CULTURAL NEWS

Illizi: 17,690 archaeological sites listed since 2016

ILLIZI (Algeria)- A total of 17,692 archaeological sites have been listed over the last four years through the cultural park of Tassili N'Ajjer, province of Illizi (1850-km southeast of Algiers), the National Office of the Cultural Park of Tassili said Tuesday.

Led by the technical department of inventory and studies, the operation resulted in the enumeration of 9,791 burials and funerary monuments, 1,814 rock art sites and 4,754 surface sites.

In addition, 1,333 sites have been listed this year, during six missions undertaken in the regions of Oued-Samen, Bordj El-Haoues and Bordj Omar-Idriss.

Part of the park's cultural heritage census program, the operation has allowed the coverage so far of 20% of the area of the Tassili N'Ajjer Cultural Park, Assak Wakafi Cheikh, said.

A training session was initiated last week for heritage census officers, to promote prospecting and natural census activities at the Tassili Park level.
The session focused on the use of devices for locating archaeological sites in different natural conditions.

Declared a Universal Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982, Tassili N'Ajjer Cultural Park covers an area of 138,000 km² and contains a multitude of geological sites and rock carvings.

The same official announced the creation, under the supervision of the ministry of Culture and Arts, of five national cultural parks, namely those of Tassili N'Ajjer (Illizi), Ahaggar (Tamanrasset), Touat-Gourara (Adrar and Timimoune), Tindouf and the Saharan Atlas, whose territory covers six provinces.