Bidzar is an
archaeological siteArchaeology or archeology is the science that studies human cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material culture and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, and landscapes...
20 km from
GuiderGuider is a city situated in Cameroon's North Province, close to the border with Chad. It has a population of 110,240. The city is home to Espérance FC of the Cameroon Premiere Division.- References :
*...
,
CameroonThe Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of...
, featuring petroglyphs between 3000 and 300 years old. The site, currently under threat from local cement and marble manufacturing operations, is being considered for inclusion in the
UNESCO World HeritageA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...
list of sites with "outstanding universal value" to the world.
The Bidzar petroglyphs are located near Bidzar village, on the Maroua-Garoua road toward Guider.
Bidzar is an
archaeological siteArchaeology or archeology is the science that studies human cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material culture and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, and landscapes...
20 km from
GuiderGuider is a city situated in Cameroon's North Province, close to the border with Chad. It has a population of 110,240. The city is home to Espérance FC of the Cameroon Premiere Division.- References :
*...
,
CameroonThe Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of...
, featuring petroglyphs between 3000 and 300 years old. The site, currently under threat from local cement and marble manufacturing operations, is being considered for inclusion in the
UNESCO World HeritageA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...
list of sites with "outstanding universal value" to the world.
Site Description
The Bidzar petroglyphs are located near Bidzar village, on the Maroua-Garoua road toward Guider. An area of marble flagstone extending around the village
circa 2.5 km from north to south, and one kilometre from east to west displays around 500 engraved figures in total. The marble is of a
calcareousCalcareous is an adjective meaning mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate, in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.-In zoology:...
type called cipolin; it has an ideal composition for
engravingEngraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
, having low resistance to friction and breaking easily. Figures were engraved into the marble using a hammer and an engraving tool. The figures are mostly geometrical, consisting of groups of circles, some isolated and some in groups. It has been speculated that the engraving represent concepts or stories from myths, or elaborate a cosmogeny.
History
The age of the engravings has proven difficult to determine.
Radiometric datingRadiometric dating is a technique used to date materials, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates...
has produced a range of estimates, dating various carvings to between 300 and 3000 years of age.
The petroglyph site was discovered in 1933 by a French researcher named Buisson.
World Heritage Status
In the twentieth and twenty first centuries, the calcareous marble on which the engravings stand has been extracted for use at nearby cement and marble factories. This activity endangers the engravings, which received provisional protection when the site was included in the Cultural category of the
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945...
World Heritage Tentative List, on April 18th, 2006.