschi and Savino di Lernia (in this volume) and the body of work associated with the Fazzan project (see David Mattingly, in this volume).
62. di Lernia (note 11).
63. J. P. Entelis, 'The Democratic Imperative vs. the Authoritarian Impulse: The Maghreb State between Transition and Terrorism', note 2, in Strategic Insights, Vol. IV, Issue 6 (June 2005). (Available online at: http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2005/Jun/entelisJun05.asp)
64. quoted in: J. Keenan, 'WaginT war on terror: the implications of America's 'new Imperialism' for Saharan peoples' (in this volume).
65. Keenan (note 33).
66. D. Giurovich and J. Keenan, 'The UNDP, the World Bank and Biodiversity in the Algerian Sahara' (in this volume).