began as early as the 3rd millennium BCE, though this phase ended abruptly around 400 BCE due to severe drought.

The use of ochre in funerary practices - sometimes extending to animals - persisted into the 1st millennium BCE. A striking example is the burial of a horse at Tel Matamata, west of the Inland Niger Delta near Thial in the Tenenkou Cercle, where the remains were covered with ochre. Rock art, including both symbolic