of the skeleton strongly recalls the Egyptian type as seen on the pharaonic monuments, characterized by height and slimness, wideness of shoulder, smallness of pelvis and slenderness of leg." This forensic opinion launched speculation about Tin Hinan's origin. Were her remains, in fact, those of Antinea, the legendary last queen of Atlantis? Sober-minded historians prefer to believe that Tin Hinan's fortress could have been an advanced outpost of the Roman Army, perhaps even a customs entrepot or warehouse, guarding the trans-Saharan trade routes.

A Forgotten Alphabet

It is almost a matter of honor that any chronicle on the Sahara desert, regardless of the aspect being discussed, include at least a passing mention of the Tassili-N-Ajer petroglyphs. These remarkable images portray the ancient inhabitants of the Sahara engaged in actitivities crucialrepresent shamans wearing ceremonial outfits represeting certain gods or elemental forces.

The Tassili-N-Ajer saga began to unfold in 1933, when two officers of the French Foreign Legion--Lt.Col. Brenans and Col. Carbillet--became the first contemporary Europeans to set foot in the Tassili plateau, which had been considered off-limits by desert tribesmen. Setting out from Fort Polignac, the two officers entered the Ighargharen Gorge and discovered the seemingly endless succession of paintings. Their superiors in Paris informed the Musee de l'Homme and an old Sahara hand, Henri Lhote, was dispatched to investigate. Fighting his way through the brambles and thorny desert "vegetation", Lhote was startled by the profusion of white kaolin and iron oxide images showing giraffe, antelope and elephants--creatures that called the then-verdant Sahara home.

In the fullness of time, a