There was once vastreed-coveredendorheic lake in the area, but it no longer exists. The former lake of Aoukar extended towards the area ofTichit, bordering the southern edge of theTagant Plateau. Below the cliffs(dhars) facing the extinct lake remains of about 400 villages have been found.[6][7]
From east to west, DharNéma, DharWalata, DharTichitt, and DharTagant form a semicircular shape around the Hodh/Aoukar Depression, which, prior to 4000 BCE, was an area with lakes of considerable size, and, after 1000 BCE, was an area that had become increasingly dried.[8] During the emergence of the Tichitt Tradition, it was an oasis area.[8] TheTichitt Tradition of eastern Mauritania dates from 2200 BCE[9][10] to 200 BCE.[11][12]
Previously administered as part ofFrench Sudan (present-dayMali), the area was transferred toFrench Mauritania in 1944, apparently on a whim of the colonial governorLaigret.[13] The transfer was still resented upon Mali's independence.[14] Formerly more fertile, it is now largely a barren waste.[15]
^G. Marcus and B. de Valicourt (2000). Mauritanie, p. 10
^abMacDonald, Kevin C.; Vernet, Robert; Martinón-Torres, Marcos; Fuller, Dorian Q. (April 2009). "Dhar Néma: from early agriculture to metallurgy in southeastern Mauritania".Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa.44 (1):3–48.doi:10.1080/00671990902811330.
