Nanooki:
The indentations were created over the course of thousands of years. The oldest engravings might be as old as 10,000 years and the creation of new works probably ended by the arrival of pastoral tribes around 1000 AD
Nanooki:
The carvings represent animals such as rhinoceroses, elephants, ostriches and giraffes as well as depictions of human and animal footprints
Nanooki:
Sandstone rocks at Twyfelfontein are covered by the so-called desert varnish, a hard patina that appears brown or dark grey. Engravings were effected by chiseling through this patina, exposing the lighter rock underneath
Nanooki:
At least 2,500 items of rock carvings have been created, as well as a few rock paintings. Displaying one of the largest concentrations of rock petroglyphs in Africa
Nanooki:
Twyfelfontein valley has been inhabited by Stone-age hunter-gatherers of the Wilton stone age culture group since approximately 6,000 years ago. They made most of the engravings and probably all the paintings
Nanooki:
A sandstone slab at Twyfelfontein. The animals are the older engravings, overlaid by the circles which represent water holes
Nanooki:
The area is a transitional zone between semi desert, savanna, and shrub land and receives less than 150 mm annual rainfall. Diurnal temperatures vary from 10 to 28 °C in the winter month of July and 21 to 35 °C in the summer month of November
Nanooki:
The area was uninhabited by Europeans until after World War II, when a severe drought caused white Afrikaans speaking farmers (Boers) to move in. The white settlers left in 1965
Nanooki:
Twyfelfontein is located close to a freshwater spring in a remote semi-arid area at the head of a valley in Damaraland
