Place:Mertoutek

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Mertoutek
Village
Mertoutek is located in Algeria
Mertoutek
Mertoutek
Coordinates: [ ⚑ ] : 24°13′41″N 5°32′24″E / 24.22806°N 5.54°E / 24.22806; 5.54
Country Algeria
ProvinceTamanrasset Province
DistrictTamanrasset District
CommuneIdlès[1]
Elevation
1,358 m (4,455 ft)
Time zoneUTC+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]

Archaeology

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]

References

Neighbouring towns and cities