Turath
Volume 4, Numéro 1, Pages 62-82
2026-06-30
The Marhouma Site In The Saoura Region: Rock Records And Fossils For Studying The Oldest Amazigh Cultural Expressions
Authors : Merzougui Touhami .
Abstract
The Marhuma region, situated at the heart of the Saoura Valley in southwestern Algeria, stands as one of the most exceptional archaeological spaces in the Saharan world — a site that combines the richness of its rock records with the remarkable diversity of its fossil contents, making it a unique natural laboratory for the study of the earliest phases of Amazigh cultural expression in North Africa. This article presents findings from fieldwork and iconographic analyses conducted at this site, comparing them with adjacent rock art localities and attempting to construct a comprehensive reading of the symbolic, ritual, and economic practices of the prehistoric communities who created this lapidary visual language. It further situates these findings within the broader framework of Amazigh civilizational development, arguing that the Saoura constitutes a fundamental crossroads between Saharan, Mediterranean, and Western Sudanese cultural traditions.
Keywords
Marhuma; Saoura; Rock Art; Fossils; Amazigh; Prehistory; Iconography; Béchar; Algeria
Les articles similaires
بوسالم أحلام
.
عابد يوسف
.
ص 117-132.
Yahia Zeghoudi
.
pages 74-88.
Ouali Mehadji Abdelkader
.
Bendella Mohamed
.
Atif Khireddine
.
Belkacemi Kada
.
Abbache Abdelkader
.
pages 3-27.
Ouali Mehadji Abdelkader
.
Racheboeuf Patrick
.
Elmi Serge
.
Mekahli Larbi
.
pages 27-45.
Said Houari Amel
.
pages 257-268.
