KITES IN LIBYA


Tripoli / Misrata

In the area south of Tripoli and Misrata, many open kites are distributed over an area of around 30,000 square kilometres, their funnels running in elegant arcs through the plain. These are so-called V-shaped kites, as they have been found as far away as the Sinai and also in Israel and northern Arabia, more than 3,000 kilometres away. At their end there is usually a single round, or sometimes rectangular, pitfall. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any dating so far, so it is not clear how old these structures are. To me, they make a rather recent impression.

(Geographical coordinates below the pictures.)
31.94813,14.73503
31.94813,14.73503
31.93785,14.75626
31.93785,14.75626
31.94039,14.34941
31.94039,14.34941
31.95679,14.0795
31.95679,14.0795
31.94891,14.04221
31.94891,14.04221
32.00164,13.93598
32.00164,13.93598
31.86665,14.25668
31.86665,14.25668
31.79798,14.25366
31.79798,14.25366
31.79201,14.35587
31.79201,14.35587
31.7667,14.29406
31.7667,14.29406
31.7643,14.28963
31.7643,14.28963
31.74127,14.42401
31.74127,14.42401
31.69095,13.73421
31.69095,13.73421
31.44092,13.01827
31.44092,13.01827
31.20202,13.00804
31.20202,13.00804
31.18856,13.03346
31.18856,13.03346
31.05872,13.15172
31.05872,13.15172
30.59749,13.17696
30.59749,13.17696
31.82987,14.36145
31.82987,14.36145
31.79466,14.4367
31.79466,14.4367
31.74646,14.37546
31.74646,14.37546
31.72145,14.18596
31.72145,14.18596
31.7059,14.12513
31.7059,14.12513
31.69658,14.04447
31.69658,14.04447
31.69282,14.16752
31.69282,14.16752
31.67816,14.24624
31.67816,14.24624
31.66964,14.18603
31.66964,14.18603
31.66957,14.29452
31.66957,14.29452
31.65537,14.37514
31.65537,14.37514
31.6463,14.35445
31.6463,14.35445
31.63301,14.86571
31.63301,14.86571
31.87982,13.77747
31.87982,13.77747
31.97056,14.18422
31.97056,14.18422
31.97684,14.22555
31.97684,14.22555
31.98361,14.15073
31.98361,14.15073
31.41461,14.2229
31.41461,14.2229
32.05092,14.36194
32.05092,14.36194
32.06163,14.04347
32.06163,14.04347
30.90866,14.5386
30.90866,14.5386
31.71021,13.73805
31.71021,13.73805
Images courtesy of Google Earth™

Scientific publication by Gianelli/Maestrucci, oct. 2019 >


Ghadames / Hamada de Tinrhert

South of Ghadames, the Tinrhert Plateau stretches westwards far into Algeria. In my opinion, it's not possible to say clearly from above whether the jagged structures are really all game traps. Some things almost seem like a simple crack in the rock. Structures that at first glance seemed man-made have often turned out to be of natural origin on closer inspection, or vice versa. Here the geologists are in demand and only an investigation on the ground can bring clarity.

(Geographical coordinates below the pictures.)
29.74038, 10.52819
29.74038, 10.52819
29.72773, 10.51858
29.72773, 10.51858
29.76977, 10.789
29.76977, 10.789
29.76471, 10.72644
29.76471, 10.72644
29.95134, 10.54539
29.95134, 10.54539
29.76594, 10.7141
29.76594, 10.7141
29.7621718, 10.4921713
29.7621718, 10.4921713
29.7483073, 10.7722825
29.7483073, 10.7722825
29.8167744, 10.7258293
29.8167744, 10.7258293
29.9926874, 10.5713259
29.9926874, 10.5713259
29.7409421, 10.6149931
29.7409421, 10.6149931
29.7585559, 10.614888
29.7585559, 10.614888
29.7300393, 10.4900588
29.7300393, 10.4900588
29.7720228, 10.5418604
29.7720228, 10.5418604
29.75128, 10.52533
29.75128, 10.52533
29.78738, 10.48082
29.78738, 10.48082
29.75394, 10.57954
29.75394, 10.57954
29.76024, 10.5842
29.76024, 10.5842
  
Images courtesy of Google Earth™

Scientific publication by Gianelli/Maestrucci, aug. 2018 >



Wadi ash Shati'

In the Wadi ash Shati', some of the funnel-shaped converging lines that led the game to the trap can still be seen in various places. So far, however, I am not aware of any place there where the trapping area is also present and clearly recognisable.

(Geographical coordinates below the pictures.)
29.01656, 13.6199
29.01656, 13.6199
29.03213, 13.59723
29.03213, 13.59723
29.0502037, 13.5702929
29.0502037, 13.5702929
29.05402, 13.59733
29.05402, 13.59733
29.06791, 13.58849
29.06791, 13.58849
29.06985, 13.57784
29.06985, 13.57784
29.0713986, 13.5887476
29.0713986, 13.5887476
29.08483, 13.5807
29.08483, 13.5807
29.11189, 13.57285
29.11189, 13.57285
29.15724, 13.55527
29.15724, 13.55527
29.20058, 13.57179
29.20058, 13.57179
29.20245, 13.56767
29.20245, 13.56767
Images courtesy of Google Earth™

These pictures are only a small selection. All the objects I found are included in the following download (Google Earth required): Download placemarks of about 1.350 kites >




< Kites