The finds in Algeria are relatively recent. I discovered the first structures there in summer 2019. In contrast to the classic desert kites, which intercept the game on their migrations with long guide fences, the funnels here are quite short and often lead uphill from a gully or hollow to end after only a few metres in one or more small boxes. Since this area used to be a landscape full of lakes and ponds criss-crossed by watercourses, I spontaneously hypothesise that these formations may have been hippopotamus traps. The hollows may have been watercourses from which hippos came ashore at night to graze. Short guide walls were sufficient to lead the animals into the trap pits at their end.
This is one of the few kites in Central Sahara that doesn't end in a pitfall but leads to the edge of a rocky cliff. Herd animals were probably hunted here, which fell down at the end of the funnel and were collected at the ground (Position: 24.8448,0.87288).
Algeria: Adrar / Tamanrasset
Images courtesy of Google Earth™
