Mertoutek | |
---|---|
Village | |
Coordinates: 24°13′41″N 5°32′24″E / 24.22806°N 5.54000°E | |
Country | ![]() |
Province | Tamanrasset Province |
District | Tamanrasset District |
Commune | Idlès [1] |
Elevation | 1,358 m (4,455 ft) |
Time zone | UTC+1 ( CET) |
Mertoutek is a village in the commune of Idlès, [1] in Tazrouk District, Tamanrasset Province, Algeria. It lies in the northern Hoggar Mountains on the eastern side of a wadi, 61 kilometres (38 mi) northwest of the town of Idlès and 158 kilometres (98 mi) north of Tamanrasset. [2]
During the Holocene, a group of people resided in Bas Mertoutek, where rock art is also found. [3] Round Head rock art has not been found at Bas Mertoutek thus far. [3] Among the many antennae stone structures in the region, there are antennae stone structures in Mertoutek. [3] Djef Amane, which is near the village of Mertoutek, also has antennae stone structures, and Tan Ainesnis has a few bazinas. [3] Opposite antennae stone structures are located in Mertoutek Djef Amane. [3] At the center of one of the large stone structures, which has two opposite antennae stone structures, there is a tumulus; the tumulus has rock slabs that contain human remains. [3] Tan Ainesnis is a prehistoric archaeological site, which is surrounded by funerary stone structures and rock art, and is near Wadi Mertoutek. [3] Periodically, water pours down from the mountaintops and forms an oasis at Mertoutek. [3] There is also a basin at Mertoutek. [3] At Tan Ainesnis, there is Bovidian rock art, which includes a red-colored oxen and two engraved oxen facing one another; the oxen on the left had Tifinagh nearby. [3] One of the earliest Libyco-Berber inscriptions in Africa are found in Wadi Mertoutek, near or within a petroglyph, which may be the depiction of a bovid, and may be associated with a pastoral community during a period of pastoralism. [4]