Last Yellow – Wikipedia

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Part of the cave paintings

Last yellow or Las Gaal is a small rock massif near Hargeysa in northern Somalia (Somaliland), which is known for the cave paintings discovered in its caves.

The caves house some of the earliest and best well -known works of art on the Horn of Africa and on the African continent as a whole. Dating suggestions fluctuate between 4000 BC. BC and 3000 BC Chr.

It is a small rock massif made of red granite that is located in the field of a settlement of nomads in Dubato (alternative spelling DHubbato) northeast of Hargeysa. The rock protrudes out of a plateau, on the Somali nomad, let their animals graze and wild antelopes roam the landscape. Two seasonal watercourses (Wadis) flow together on his foot, under which the groundwater level is also close to the surface. Because of these water deposits, the rock has its name, which means “water point for camels”. The rock has around 20 caves and niches, of which about ten are provided with neolithic rock drawings.

The local nomads used the caves to look for protection when it rains, and knew about the paintings, but hardly noticed them.

In November and December 2002, a group of French researchers under the direction of Xavier Gutherz in North Somalia (Somaliland) was traveling to traces from 5000 to 2000 BC. Chr. On December 4th, residents of the small village of Daarbudhuq (alternative spelling: Dacarbudhug) on ​​the street between Hargeysa and Berbera pointed out the researchers on Laas Geel. Because of the lack of time, they were initially only able to examine the cave paintings briefly. In November 2003, they examined them more closely on another expedition.

The rock drawings are the best preserved Africa. They mostly show cows and people. Most illustrations are multi -colored, the colors occurring are red ocher, white, yellow ocher and black.

The necks of the cows are provided with a kind of plastic, which could be a ceremonial jewelry or a symbolic representation. Your heads appear strongly schematized. The udders, on the other hand, are clearly shown with four teats, which probably indicates a great importance of milk in the nutrition of the people of the time. In contrast to today’s African cattle, they have no hump. The cow images are usually about 40–50 cm long and 20–30 cm high.

People are depicted with a wide, clad upper body and spread arms and significantly smaller than the cows; You may pray the cows.

Next to it are a domestic dog, more Canidae And a giraffe depicted, all also smaller than the cows. In some cases, illustrations are obviously painted about other pictures.

Using laboratory analyzes of bone and charcoal excavated in the immediate vicinity, the paintings became between 3500 and 3000 BC. Chr. Dated. [first]

Since their scientific discovery, the cave paintings of Laas Geel have been exposed to a small but growing number of visitors. It was also, with the support of the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), a modest tourist infrastructure. Somaliland’s authorities propagate Laas Geel as the “national heritage” and tourist attraction. With this, they also want to use the cave paintings’ attention to promote their efforts to recognize Somaliland’s independence.

The World Monument’s Fund included Laas Geel in its list of the 100 most dangerous cultural monuments. [2]

In 2007, further cave paintings were discovered in Dhambalin.

  1. ↑ The Bilder Von Laas Gaal , in: GEO 02/2007
  2. ↑ World Monuments Fund: Las Geel Rock Art ( Memento from March 11, 2008 in Internet Archive )

9,7809166666667 44,443638888889 Coordinates: 9 ° 47 ′ N , 44 ° 27 ′ O