Bubalus Period

[6] Bubaline rock art portrays a few geometric designs and naturalistic outlined depictions of animals,[3] such as antelope, aurochs, buffalos (Bubalus antiquus/Syncerus complexus), donkeys, elephants, fish (e.g., catfish, Nile perch), giraffes, hippopotamuses, ostriches, and rhinoceroses.

[2] A spatula and lithic grinding tools with ocher remnants on them, which serves as evidence of painting, were found in an Acacus rockshelter with Round Head rock art.

[5] Amid the late period of the Pleistocene, with its varied climate system, the mountainous environment remained sufficiently humid, which allowed for animal, plant, and human life to be sustained.

[5] According to Lhote (1976), the origin of the Bubaline rock art may be found in the activities of the ethnic groups that "occupied, in the Neolithic, the pre-Saharan Atlas, the Constantinois, the Fezzan and the Tassili while these regions benefited from a very humid climate under which the great fauna, known as Ethiopian, could live without difficulty.

Murdock (1959) assembled evidence of the priority of “Negroids” in the Sahara before the advent of Berbers and Arabs there and associated them with the Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan linguistic phyla.”[8] The majority of the rock engravings in the Large Wild Fauna style are located in what is known as the Maghreb region of the Sahara, encompassing a wide area spanning across Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia – specifically, the Fezzan region of southwestern Libya.

[9] Engraved Large Wild Fauna rock art, which have been created in a naturalistic style, can be found in the northern region of Tassili N'Ajjer, at Oued Djerat.

[6] Bubaline rock art portrays a few geometric designs and naturalistic outlined depictions of animals,[3] such as antelope, aurochs, buffalos (Bubalus antiquus), donkeys, elephants, fish (e.g., catfish, Nile perch), giraffes, hippopotamuses, ostriches, and rhinoceroses.

[6][3] At Oued Djerat, in Algeria, engraved rock art feature masked bowmen with male circumcision and may be a scene involving ritual.

[13] After the Green Sahara underwent desertification by 1000 BCE,[9] most of its ancient inhabitants migrated to other areas in Africa, taking along their culture with them; many artistic styles throughout African history may have been influenced by earlier Saharan rock art.