The dating and meaning of petroglyphs constitute a challenge in African rock-art research. In this article, we present and discuss a recently found rock-art assemblage from the Shaqadud site complex (Sudan), a site aggregation that nicely documents Holocene prehistoric cultural adaptations in non-aquatic, deep-savanna environments in what is today the Eastern Sahel. The rock-art corpus contains 120 identifiable motifs with a clear predominance of giraffes (n = 113, 94.2%) that are of small dimensions (< 50 cm) and are shown in a limited number of compositions. The thematic and technological compactness of the assemblage suggests a chronological integrity of the local figurative rock art and a coherent thematic and technological mindset of its creators. The archaeological context and the general characteristics of the assemblage place the local figurative rock art between the beginning of the Holocene and the Late Neolithic, in absolute dates between ca. 8748–1639 cal BC. However, spatial and visual connections could suggest a narrower dating of the assemblage, to the late Khartoum Mesolithic, around 6421–6088 cal BC. The predominance of the giraffe in the Shaqadud rock art suggests that this species may have carried a special significance for the local prehistoric communities. At the same time, the lack of hunting scenes in the figurative assemblage indicates that the importance of the giraffe motif goes beyond subsistence.

岩画的年代和意义构成了非洲岩石艺术研究的一个挑战。在本文中，我们介绍并讨论了沙卡杜德遗址群（苏丹）最近发现的岩石艺术组合，该遗址集合很好地记录了今天东萨赫勒地区非水生、深层稀树草原环境中全新世史前文化的适应。岩石艺术语料库包含 120 个可识别的图案，其中明显以长颈鹿为主（n = 113, 94.2%) 尺寸较小 (< 50 cm)，并且以有限数量的作品形式展示。该组合的主题和技术紧凑性表明了当地具象岩石艺术的时间顺序完整性及其创作者连贯的主题和技术思维。考古背景和组合的一般特征将当地的具象岩石艺术置于全新世初期和新石器时代晚期之间，绝对日期在大约 10 到 10 年间。公元前 8748–1639 年。然而，空间和视觉联系可能表明该组合的年代较窄，为喀土穆中石器时代晚期，大约公元前 6421 年至 6088 年。长颈鹿在沙卡杜德岩画中占据主导地位，这表明该物种可能对当地史前群落具有特殊意义。同时，