Photo Gallery

The tumulus represents the simplest type of the great series of Saharan funerary monuments, known as "Libyco-Berber" or, better still, "pre-Islamic". From this period onwards, there was a change in the choice of materials used to make jewellery, the first glass paste beads, imported marine shells, cones and cypresses in particular, and carnelian for the manufacture of beads made according to a new technique, as the hole is straighter and the polishing perfect. The necklace in the centre is from this period, while the other two, above and to the left, show the persistence of the glass paste beads, which are often coloured blue, until the present day. (IFAN Collection, Dakar, Senegal) - 1969

The art of adornment, so developed today, appears in the Saharan Neolithic with a sudden and unexpected brilliance. Early explorers of South Africa reported the curious way in which ostrich egg beads were made. Test fragments were punctured, threaded onto a thong which, at the end of the operation, was knotted at both ends. The resulting coarse roll was then walked for a long time on all sides inside a narrow groove cut in a soft stone. At the end of the operation, the beads were perfectly circular. But their main purpose was to be used as... money! The majority of ancient ornaments are reused nowadays; however, plastic has recently been added to the rich material of the beautiful coloured stones (IFAN collections, Dakar). - 1969