On my latest
astronomy trip to the Sahara in Southern Morocco, I met with many
enthusiast people in astronomy. I had a blast doing many activities
related to astronomy as Meteorite hunting, astrophotographying the
night sky and learning much of astronomy in general at this fabulous
hotel/observatory called
Sahara Sky. 10 days of meteorite hunting,
astronomy learning and stargazing in the Sahara was incredible and
just unforgettable. Please join me in a series of posts on my journey
through the Sahara in Southern Morocco and one of the most dark skies
places I have ever seen.
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Petroglyph site @ Ait Ouazik, Southern Morocco.
Credit: S. Lamoureux/KTY Toutatis. |
On the first day of
our Meteorite hunt (See article of Meteorite hunting in the Sahara),
we headed early into the morning to visit a sight where petroglyphs
are found. Petroglyphs are carvings on stone left by ancient people.
On these particular stones, you found petroglyphs of animal of the
region at that time, strange interlace lines of some sort, circles of
what experts say are depictions of traps used by those people to hunt
prey. The site is called Ait Ouazik near the village of Ait Ouazik in
the valley of Draa, Southern Morocco.
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Petroglyphs of zoo morphs (Emu, Gazelle) @ Ait Ouazik
Credit: S. Lamoureux/KTY Toutatis. |
The site is on a
tumulus of early settlement thought to be more or less 5000 years old.
A tumulus is a burial site where human bones have been found and is an
indication of old settlement. This is important because we can
differentiate humans that were sedentary and humans that were nomads.
On this site, you find petroglyphs zoo morphs; Gazelles, Elephants, Emu
(or Ostrich), monkeys. Interlaced lines that are representative
of nets for hunting, animal traps depictions experts says, Checked
board games carvings (also found in other sites through out the
World), Tazina style petroglyphs and also pecked petroglyph of
geometric forms.
Tazina style of petroglyphs are a style of carving that elongates the lines that
forms the image. In the other hand, the term pecked petroglyph is
referred to as the technique used by carving small dots on the rock next
to each other to form a line on the rock.
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Petroglyph of Circle with ball headed lines @Ait Ouazik
To me this represents a celestial calendar,
perhaps a Venus calendar.
Credit: S. Lamoureux/KTY Toutatis. |
This petroglyph site
at Ait Ouazik is very interesting, because it makes you think; Who
were these people living here? Ancestors to the Berber people of the
region today perhaps? Why carvings of animal of the savanna? Was the
landscape different 5000 years ago in the arid Sahara of
today? These blue print of interlace lines and traps were they really
blue prints for next generation people to look and learn from? All
valid questions. But the most pertinent question to me was ”Is
there a connection with astronomy?”. Its seems to me that they have
a connection.
By walking around
the Ait Ouazik site, one carving caught my attention. This carving on
the rock had a circle with 23 lines inside of it, converging to the
middle of the circle. Of these 23 lines, 13 had lines with ball-shape
carvings on top of the line. The remaining 10 lines were only lines
converging to the center of the circle.
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Petroglyph site of Ait Ouazik, Southern Morocco.
See the vast landscape suitable for settlement.
Credit: S. Lamoureux/KTY Toutatis. |
This carving had me
thinking that it may be some sort of calendar, especially a celestial
calendar perhaps following the Sun, the Moon or even the Planet
Venus.
First of all, the
Tumulus (Burial mount) indicates to me that these people were
sedentary people, they stayed put for agricultural purposes. Also on
the site we find erected stones that indicate a way for early people
to mark the passage of time by observing the Summer/Winter solstices
or Spring/Fall equinoxes.
You have at least 7
other petroglyph sites in the Valley of Draa alone that have this petroglyph circle with lines. Experts as Huard, Leclant and Searight
have identify them as depiction of traps to hunt animals, or
bag-traps (in french: nasses). I have my doubts.
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5000 years old Petroglyphs. What is it? What does is represent?
Credit: S. Lamoureux/KTY Toutatis. |
As an astronomer I think there is something else to this carving, something overlooked,
something connecting it to the heavens. To find this carving in 7
different sites relatively close to each other, awakes in me
questions of why so many same depiction of the same circle? How many
depiction of traps can one carve to record the meaning for
prosperity. Remember that these are well made carvings carved in
rock, not only written on paper or etch on sand. It took time to
make, hence it was probably important.
Could it be that
ancient people wanted to keep track of time, these sites would become
observatories of some sorts so that people could use to gain the
knowledge of the movement of time. Rock carving as the circle with
lines could have been a tool to use to calculate time. The site has
clues that give away that people who lived here had a knowledge of
astronomy, as the erected stones around the site.
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Ait Ouazik village near the Petroglyph site.
Notice the enormous rolling hills at the back.
Credit: S. Lamoureux/ KTY Toutatis. |
They were observing
stars, planets, Sun and Moon movements.
This particular
petroglyph of a circle with 23 lines which 13 are ball-lines seems to
me as a calendar of some sort that ancient people used to track time
with celestial bodies. I have researched this carving for many weeks
and talked about it extensively with people, read in books and on the
Internet if there was similar carvings or drawings in the world. It
turns out to be found all around the world.
At first this site
was only a place with very old rock carvings and it was not a big
deal, but then I opened my mind and started to try to put together
an astronomical connection to all this. I liked the idea that ancient
people and civilisations were not dumb or stupid and could have had a
real connection with the Universe. Maybe it was their only way (at
least their first way) to measure time. Time that became so precious
with the recording of agricultural implements and the fact that
people stood still (sedentary).
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Our driver /guide Mohamed
Expert of the desert, we felt safe with him.
Credit: S. Lamoureux/ KTY Toutatis. |
So I opened my mind
to all kinds of possibilities. This rock carvings could be a
calendar, a lunar calendar, a Solar calendar, a Venus calendar. Then
I stuck with the idea that this was a Venus calendar. With its 13
ball-lines representing the ratio of 13 to 8 (13 is the years Venus
revolves the Sun in ratio to 8 for Earth to revolve around the Sun).
This was to represent a longer cycle of time that the Sun or the Moon
could not represent with there sudden and daily movement.
There are 10 lines
with no ball-shape that bug me. There is something, but I have not
figure it out yet. I admit that there are some gaps in the numbers
and this is all speculative, but I loved to work on this project and
it was surely an eye opener.
I venture to say
that this specific petroglyph is a time keeper and essential to life
for these ancient people.
Ait Ouazik was
spectacular and it opened my eyes to ancient cultures and people. The
way ancient civilizations saw there surroundings (on Earth and
above).
It started as a
tourist attraction but evolved into a deep questioning of how ancient
people perceived astronomy in their time and place.
Please continue
reading the next post of my Astronomy trip in the Sahara, Southern
Morocco
HERE. Follow the complete travel post series and enjoy the
astronomy behind it.
This is all part of
the public outreach of Astronomy Club Toutatis, Kustavi, Finland.
Links:
Ait Ouazik Petroglyph site, Southern Morocco.
Petroglyphs WIKI
Archeoastronomy WIKI
Article on the petroglyphs in Ait Ouazik
A primer on the Evolution of Astronomical Calendars.
Read more about Astronomy Club Toutatis, Kustavi, Finland
