Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
with different types of man-made pebble bifaces and cleav-
ers, and tools of predominantly African tradition, the work of
the
Atlanthropus mauritanicus
. It comes from Sidi Zine, a
site 9 km west of El Kef, and Koum El Magen, 20 km north
of El Kef (Touiref). Sidi Zine has also yielded the bones of
elephants (
Elephas atlanticus
), with gazelles (
Gazella dorca
and
G
.
cuvieri
), rhinoceros (
Rhinoceros simus
), antelopes,
zebras, etc. indicating a hot and humid climate. This Chad-
Zambezian fauna inhabited savanna, swamps and forests,
and served for hunting. At Sidi Zine, three levels of remains
of the lower Palaeolithic are covered by tuff that yielded a
Mousterian
resistance, the Table of Jugurtha which rises to 1,271 m
(Fig.
6
a, b).
The Table is a large tabular body of Eocene nummulitic
limestone that was deposited on clays of El Har
a Formation
(Maestrichtian-Paleocene). These subhorizontal limestones,
40
í
50 m thick, make up a wall, on its side cut off by 150
steps, halfway along which there is a door, the arc of which
is of the Byzantine age.
The spectacular panorama at this site shows the Ouenza
Mountains (Algeria) to the west, the plains and the hills of
the Ouled Bou Rhanem to the northwest and the Oued
Sarrath to the southeast.
Occupied since prehistoric times, as shown by the
remains of ash, snails and
-
industry
of Middle
Palaeolithic
age
(100,000
35,000 BC): yielding scrapers, blades, and points.
Between Tajerouine and El Kef (Oued El Ogla) sampling
sites have yielded bones and pieces of pottery from the
Mediterranean Neolithic made by
Homo sapiens
(Gobert
1950
; Vaufrey
1955
; Tlili
2007
).
-
ints, the plateau served on sev-
eral occasions as a site of refuge as evidenced by the remains
of water tanks and collective granaries of underground
bunkers dug in the rock. There are also traces of habitation
and a medieval mosque. Currently, the vegetation, though
rare, serves as pasture-land for sheep. Twice a year, in spring
and autumn, Sidi Abdel Jaouad Zerda commemorates the
past feats and the Numidian heritage (Ayachi
2007
).
fl
3.5
Neolithic Caves of Sidi Mansour (G5)
Jebel Dyr, at Sidi Mansour (Fig.
5
), consists of caves with
paintings, Protohistoric megaliths and Neolithic industries. To
the southeast of El Kef, remarkable megaliths, such as dol-
mens, were erected to mark the location of graves (Tlili
2006
).
3.7
Oued Mellegue Dam (G7, Fig.
2
)
The Jebel Dyr Perched Syncline is a hydraulic reservoir in
which water from precipitation (450
600 mm per year)
-
3.6
Table of Jugurtha (G6)
in
ltrates the much fractured Ypresian limestones (45 m
thick). In the 3rd century, the Romans built a small temple
(Nymphae) and a hydraulic structure dedicated to water
engineering whose remains still exist. Located 6 km from
Jugurtha (160
104 BC) reunited the Numidia and formed a
resistance against the Romans. He chose, as a place for the
-
Fig. 5
Panoramic view of the
caves of Sidi Mansour
